Cinema
Seagulls Die in the Harbour
Meeuwen sterven in de haven
Synopsis
In the port of Antwerp wanders a nameless man, tormented and penniless, who would like to leave the country but cannot pay for his passage on a ship. He hides, and only a little orphan girl, Gigi, and two women who have seen it all, a bargeman's wife and a prostitute, understand him and try to help him. The reasons that drive him to flee are revealed little by little, among the deserted docks and the poor streets of the city.
Context
The film was produced with the support of Bruno De Winter and shot in the heart of the port of Antwerp. Its expressionist black-and-white images, its abandoned docks and its poor districts owe something to American film noir and French poetic realism, and the music is partly by the jazzman Jack Sels. It made a strong impression on the press and the public, and critics hailed it as the first Flemish film. Restored by the Royal Belgian Film Archive, it returned to Cannes in May 2026, seventy years after its selection.
Who it is for
A fiction feature film of ninety-four minutes, in Dutch, in black and white.
Prizes and reception
The first Belgian film selected for the official competition at Cannes, in 1956; prize for best Dutch-language feature at the Belgian film festival in Antwerp.
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