Following the Cannes Film Festival, in partnership with Peliskan, the Home Frit' Home Micro Frites Museum Brussels is proud to offer you this weekend, Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June 1st, the event: "The Fry Goes to the Movies!"

The program features two cult short films: "Fritland" (1983), by Yves Warson and Gilles Houben, and "La Gourmandise" (1989), by Manuel Gomez.

This event is part of our free open house every first weekend of the month (242 rue des Alliés, 1190 Bruxelles-Forest):

• Saturday, May 31, from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.;
• Sunday, June 1, from 1:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Screenings:

• Saturday, May 31: at 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.;
• Sunday, June 1: at 4:30 p.m.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1232825405084193

«La Gourmandise» by Manuel Gomez (7 min., 1989)

Manuel Gomez, or Manu Gomez, is a Belgian artist and set designer for theater and film. A painter and sculptor, trained as a regent in Visual Arts, and an architectural draftsman, Manu Gomez is also the director of various short and feature films selected and awarded at various festivals, including Cannes. With "La Gourmandise," Manuel Gomez tells us a squeaky story of love and fries in a colorful and dripping animation.

«Fritland», by Yves Warson and Gillis Houben (22 min., 1985)

"Fritland" is a short film, in the style of a Belgian road movie, filmed on Super 8 over four years, from 1979 to 1982, which reveals the behind-the-scenes of nearly 150 fries stands or fritkots/baraques à frites of the era. It observes the codified rituals of the fryers (friturists) and their customers. This fresco of frying immerses us in a Belgian folklore whose typical atmosphere, the source of a true popular cultural phenomenon, was already portrayed as endangered. "Fritland" was only shown 10 times between 1985 and 2015, including three times at Home Frit' Home's Micro Frites Museum in Brussels (twice in 2015 and once in 2016).

A Tribute to Yves Warson and Gillis Houben

In 2015 and 2016, we presented "Fritland" with its producer Yves Warson and co-director Gillis Houben (aka the "painter of fritkots"), who came especially to share their stories and discuss their Belgian cinematic UFO in Super 8. Yves Warson and Gillis Houben have sadly since passed away, the former very recently, and we would like to emphasize the tribute we wish to pay them. Through this tribute, our warmest thoughts go out to their families, loved ones, and friends.

A "Super 8 Fries" Weekend in Collaboration with Peliskan

"The Fry Goes to the Movies!" event, taking place on Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June 1st, was born out of a partnership between Home Frit' Home and Peliskan. Peliskan is an association founded in Brussels in 2019 by filmmakers who are members of the Brussels-based artisanal laboratories Labo BXL and Labobis. The association was born from a shared desire to facilitate access to low-cost film digitization in various formats (8mm, Super 8, 9mm, and 16mm), particularly for marginal, precarious, and diverse artists and productions.

Preserving Images: A Path Under Construction

Peliskan has decided to revisit and restore Super 8's place in the contemporary cinematic landscape by focusing on the National Super 8 Film Festival. This festival is dedicated to Belgian and international creations, both amateur and professional, made entirely in Super 8 format. The festival, initiated by Robert Malengreau, took place between 1974 and 1995 and, during its existence, facilitated the development of and access to a different kind of cinema for the general public. The creation of an archive around the National Super 8 Film Festival and its surroundings is Peliskan's first heritage conservation project and the starting point for the creation of future archives dedicated to Belgian visual memory. Peliskan also offers a customer service for digitizing films from personal archives and any other small-format film: 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, 16 mm, and Super 16.