A brilliant film program about Vanitas

Programmer Immanuel Verhoeven of Filmhuis De Spiegel can talk about it for hours: when the request came from SCHUNCK to create a fitting selection of films around the theme of Andy Warhol: Vanitas, the metaphorical bag of marbles opened for him.

With themes such as mortality, transience, and vanity, as a programmer, there are many directions you can take. He decided to consult the best archive a programmer can have: his memory. This resulted in five films (and possibly a sixth, more on that later) that are all different but each shine in their own beauty. The films will be shown starting in October, almost every month, always on a Sunday afternoon, right after the Sunday tour. This way, visitors can first go to the exhibition, with or without a guided tour, and then attend the film screening. Immanuel explains why certain choices were made and what makes the films so special.

Immanuel, what can you tell us about the films? Why did you choose these specific films?

“We initially wanted to show films by Andy Warhol himself because many people forget how important he was to the film world. But that wasn't possible due to rights issues. So I started thinking more about the theme of 'transience' and the beauty of life. The choice to include work by Jonas Mekas was obvious, which is why no less than two of his films will be shown in the coming months. My personal favorite is ‘As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty.’ Mekas was a personal friend of Andy Warhol and was part of the avant-garde movement in the 1960s in the U.S. He was there when Warhol filmed ‘Empire,’ which is also featured in the exhibition. ‘As I Was Moving...’ is about transience. It’s a film diary that Mekas originally made without a plan, which ultimately resulted in a transcendental film about the beauty and meaning of life. The film has many fans worldwide but is rarely shown anymore. So we are very happy to have it.”

And the other film by Mekas, is it similar?

“That would be ‘Diaries, Notes and Sketches,’ another film diary, about the underground culture in New York at that time. You see how Andy Warhol, as well as filmmakers like Carl Theodor Dreyer, Barbet Schroeder, and Stan Brakhage, worked. The documentary features many famous figures from the American avant-garde. But of course, we also have films by other directors, not to be forgotten.”

"I have tried to cover the whole world with my 'marbles.' 'La Ultima Tierra' is a film from Paraguay, an incredible debut by a 32-year-old man, about an elderly man who loses his wife. It's beautifully portrayed in serene images. When I first saw this film at the IFFR, the entire audience was completely silent—it was incredibly moving. We are also showing 'Samsara,' a film from Thailand. While the previous film has a more Christian perspective, this one is more Buddhist in nature. It’s about a woman who is dying and asks a young monk to guide her through the process of death. Her soul embarks on a journey to another body, which continues living in Africa. For Samsara, we decided to close the balcony in the Royal Theater because the director emphasized that viewers should experience the film as close to the screen as possible. 

The fifth and final film, 'Spira Mirabilis,' is hard to define. The Italian documentary revolves around humanity's obsession with immortality, showing it in the form of an endless life cycle of a jellyfish, the perpetual work on an ancient cathedral in Milan, and more. Years ago, this film brought me to a state of ecstasy at the Venice Film Festival. It has never been shown in the Benelux before, so this is a unique opportunity."

It doesn't sound like light fare, does it?

"That's correct, these are unique films, but I would encourage people to open themselves up, take their time, and allow themselves to be enchanted. The current film industry is focused on speed and avoiding boredom. But taking time for one of these films could be life-changing. The rhythm and pacing of auteur films in arthouses are generally slower. The foundation for this was laid in the 1960s, the era of avant-garde and experimental films in which Warhol was also active. During that time, there was a lot of experimentation with editing, framing—it was generally slow. Warhol himself didn’t want to tell stories with his films or introduce and develop characters. He wanted to experiment with the medium, and that was what made it so beautiful."