The documentary 'WILD GENE - the art of Koen Vanmechelen' by director Joris Gijsen has been selected for the official competition of BAFF – Brussels Art Film Festival.
After the acclaimed broadcast of the film on Belgian television at the end of October 2019, 'WILD GENE' was selected for the official selection of the renowned Festival International du Film sur l' Art (FIFA) in Montreal and at the Brussels Art Film Festival (BAFF) 2020. The global pandemic threw a spanner in the works and ensured a cinema poor periode. The director, artist and producer are therefore delighted that last year's canceled Brussels Art Film Festival can once again take place live and that the documentary 'WILD GENE' will be shown in competition for the first time.
SYNOPSIS
‘WILD GENE’ gives a unique insight in the studio practice of Koen Vanmechelen, one of the most prominent Belgian artists of the last decade. For six years, director Joris Gijsen followed the artist on his work trips around the globe, revealing what drives the artist’s relentless energy and his many encounters. Wild Gene reveals how the artist constantly broadens his philosophical foundation through remarkable contacts with scientists such as Jean-Jacques Cassiman, architect Mario Botta, international curators, thinkers, and indigenous communities.
'WILD GENE' outlines the unique universe of artist and human Koen Vanmechelen. From his biotope in Limburg and his artist's lab full of taxidermy animals, park with living artworks and artistic installations and sculptures, he has been working on his dream for 25 years now. What started with the 'Cosmopolitan Chicken Project' grew into an evolving work of art and meeting place for all species 'LABIOMISTA' in Genk.
PRESS
"It's nice to see how you can turn chickens into an art project with repercussions for human rights." – Knack
“Labiomista is a magical ideas factory without a business plan, where the studio leads into a gigantic aviary." - De Standaard
"The documentary shows 'chicken artist' Koen Vanmechelen as you have never seen him." - HBVL
EVENT FACTS
SUNDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2021 AT 13:30
BAFF 2021 Competition | WILD GENE
Q&A in presence of the director and Koen Vanmechelen
link to eventpage
More about:
- Wild Gene @BAFF: http://www.baffestival.be/nl/
- Director Joris Gijsen: https://willemtel.cargo.site
- Artist Koen Vanmechelen: https://www.labiomista.be
- Originele Soundtrack Wild Gene / Poltrock: https://spoti.fi/3BM9ndh
- Producer Bart Van Langendonck: https://savagefilm.be