The event, an extension of the successful UFA Film Nights in Berlin, was opened on Saturday by the Belgian Vice Prime Minister Didier Reynders in the presence of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, at the legendary fine arts center at Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts.
UFA silent film classics from the 1920s were screened on two nights, each accompanied by live music. Given the great audience response, the UFA Film Nights are to be continued in Brussels next year, and extended from two to three nights.
At the opening on Saturday, UFA CEO Wolf Bauer briefly spoke to the 1,500 mostly young people attending the film concert and numerous prominent guests about the importance of Europe’s cultural film heritage. Besides European Commission President Barroso and Vice Premier Reynders, the ambassadors of Great Britain, Germany, Spain, and Greece as well as the director of the Goethe-Institut in Brussels, Berthold Franke, were present. The silent film “Nosferatu” was shown on Saturday, to musical accompaniment by the Belgian National Orchestra, conducted by Helmut Imig. Fritz Lang’s silent film “Spies,” accompanied by the musicians Stephen Horne and Kristoff Becker, followed on Sunday.
