Production of a documentary about KIK-IRPA
Director Nina Degraeve had the opportunity to meet with our experts for a documentary film on the 75th anniversary of the Institute, with the help of Belspo. The film has been shot and is expected to be delivered in the summer.
Nina Degraeve, the director
After a documentary experience at the Northern Irish television station RTE-NEWS Belfast, Nina Degraeve studied film directing and production at the HELB-Ilya Prigogine in Brussels, from which she graduated in 2017. During her studies, she made several portraits of artists such as Eric Kengen, Romina Remmo, Igor Tishin and Boris Lehman. After a graduation film on Ray Richardson, which was well received at festivals and received several awards, she is still pursuing her curiosity for the artistic world with a documentary on IRPA and two other ongoing projects: "From Screen to Canvas", on the influence of cinema on three English figurative painters, and "Portrait of Desire", an experimental documentary film on the artist Romina Remmo.
Unsuspected discoveries
In her intentions, the director wants to place the human at the centre: "The testimonies of all the people involved will advance the film narrative to shed light on these jobs, which are little known to the general public, and I would like to emphasise the interdisciplinary approach. The location scouting was done at the beginning of February in preparation for the filming, which took place at the end of February. "It's gratifying to learn about all the different departments," says Nina. "I discovered things I didn't know I had, and I think this is the case for many people in Belgium. IRPA is usually presented as a place for the restoration of painting and sculpture, but this is reductive: you can see that there are textiles, glass, ceramics, metals, as well as new cells like Sustainability. This institution has a vision towards the future for heritage conservation." The difficulty, of course, for Nina is to portray the richness of the institution in a tight time frame. "I wouldn't want to forget anyone, but yes, I had to make choices."
An experienced film crew
Natacha Hostyn, producer and production manager, gathered an experienced team: the cinematographer Léo Lefèvre —who was helped on the production by Bertrand Gatot— the sound engineer Harry Charlier and the assistant director Coline Bastin. During the 5 days of shooting, Nina Degraeve interviewed many colleagues about their job and passion for protecting the Belgian heritage. The film is produced by IOTA Production (Isabelle Truc), an internationally renowned production company that, with over fifty documentary films to its credit, supports emerging directors and pays particular attention to projects by women. "Our heart beats for films that offer a relevant and original point of view as well as a coherent and strong artistic approach", explains Natacha Hostyn.
A premiere planned for Heritage Days
The next step is editing. Guillaume Nolevaux will have the difficult task of assembling the numerous filmed sequences. This will take place in the spring and will be followed by mixing and colour grading, two key moments in the post-production of the film before delivery in the summer. Thank you to Belspo for making this project possible, opening the walls of the institution to the general public as part of its 75th anniversary.
More KIK-IRPA news
Third phase Ghent Altarpiece: First results promise stunning outcome
Since May 2023, the third and final phase of the large-scale conservation-restoration campaign of the altarpiece of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) is ongoing. In recent months, the KIK-IRPA team have been removing non-original varnishes and have carried out a thorough examination of the paint layers underneath. Currently, following the advice of the international commission of experts, they have started removing 16th-century overpaints. Already the first results are breathtakingly beautiful.
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