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14/10/2010

Jacques Tati

Caermersklooster - Provincial Cultural Centre, Ghent

Welcome to this prestigious exhibition that has been structured and conceived around Jacques Tati, a director who leaves behind a magnificent legacy in the history of film. From the moment Monsieur Hulot got on his bike, he automatically became an indelible part of our collective memory. Time holds no sway over his spiritual father because his work has travelled much further than the location and circumstances from which it first emerged. The living proof is this exhibition that has been set up in collaboration with the Cinémathèque française and Les Films de Mon Oncle.

This is the first time that the Ghent Film Festival has worked together with this influential institution whose role in French cultural life cannot be underestimated. This type of cross-border partnership where we share in each other’s projects is enriching and edifying and I want to thank the managers for the seamless way that they have been able to make this initiative a successful reality. Of course I want to mention our own Cinematek here that has provided us with specialised and invaluable support and input for longer than I can remember. Thanks are due to therefore Gabriëlle Claes and her team for arranging the presence of the Tati films here.

My gratitude is all the greater because this exhibition is particularly dear to me and close to my heart, as I have had the great honour of knowing Jacques Tati in person. I don’t need to go into any details about his often difficult career in the world of film. A career that brought him to our province and to our city; he filmed part of his last film, Trafic, not far from Sint-Niklaas. This visionary film painted more than 40 years ago a picture of the problems of mobility that we find ourselves confronted with today.

I found Jacques Tati to be an engaging character and a very exacting professional. He was affectionate towards everyone and always had lots of anecdotes to tell. It is rare to meet someone who teaches you to look at people and things around you. He was not a person to keep looking back at the past, nor did he hanker after it. His total focus was on the future. Hence the construction of Tativille, designed for young people. Tati’s smile faded rather when that project failed but Monsieur Hulot absorbed him and the world became a little less harsh and more poetic again. He did not hold a dark mirror before us, but a mirror that helped us smile and which allowed us to see our failings and less positive aspects in perspective and in a unique visual manner.

I also remember Jacques Tati as an appreciative man. We had the honour for instance of showing the Belgian première of his film Trafic in the Ghent Capitole and the ensuing reception in the town hall was remembered vividly and for a long time by the then mayor, Placide De Paepe. Tati felt at home in Ghent and we paid tribute to this by including the restored 70mm version of his PlayTime into our programme some years ago.

This exhibition is another type of homecoming for an ingenious film artist. It will take place in the magnificent Caermersklooster and it would not have been possible without the crucial support of the Province of East Flanders. For which I offer our most heartfelt thanks. The same goes for all the staff who have been involved near and far in this high point of our 37th festival edition.

In an interview that can be found in this press file, Jacques Tati once expressed the hope that “his work would continue to inspire lots of people thirty years on”. Those thirty years have elapsed and his humour continues to be infectious. So, it’s a case of looking forward to more of this during the next thirty years.

Jacques Dubrulle - Delegate of the Board
The exhibition ‘JACQUES TATI: In Double Quick Time’, that will run from 15 October 2010 to 16 January 2011 in the Caermersklooster - Provincial Cultural Centre, is organised in association with the 37th Ghent Film Festival. Most people are aware of the strong bond between the Provincial Authorities and the Ghent Film Festival. Our authorities first awarded a grant to the Ghent Film Festival in 1987 (quite modest at the time). In 1996, the festival actually became one of our ‘centres of excellence.’ Around five large cultural organisations in East Flanders benefit from a not insignificant grant from the Province each year.

The Provincial Authorities also work together with the Ghent Film Festival via the Caermersklooster organising exhibitions that are associated with the many activities in and around the film festival, and this is the twelfth such occasion. Not all exhibitions were as ambitious as this one, but that does not make them any less interesting. They include: ‘Raoul Servais’, ‘Joseph Plateau’, ‘The Misfits’, ‘Harold Lloyd’ and ‘Anime’, the exhibition about Japanese animation.

The ‘JACQUES TATI’ exhibition that has been put together by the Cinémathèque française in collaboration with Les Films de Mon Oncle and which was first shown in 2009 in Paris is without a doubt the most prestigious exhibition to date after ‘Stanley Kubrick’ to be produced by the partnership between the Provincial Authorities and the Ghent Film Festival.

The exhibition that is a tribute to the French director, actor and comedian is a subtle reflection of the unique world of Tati’s films with particular focus on the sets, costumes and locations of Mon Oncle and PlayTime. The exhibition, just like his films, features futuristic furniture and minimalist interiors contrasting with idyllic, painterly scenery and even contains references to Tati’s experimentation with colour.

The fact that the Caermersklooster - Provincial Cultural Centre is putting on this unique exhibition and the fact that the Ghent Film Festival is showing a number of Tati films in a retrospective programme bears witness yet again to the close and excellent co-operation between our Authorities and the Ghent Film Festival. This co-operation will most certainly result in a large turnout and we hope that it will be given the media coverage it deserves!

Jozef Dauwe - Provincial Deputy for Culture
Jacques Tati, with six features to his name over a period of more than 20 years, was not the most prolific director, but he was without a doubt one of the most inventive. As director and actor, he created a world that still forms part of our collective memory.

More than 60 years after Jacques Tati’s first feature film, the Ghent Film Festival wants to give the French director, actor and comedian a worthy tribute. In order to bring the world of Tati fully to life, the Province of East Flanders is putting on the exhibition ‘JACQUES TATI: In Double Quick Time’ in the Caermersklooster - Provincial Cultural Centre on the initiative of and in collaboration with the Ghent Film Festival. It is produced by the Cinemathèque française in collaboration with Les Films de Mon Oncle.

Tati once said: “I want the film to start when you leave the cinema.” Therefore he would appreciate this unusual exhibition. Never before has the unique vision of Tati been so tangible for the public. Tati fans will be able to get their fill of original pieces and reproductions: the office set for PlayTime, the design interior of Villa Arpel, the bike of François the postman in Jour de Fête, Tati’s legendary pipe in XL format and a multitude of hitherto unseen photos, posters, props, costumes, models and storyboards. For those who are less familiar with the works of Tati, the exhibition provides a fun and colourful setting for discovering the humour and aesthetics of this exceptional director. All in all the exhibition will feature objects displayed in a surface area of more than 500m2 and will show dozens of film clips.

The ‘JACQUES TATI’ exhibition is a creation of the Cinemathèque française in collaboration with Les Films de Mon Oncle and is designed by Macha Makeïeff.. Ghent is the second city after Paris where the exhibition will be shown. The original concept will be adapted for Ghent to fit in with the stunning location of the Caermersklooster.

Presse contact: Ghent Film Festival
Tom Heirbaut
Tel.: +32 (0)9 242 80 79
Mail: press@filmfestival.be

A press preview of the exhibition is planned for October 14, 2010 at 2 pm. There is no charge for viewing the exhibition during this preview. Camera teams and photographers are kindly asked to notify to the Festival Press Service in advance.

Opening 15 October 2010

Caermersklooster - Provincial Cultural Centre
Vrouwebroersstraat 6, 9000 Ghent.
Open every day from 10h00 to 17h00 (access until 16h30) except for Monday.
Closed on 25 December and 1 January.
Tickets cost €8 or €6 (discounted rate).
Discounted rate for people under 26, job seekers, Knack Club members, over 60s, holders of a teacher’s card or a museum pass.
Reservations for guided tours and groups can be made via vzw Gandante (+32 (0)9 375 31 61).
Information about exclusive soirées via the Ghent Film Festival
(astrid@filmfestival.be, +32 (0)9 242 80 70).

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