2026  ·  Belgium  ·  Experimental

Winter of Machines (2026)

STATUS: Released

Winter of Machines (2026)

This film is currently not available.   
Winter of Machines juxtaposes the post-industrial landscape of Charleroi with the legacy of Futurism.
Fascinated by Fernand Steven's mural Evocation de la chimie (1936–1938) in the Lycée Léonie de Waha in Liège, which celebrates science, industry and progress, Jan Locus examines the stark contrast between this utopian vision and Charleroi's present struggles with poverty and unemployment.
The film alternates between images of present-day Charleroi - factories, warehouses and relics of its industrial past - and the promise embedded in Steven's mural. Time seems suspended through a restrained montage of static, grey-toned shots devoid of human presence. The haunting soundtrack by sound artist Els Viaene further contributes to this almost ghostly atmosphere.
Have the avant-garde and the industrial age failed in their promise of progress? Or are new upheavals still to come? Locus refuses to take sides, and Winter of Machines consequently breathes both a disquieting melancholy and a buoyant sense of anticipation.

Credits

Director
Jan Locus
Writer
-
Producer
Jan Locus

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