Datasets and Partners

The database behind Cinema Belgica is the result of the integration of a series of separate datasets, which were often built in the context of academic research. The most important datasets are:

  • Dataset Belgian official film control decisions, 1921-2003. This longitudinal dataset contains detailed information on the decisions of the Belgian Board of Film Control (Commission de contrôle des films/Belgische Filmkeuringscommissie), more in particular its decisions to admit children to enter the cinema or not (with the age limit of 16 years). The dataset results from the research project Verboden Beelden/Forbidden Images (UGent, FWO, researcher Liesbet Depauw, supervised by Daniel Biltereyst, 2003-06). This large dataset provides invaluable insights into censorship practices of the Belgian Board of Film Control.
  • Dataset Belgian official film cuttings, 1921-1992. This longitudinal dataset contains detailed information on the decisions of the Belgian Board of Film Control (Commission de contrôle des films/Belgische Filmkeuringscommissie), more in particular its decisions to admit children to enter the cinema or not (with the age limit of 16 years). The dataset also reports on cuttings which were demanded from film distributors and exhibitors—a procedure which only ended in 1992. The dataset results from the research project Verboden Beelden/Forbidden Images (UGent, FWO, researcher Liesbet Depauw, supervised by Daniel Biltereyst, 2003-06). As such, this large dataset provides invaluable insights into censorship practices and moral values underneath the Belgian Board of Film Control.
  • Dataset Belgian official film control decisions, 2004-12. This longitudinal dataset contains detailed information on the decisions of the Belgian Board of Film Control (Commission de contrôle des films/Belgische Filmkeuringscommissie) for the more recent period between 2004 and 2012. The dataset results from the master’s thesis of Tim De Canck (UGent, supervised by Daniel Biltereyst, 2013).
  • Dataset The Enlightened City. This research project concentrated on the history of film venues and cinema experiences in Flanders. One of the results was a major longitudinal dataset on film venues and other related data in Flanders and Brussels. The project was funded by the FWO (UAntwerp researchers Gert Willems/Kathleen Lotze and supervisor Philippe Meers; UGent researcher Liesbeth Van de Vijver and supervisor Daniel Biltereyst, 2005-8).
  • Dataset Antwerp Cinema City, 1952, 1962, 1972. This dataset provides information on Antwerp’s historical cinema culture. The data comes from the Antwerp Kinemastad project (BOF-UAntwerp, researcher Kathleen Lotze, supervisor Philippe Meers, 2009-12), and it enables more fine-grained comparative analysis with other Belgian cities like Ghent (see John Sedgwick’s story Measuring Filmgoing and Film Popularity).
  • Dataset Ghent Cinema City, 1932-36, 1945, 1952, 1962, 1972. This dataset provides information on the historical cinema cultures in Ghent. The data comes from the Gent Kinemastad research project (BOF-UGent, researcher Liesbeth Van de Vijver, supervisor Daniel Biltereyst, 2009-12), and it enables more fine-grained comparative analysis with other Belgian cities like Antwerp (see John Sedgwick’s story Measuring Filmgoing and Film Popularity). Thanks to a master’s thesis by Khael Velders (2011, supervisor Daniel Biltereyst) on the postwar film programming of cinema Capitole for the years 1953-71, Cinema Belgica also contains fine-grained data on Ghent’s premiere cinema Capitole, including box-office results. Another very interesting dataset which was initiated during the Gent Kinemastad project and further developed during the Cinecos project (2018-2022, researchers Tamar Cachet and Daniel Biltereyst) focused on Ghent’s most famous sex cinema, Cinema Leopold. This dataset focused on weekly programs, box office data and other information on Cinema Leopold from 1946 to 1953, and 1965.
  • Dataset Cinema Vooruit. Thanks to a master’s thesis by Miro Burgelman (2010, supervisor Gita Deneckere) on the postwar film programming of Cinema Vooruit for the years 1946-56, Cinema Belgica contains data on Ghent’s socialist cinema.
  • Dataset Film dossiers Catholic Film Ligue/Filmmagie. Thanks to a collaboration with KADOC-KU Leuven, over 7500 films in Cinema Belgica are now linked to film dossiers from the Belgian Catholic Film League, which contain information on film criticism, press and other film related material. Data on over 21.500 additional movies that have been released in Belgium has been added to Cinema Belgica. The new dataset provides insights into film criticism and other film related information on films released in Belgium from the 1930s onwards, and it contains invaluable dossiers on Catholic film control.
  • Dataset Belgian feature fiction film production, 2000-2019. The database is based on the research project The state of the nation in Belgian cinema (BOF-UAntwerp, researcher Bram Van Beek,  supervisor Gertjan Willems) and it contains information on the production of 1379 majority and minority Belgian fiction feature films released between 2000 and 2019. The dataset provides great insights into the national and transnational dynamics of contemporary Belgian cinema.
  • Dataset Cinema in Ostbelgien, 1919-1940. This dataset contains rich data on film exhibition and film programming in cities in the Eastern, German-speaking part of Belgium, mainly in Eupen, Malmedy and Sankt Vith. This dataset, which was produced by Vitus Sproten from the Zentrum für Ostbelgische Geschichte and the Centre for Contemporary and Digital History of the University of Luxembourg, mainly concentrates on the interwar period. Thanks to this collaboration, Cinema Belgica is enriched with more than 2500 new entries, enabling research on historical cinema culture in the eastern part of Belgium. See also Vitus Sproten’s story The curious case of cinema in Ostbelgien.