Ghent in Motion filmmakers in a New York state of mind
The Michael Tiger public relations firm, makers of the popular Ghent in Motion film showcasing the best of the capital of East Flanders, might have the opportunity to take the concept to America’s East Coast
New York in motion?
It doesn’t sound like the founding of Ghent you read about in history books, but it is an entertaining way to begin a film about the capital of East Flanders – Ghent in Motion. Filmed with creative imagery of the city’s monuments, artworks, streets and infrastructure, the 50-minute film looks like it was made for promotion purposes, but it was really a labour of love for the Michael Tiger public relations firm.
Michel Blanckaert of Michael Tiger spearheaded the project. “Everybody always asks us: ‘Who asked you to do this; who funded it?’ We just say: ‘Nobody, we just did it.’ We’re like fish who swim against the current.”
After producing a two-minute sample about two years ago, Blanckaert managed to get more than 170 business owners in Ghent to crowdfund his idea for a film that would tell a unique story about Ghent, with a bit of narration but mostly rapid-fire shots of everything the city has to offer – from historical grandiosity to sweaty, all-night clubs.
He was eventually also offered €20,000 from the city and the loan of a drone, which provided the film with its impressive aerial shots. Blanckaert admits, though, that it was really his crew’s belief in the project that kept it going. But the city and others did take notice. The crew (pictured) put together a short version for Ghent’s light festival last January at the request of organisers.
The final version was finally ready to premiere last spring. “We launched it in the Vooruit arts centre in Ghent,” says Blanckaert. “It was packed. We had to turn people away. It was the biggest queue at Vooruit I’ve ever seen in my life, and that’s saying a lot.”
A real dragon
Viewers might consider Ghent in Motion to be pretty exhaustive in its presentation of the city, but, says Blanckaert, “each time I walk through the city, I see images, and I think, ‘Shit, this wasn’t in the movie!”
He’s consoling himself with a new project, Port Explorers Ghent, “a 30-minute National Geographic kind of adventure movie”.
As for Ghent in Motion, his firm now gets requests from schools and other institutions to screen the film. It can also be seen online.
We need New Yorkers who really know the city
Flanders House in New York, which represents the region’s interests in the US, also showed it recently on a screen in their offices. Harry Gross, a local developer and owner of New York’s Marriott hotel, saw it. And he liked what he saw.
So it could be that the staff of Michael Tiger will soon head to New York and make the same kind of movie for the city that never sleeps. Gross has said that he would like to hook them up with the right people.
Blanckaert is now hoping for an official screening of Ghent in Motion at Flanders House. “That should help us build a bridge to the right people,” he says. “We need New Yorkers who really know the city and a local production team.”
Will there be a dragon? Probably not. The dragon in Ghent in Motion isn’t fiction; she’s watching over the city to this day, perched at the top of the belfry.
Photo courtesy Ghent in Motion / Michael Tiger 2015
