↓
Jean Harlez
Jean Harlez (Belgium, 1924-2026) was described by some as “the wild man of Belgian cinema”. The son of a blacksmith, he was a self-taught filmmaker working on the margins of professional circles. He entered the film world in 1947 as an assistant to Charles Dekeukeleire and later worked for many years as a cameraman for Marcel Broodthaers. After a period of unemployment, Harlez built his own 35mm camera and, without any financial support, made a short film about an agricultural cooperative. When the Belgian Ministry of Agriculture bought the film, the money he received allowed him to make his big dream come true: “to shoot a real feature film”. Le chantier des gosses (1970) was the result of that adventure. The press reacted enthusiastically to this debut film in a new genre: “The first Belgian neo-realist full-length film!”
Jean Harlez was a remarkably versatile artist, whose oeuvre included short films, cinematic accounts of his voyages to Greenland, and, later in life, life-size collages (“assemblages”). In March 2026, Jean Harlez and his wife, the journalist, writer, and screenwriter Marcelle Dumont, were awarded the honorary distinction of Knight in the Order of the Crown in recognition of their contribution to the Belgian artistic landscape.
The Marolles is a playground for kids until one day workmen shake up the neighbourhood. The children declare war on them. A film about Brussels in the 1950s, in collaboration with the inhabitants.
An old coco merchant is making his way through the bustling market squares of the Marolles neighborhood with a large beverage dispenser on his back, serving licorice lemonade to locals. A precious document of city life in mid-century Brussels.