James Ensor in Oostende, ca. 1920 poster

James Ensor in Oostende, ca. 1920

0.0(0)20002m0

In 2000, which was ‘Ensor Year’, the installation artist Guillaume Bijl made a short fictitious found-footage film entitled ‘James Ensor in Oostende ca. 1920’, which shows the painter at this resort with his friends. We see them having a drink, strolling in the arcades of the Thermae Palace and sitting on the beach. Bijl’s meticulous choice of locations, belle époque dress (including bathing costumes) and his cinematographically perfect imitation of the rather jerky black & white images, as well as the patina and the perfectly imitated scratches on the film emulsion, all resulted in a perfect replica: an apparently forgotten roll of film from the days of silent film. Bijl himself classifies this faultless slice of life, one of his rare excursions into film and video, under ‘cultural tourism’, one of the elements of his work in which he popularizes cultural history subjects and reduces them to clichés for the general public.

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Status
Released
Budget
—
Box office
—
Language
NL
  • found footage
  • fictional biography
  • fake
  • video installation
  • james ensor

Top billed cast

Behind the camera

Produced in

Belgium

Gallery

Still from James Ensor in Oostende, ca. 1920

Videos

Release dates

  • BelgiumBE

    • TheatricalALVideo installation on view in 'MO(u)veMENTS'-exhibition at KMSKA (25/06 till 24/09/2000)25 Jun 2000
    • TheatricalALArt Cinema OFFoff (Ghent)16 Feb 2026

Frequently asked questions

James Ensor in Oostende, ca. 1920 was released on 25 June 2000.

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