Henri Storck
Henri Storck (Belgium, 1907-1999) was a pioneer in documentary filmmaking. He is best known for his documentaries Misère au Borinage (1933), a pamphlet against capitalism made with Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens, and his bucolic, Virgilian Symphonie Paysanne (1944). Storck made numerous films on art, which played a major role in his life and work, his Belgian contemporaries being Léon Spilliaert, James Ensor and Constant Permeke. His films on art include Le monde de Paul Delvaux (1946), Rubens (1948), and Herman Teirlinck (1953). The connection to his birthplace is reflected in films such as Images d’Ostende (1928), a beautiful ode to Storck’s hometown and its beach. In 1964, he formed the International Association of Documentary Filmmakers, together with Gian Vittorio Baldi and John Grierson. He was one of the founders of the Royal Film Archive (now CINEMATEK) in Brussels.