On the 12th of May, 2021, Avila will celebrate its one-year anniversary. For this festive occasion the platform digitised two films Hedda Gabler (1978) and Pierre (1977), by theatre maker Jan Decorte. Together with his television production Gombrowicz: Incidents, Adventures (1977), these films will be made available online to a worldwide audience. In addition, Avila is giving away 250 free coupons for Hedda Gabler on the 12th of May from 19:30 CET onwards, which will be introduced online by Jan Decorte and his partner in life and art Sigrid Vinks.
Jan Decorte is best known as a theatre maker, although he did spend a number of dedicated early years in the film industry. He appeared in two films by Chantal Akerman, Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) and Toute une nuit (1982). Above all, he directed three films considered milestones in Belgian cinema in only a few years. These films have unfortunately disappeared from the centre of public attention. For this reason Avila took the initiative to digitise Hedda Gabler and Pierre. Jan Decorte’s work is reintroduced to the public more than forty years after its creation. Hedda Gabler narrates the story of a woman, Hedda, who after returning from her honeymoon runs into an old lover. He is about to have a professional breakthrough with an exceptional novel. Pierre is Jan Decorte’s first feature film and follows a day and a night in the lone life of a Brussels municipal clerk who lives with his mother.
The films are available worldwide with Dutch, English and French subtitles