RE/SCORED: MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA X DIJF SANDERS LIVE

Silent film with English subtitles

A close-up of an eye through a camera lens. A cameraman who seems to be floating above a city. A sequence of what seems to be one superimposition after the other. That’s Dziga Vertov’s MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA in a nutshell. But is it even possible to summarise the avant-garde silent Soviet movie? The film follows a man with a camera, while he captures the city life around him in Moscow and Odessa. From experimental documentary to art film and city symphony, many critics have tried to analyse the film. But it remains difficult to pinpoint what exactly is MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA.

Luckily we can call upon an equally great enigma – but this time musically – in the shape of multi-instrumentalist and composer David ‘Dijf’ Sanders, who will interpret the film live in his own language and will perform an original soundtrack to MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA. The Ghent-based artist specialises in experimental music, sound design and field recording in a boundless mix of styles and multicultural influences. Much like Vertov, Sanders uses his medium to explore the possibilities of its abilities. Collaborations with Warhaus, Sylvie Kreusch, Matthias De Craene’s MDC III and Wim Vandekeybus (Die Bakchen – Lasst uns tanzen), are only a few of the feathers in his cap, just like his successful solo albums.

Wondering what sound trance, eclectic beats, mantra style techno fused together with a cinematic masterpiece can become? On Thursday the 30th of October at 8 p.m. in the concert hall of De Studio.

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA renounces the narrative. Everything the movie wants to say, it says through the medium of film. Vertov went even further in his absolute authorship, and made the famous statement “I am the camera eye. I am the mechanical eye. I am the machine which shows you the world as only I can see it.”

The absurd compositions and manipulated actions, with trick cuts and tilted frames, made Vertov famous. But it’s the montage by Vertov’s wife Yelizaveta Svilova, which made the film so iconic. In addition to Svilova, Vertov also worked with his brother and cinematographer Mikhail Kaufman. Together, the trio proclaimed at the beginning of their masterpiece that they were looking to create “a truly authentically international language of cinema” that was “based on its absolute separation from the language of theatre and literature”.

Just like the more well-known Dogma 95 – which we dedicate a programme to from September to October 2025 (check the complete Dogma 95 programme in collaboration with Bozar) – Vertov wrote his own manifesto about what a ‘real film’ should be. Upon the official release of MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA, Vertov issued a statement at the beginning of the film, which read:

“A real film represents an experimentation in the cinematic communication of visual phenomena. Without the use of intertitles. Without the help of a scenario. Without the help of theatre.”

To Vertov the innovative film technology is the one to call the shots, not the director, nor the screenplay, or the actors and sets.

If only he knew that the multi-talented Dijf Sanders is pulling the strings of this screening in a musical exploration of a filmic masterpiece. A collaboration with De Cinema and De Studio as part of our RE/SCORED series.