THIS is why I don't feel so bad about coming back from a year in Belgium with only a rudimentary understanding of the country's governing bodies.
The following video is a striking satire on the complexity and sometimes seemingly illogical structure of the Belgian system.
To my dear Belgian family and friends:
I may not understand your government, but I love you all the same :)
A short animated film about the Belgian political structure.
The text was written by Marcel Sel, a Belgian writer, author of Walen Buiten, a best-seller on the «Belgian Crisis».
The music was specifically composed by Laurent Aglat for the film, and Emma Dornan's beautiful voice gave the commentary its magical tone.
The film was directed by Jerome de Gerlache.
And a special thanks to Karine Quarant-Schmidt !
http://blog.marcelsel.com
http://www.laurentaglat.com
http://www.jeromedegerlache.com
Monday, October 11, 2010
Belgium
This post is labeled:
Belgium,
cinematography,
culture,
France,
history,
humour,
linguistics,
phenomena,
politics
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When Pascal lived with us in Portland (c. 1976), he one day said, "Oh, did you hear? The Belgian government fell last Friday." We were like, "Whoa! Do you need to catch a flight back home?" It sounded pretty serious to us.
ReplyDeleteHis reply was, "Oh no. It's no big deal. It happens every few years."
This is unbelievable and biased ! French is allowed in the Dutch community: everyone is free to speak the language he chooses. The only thing is that official communication must be in Dutch in the Dutch community (and French in the French). At least, for non federal issues. Because official communication for federal issues (pensions for instance) is perfectly legal if it is in the language the citizen chooses, wherever he lives. The fact of blaming the Flemish of being discriminating against French speaking people is typical. It is part of a deliberate attempt to point to Flemish as narrow minded, aggressive people. It is a shame that even in well intentioned and funny movies like this one, this message is passed on to the international community...
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