Belgian humour is truly one of a kind: absurd, surreal and self-mocking. Great for filmmaking, though! (And this hilarious short film programme.)

Belgium’s relationship with animation is anything but boring. Just as the country’s politics, its artistic output is lively and often surrealist. Today, animators like Emma de Swaef & Marc Roels continue a long-standing Belgian tradition of surrealism, magic realism and absurdism, without ever losing focus of profound human emotions. And it only seems like yesterday when the late Raoul Servais pioneered the medium in Belgium in the sixties, initiating a separate department for animation film at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent – a first for continental Europe.

Belgium loves to experiment, not just with fries and waffles. In the previous century, artists dabbled with “Ride” movies, 3D projections, and the interplay between live-action and animation. Brussels was once the capital of European animation, housing the largest animation film studio in Western Europe. Despite the country’s modest size, it has produced many a great animation film auteur, who went on to garner acclaim around the world – it feels almost surreal Hollywood has never made a call.

Yet, the Belgian animation scene is notoriously hard to pin down. At first glance, nobody seems to have anything in common … But put two and two together and the connections become apparent: a passion for graphic art deeply rooted in Belgium’s rich pictorial tradition (thank you, Flemish Masters), a nostalgic return to traditional techniques (especially stop-motion), and humour. Lots of humour, preferably of the most absurd kind. And of course, surrealism is never far from the party, and why would it be? After all, the surrealist art movement practically originated in Belgium. Or did anyone forget about René Magritte and his pipe?

Humour
A good joke is universal, but Belgian humor is truly one of a kind. It’s the special within special. Absurd, surreal and self-mocking, yet always with a warm heart for the ordinary man who just tries to make the most of every situation: Belgium’s sense of humour is as good as it gets.

This program screened as part of Kaboom Animation Festival 2025

Showing in this program

A Greek Tragedy

• Nicole van Goethem
• Belgium, 1985
• 6 min.

Catherine

• Britt Raes
• Belgium / France, 2016
• 11 min.

Catherine loves pets! But most of all, she loves her cat.
As she grows up, she can not connect with other people.
Her cat is her life, and little by little she grows up to be a crazy old cat lady…
Will she ever find friendship, or love?

Drijf

• Levi Stoops
• Belgium, 2023
• 15 min.

Two people adrift at sea are fighting a bloody battle for the survival of both themselves and their relationship.

Flatlife

• Jonas Geirnaert
• Belgium, 2004
• 10 min.

Utmost innocent and harmless actions in the daily lives of four ordinary people. But of all the bad luck, these people had to live next to each other.

Krak

• Stan Lievens
• Belgium, 2021
• 5 min.

A man crawls out of a banana and explains how he found himself inside this fruit. Meanwhile, a fish is contemplating her own beauty. These two stories are observed and dissected.

Muscle Man in: Metal Mayhem

• Nicolas Gemoets
• Belgium, 2023
• 8 min.

Muscle Man, the world's cleanest superhero, embarks on a thrilling battle against a giant robot determined to reduce the city to rubble, but his obsession with order could lead him to his downfall.

Wildebeest

• Nicolas Keppens / Matthias Phlips
• Belgium, 2017
• 19 min.

Going on a safari is a dream for many. For middle-aged couple Linda and Troyer, it turns into a horribly real adventure when they get left behind in the wilderness.