Django and Manneken Swing [film]

DJANGO

Django Reinhardt is considered the pioneer of (European) guitar jazz and the father of so-called swing jazz. Born in a village in Hainaut, Reinhardt was a gipsy, a group of people persecuted by the Nazis. This did not stop him from continuing to play his beloved jazz music.

In 1943, the brilliant, carefree jazz guitarist is at the height of his fame, playing in the grandest halls of German-occupied Paris. When he is forced by the Nazis to go on tour to Germany, he sees no other way out but to flee ...

2017 | director: Etienne Comar
117 minutes | English with Dutch subtitles

MANNEKEN SWING

In the pre-war era, jazz was at its peak in Belgium, and our orchestras were at the forefront of this musical movement in Europe. This unprecedented artistic creativity saw the birth of the biggest Belgian radio jazz orchestra under the direction of Stan Brenders, internationally recognised thanks to broadcasting, recordings from the time and the abundance of jazz clubs in Brussels. How did this music, a simple way of expressing modernity, dance and frivolity become a vehicle for propaganda under the occupation? Will this dramatic ambivalence overthrow our hero … or will the conductor’s baton turn on him ?

2015 | director: Julien Bechara
52 minutes | French with Dutch subtitles

Timing

• 16.00 – 18.00h: Django
• 18.00 – 19.00h: Manneken Swing

More info