Discover the VIDEODROOM 2023 programme

A Page of Madness - Wiegedood

Wed 11.10 20:00

VIDEODROOM 2023 opens with a bang: a unique film project by Belgian black metal band Wiegedood. The trio - Levy Seynaeve (vocals, guitar), Wim Coppers (drums) and Gilles Demolder (guitar) - is internationally known for their rabid music and have a rock-solid live reputation. On Wednesday, Oct. 11, they will play an all-new soundtrack to the Japanese silent film A Page of Madness (1926), a long-lost masterpiece set in a mental institution.

About the film

A silent horror film by director Teinosuke Kinugasa (1896-1982), A Page of Madness (1926) is one of the most stunning, baffling and radical experiments in the history of Japanese cinema, even nearly 100 years after its premiere.

The plot: an old sailor works as a janitor in a mental institution so he can be with his wife, who is one of the patients. After she attempts suicide, he tries to free her from the institution.

The film relies primarily on Kinugasa's creative talent: the director explores and pushes the boundaries of what was cinematically possible in the 1920s. Through distortions and extremely stylized imagery, he immerses his audience in a world of madness. The dramatic shock effects and complex double images make the film a visual feast: a guard opens a barred door and the bars remain; a nervous tracking shot through the hallway is superimposed on top of a tracking shot in the opposite direction; memories are seen through the hazy windows of hallucinations. The interpretations also contribute to the alienating atmosphere: all the actors were part of an avant-garde theater company.

About the band

Belgian black metal pride Wiegedood presented their latest record There's Always Blood At The End Of The Road in a sold-out Ballroom at De Vooruit last year. Four years after the De Doden Hebben Het Goed trilogy, dedicated to the much too soon deceased Kabul Golf Club frontman Florent Pevée, the new record focuses on the most disgusting sides of man and society. Because, in their own opinion, "The essence of black metal is to capture the chaos of the world and the complexity of life."

Staying away from the typical black metal themes, they zoom in on the internal struggle we all face to transcend all manner of horror. This takes them into a completely different realm both musically and lyrically. The band calls the record a "dark turn" toward the unexpected and unwelcome. What that sounds like? Like a psychotic ride full of spooky synths, hot club jazz and unsettling samples.

Naima Joris - 'O'

Sun 15.10 - 20:00

An audiovisual spectacle about the magical underwater world

During VIDEODROOM, singer-songwriter Naima Joris will play an improvisational set to images of microscopic plankton by Dutch filmmaker-photographer Jan van IJken.

Van IJken filmed plankton through a number of microscopes, revealing the beauty of these tiny organisms. Phytoplankton are both the main processor of greenhouse gases and the largest primary oxygen producer on Earth. However, these floating microorganisms, on which we thus depend, are threatened by ocean acidification and global warming.

Guided by Van IJken's wondrous images and Naima's fascination with both breathing and water, Naima will play a magical improvisational set. The futuristic guitar lines of Vitja Pauwels and the tuneful sounds of Niels Van Heertum's euphonium will accompany her.

The performance has been aptly named "O," referring to the circle of life - because without plankton, no life is possible - and to "eau," the French word for water. Be amazed by nature and music!

Gift - Eiko Ishibashi x Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Wo 18.10 - 20:00

Multi-instrumentalist & composer Eiko Ishibashi and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi have teamed up once again following their successful collaboration on the critically acclaimed feature film Drive My Car. This new film, titled Gift and written and directed by Hamaguchi, will world premiere at Film Fest Gent with a live score performed by Ishibashi. The duo's new collaboration was developed in conjunction with Hamaguchi’s new feature film Evil Does Not Exist, which takes a different approach to the same footage and scenario.

Eiko Ishibashi is a musical phenomenon who has been fusing styles and genres for over a decade now, from chamber pop and musique concrète to jazz improv, prog and noise. She has collaborated with international artists such as Jim O’Rourke, Keiji Haino, Charlemagne Palestine, Merzbow, Giovanni Di Domenico, Phew, and many others. In 2016, she made her debut as a film composer with the score for Albino’s Tree, before going on to write the music for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar-winning film Drive My Car in 2021. Ishibashi’s captivating score earned rave reviews and won her the Discovery of the Year Award at the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent.

Colin Stetson Soundtracks

20.10 - 20:00

VIDEODROOM is happy to welcome Canadian-American saxophonist, multi-reedist and composer Colin Stetson for an exclusive live performance. Known for his virtuosic and innovative use of circular breathing and assertive, powerful performances, Stetson has been on the forefront of cutting edge music for the last decade.

Film fans and gamers will know Stetson’s striking scores for the horror films 'Hereditary' (2018), 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (2022) and 'The Menu' (2022), and the extremely popular video game 'Red Dead Redemption 2' (2018), among others.

At VIDEODROOM, Stetson will play an exclusive live suite of music based on these scores, complemented by his soundtracks for other films and TV series.

Next to his much lauded solo work, Stetson has made contributions to albums by major artists, including Tom Waits, Bon Iver, Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed, amongst others. After his (solo) breakthrough album 'New History Warfare Vol. 1' (2007), he was enlisted by bands such as Arcade Fire, Timber Timbre and TV on the Radio. In between, the indefatigable Stetson completed his 'New History Warfare' trilogy and the man's 'All This I Do for Glory' was awarded multiple times as 'Album of the Year' in 2017.

Although he mainly gravitates towards the saxophone - mainly bass and alto, but also soprano, tenor and baritone - he also mastered clarinet, flute, French horn and cornet.