(selection of) Lectures & Talks

I will give a 20 minutes' lecture as an introduction to Grey Gardens (1975), which will be my second contribution to the FilmAtelier, a film program organised by the psychoanalytical organisation, Gezelschap voor Psychoanalyse en Psychotherapie. My Lacanian inspired lecture will be about Truth and the presence of the analyst and the filmmaker.

In the research class Writing about and with the body the students and I will examine as a group the way writing has bodily influences and how to body influences our writing.

Organised by Wisper.

I lecture on screenwriting and mentor individual students on the screenplay of their practical master's thesis at the film school LUCA School of Arts.

I gave a talk on the appearance of the Real and ghosts as an embodiment of loss in cinema during the Inter-cartel day of the Gezelschap voor Psychoanalyse en Psychotherapie (GPP).

In the research class Writing social criticism the students and I examine as a group how to define social criticism and how it has influenced our views on literature, writing and society. We use literary examples as well as theatrical and audiovisual ones to discover whether any writing exists that isn't a reflection of the time and culture it was written in and also to be inspired and aware of the complex intertwinements in our own writing practice.

Organised by Wisper

I gave a guest lecture to the graphic design students of LUCA School of Arts Ghent on storytelling and writing non-fiction.

I gave a 15 minutes' introductory lecture to the film Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962, Agnès Varda), which was my contribution to the FilmAtelier, a film program organised by the psychoanalytical organisation, Gezelschap voor Psychoanalyse en Psychotherapie. My Lacanian inspired lecture was about female identification, the Real and the gaze in Varda's work while illuminating its role of the broader Nouvelle Vague movement.

In the research class Between real and made up the students and I examine as a group the soft border between fiction and facts, between the (auto)biographical and phantasy. We use literary examples as well as theatrical and audiovisual ones to construct a nuanced Mikado stack of opinions as to be inspired and aware of the complex intertwinements in our own writing practice.

Organised by Wisper

I gave two interviews about this new class. Read here and here, both in Dutch.

I gave an introduction to the film Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Chantal Akerman) as part of the Ciné RIO+Croxapox collaboration 'The Third Landscape' in De Koer. I talked about elements of subversion in the film and in Akerman's broader oeuvre.

I gave an introduction to the film A Ghost Story (2017, David Lowery) as part of the Ciné RIO Afterlife film series in De Koer. I talked about time and mourning.

I gave an introduction to the films Blind Vaysha and Das Cabinet Des Dr. Caligari as part of RITCS Cinema's Classics series. I talked about the influence of German expressionism on indie animation films.

Organised by RITCS Cinema and kortfilm.be

I gave a lecture on sex and cinema after which the audience watched the screening of a selection of five short films that illustrated my talk. This was part of a philosophical festival on sexual freedom, called Antagonistisch Festival, organised by the philosophical organisation, 't Zal Wel Gaan.

I gave a talk on photography, the imaginairy and psychoanalysis during the Inter-cartel day of the Gezelschap voor Psychoanalyse en Psychotherapie. I also presented some of my own visual work.

In the research class Writing for fiction podcasts the students and I examined as a group how storytelling works in the new medium of podcasts, specifically in podcasts that tell a fictional story. We started revising the theory of classic storytelling and storytelling for radio plays, and worked our way up to construct fascinating views on structure, dialogue and concept in fiction podcasts.

Organised by Wisper

I mentor screenwriting projects for advanced level students. Several of my students go on to get their film made, to be a professional or semi-professional writer, or to start film school.

I taught and mentored youngsters with immigration roots in writing and filming for short films. Resulting work has been shown at local filmfestivals, such as Ciné Privé.

Organised by Masala vzw & BAZZZ

I gave an introduction to the film Strangers on a Train (1951, Alfred Hitchcock) as a Kinoclub event for the cinephilic organisation Kinoautomat. I talked about the adaptation strategies used when Hitchcock adapted Patricia Highsmith's novel.

I delivered the key note speech on digital storytelling during OJOO's Mobile Storytelling Day 2016.

Aside of the screenwriting semesters, I also occasionally coach classes in creative writing for prose at WISPER.

I lecture in screenwriting and mentor screenwriting projects for short films. These classes are organised by WISPER every semester in two levels: beginners and intermediates and their content is a mix of storytelling theory, film analysis and screenwriting exercises.

Read my Wisper teacher interview here