Charlie Speeckaert on The Last Jewish Summer
During the summer of 1942, Antwerp authorities collaborated with the German occupiers to round up and deport more than 10,000 Jews. Tragically, only 500 of them would return after the war. This dark chapter in Antwerp’s history is now being brought to the fore. Directed by Thom Vander Beken, The Last Jewish Summer follows students in a secondary school in Antwerp, researching about the fate of Jewish students expelled in 1942 from the same school by the Nazis. They are confronted with family members of both Jewish Holocaust victims and Nazi accomplices. The documentary was captured by DOP Charlie Speeckaert.
“The director initially contacted me for another documentary, but because of circumstances this one was shot first,” begins Speeckaert. “It’s the first time I’ve workedwith the director and the production company. The story is strong and relevant and I’m glad they contacted me because I’m very happy that I got the opportunity to be part of it, especially as a young woman.”
The story of the family members depicted in the documentary connect with the school in Antwerp and students at the school engage with the dark history. “There is a big connection point, and Thom wanted to make it relevant. He did lots of interviews and he chose students who interacted really well. It sounds like a casting, but it was students who gave different insights. It’s a really diverse school as well and that helps makes a story more interesting for today because that’s more the reality.”
Throughout the documentary interviewees reenact the stories they tell, confronting the past. “The director had this envisioned in his mind for a long time,” explains Speeckaert. “They are real stories of the people, but he didn’t want to hide that there is a hand and that there are decisions made. He wanted to make it meta and build a set with lights and also place them in the decors and go back in time and make their stories come alive. The interviewees knew up front that would be the method. Thom had been researching the project for years. While in the archives he realised that some of the families’ stories are connected and so he connected the puzzles. I think he really wanted to also not hide that it was a film. You still place a camera at that moment and that’s what you show at the time. I think it was really interesting to approach it like that.”
In one emotional scene, two interviewees both look towards a door that’s ajar as they reveal the connection between their families. “It was emotionally too difficult for the Jewish character to be on set at the same time as the son of the accomplice who wasresponsible for the arrest of her family. So, we used the magic you can use withcinema,” says Speeckaert. “They were never there together and it was shot on different days. Thom really wanted them to have that powerful moment together. He knew he wanted to do something with it. You never actually see them together, although it almost feels like they’re looking at it together. It worked well. You do the classic shotset-up to make it appear as if they are facing toward one another. They both knew that the director wanted to go there and their emotions are real.”
When it came to capturing the different memories, the team carefully constructed a vintage aesthetic that fit each individual memory. Speeckaert looked at the 2022 film Argentina, 1985 as a grading and lighting reference. The set, framing and static style was influenced by De nieuwe Orde. “I’m so happy that Thom sent a lot of references to me,” admits Speeckaert. “Our research was based on one of the Maurice De Wilde’sinterviews which never aired. It is a real video of a Jew hunter (Jodenjager). He’s just sitting his living room and talking about it, which was so intriguing. It’s so powerful and real. It was during that period when interviews were a static 4:3. That’s why we adopted the 4:3 framing style. It’s a documentary, but we also wanted a cinematic aesthetic.”
The director also took inspiration from daily life. “Sometimes he was walking in the streets and he’d send pictures of windows and everything that interested him,” adds Speeckaert. “He also went to museums and took pictures of sculptures. So, that was amazing for me. For me, it was about finding a certain look and feel and how to place a light, for example. A lot of interviews are just talking heads and we only had nine days to shoot this. There are lots of interviewees, including the students and so you don’t have a lot of time with each person. I’m so happy because this documentary is different than other documentaries I shot because it’s almost like fiction, but with real characters.Everything was so well planned, because in nine shooting days, you have to be very strict with timing.”
Speeckaert frequently works on documentaries and enjoys the process. “I like working in documentary and this is a bit hybrid and meta. Sometimes other documentaries can be very run and gun and fly on the wall style. They’re all different, but I think we could be very creative for this. We really show it in a way that it’s meta, and we don’t hide that it’s something constructed in style, but not in story. I think it’s very magical with documentary as a whole and it’s really about going to the essence. If you miss a moment you have to be creative in the moment to solve it. Sometimes the magic happens that you even didn’t plan.”
Working on a documentary such as this one with its subject matter can have a very emotional impact. “I think Thom approached it really well and prepared the interviewees,” says Speeckaert. “There was a safe space. It could be difficult, of course even if you know where you’re headed towards. I think it’s also the style of the movie to not hide that they’re just people placed in front of a camera and being captured.”
Speeckaert captured the documentary with the ARRI Amira and Zeiss lenses during the summer of 2023. “It was also a good call on the director’s part to use a mirror box placed in front of the camera. So, the people talking look directly into the camera, but because of the mirror they are really talking with the director. There is eye contact all the time and they talk and do the interview. It’s really safe because they just tell the director their stories, as they did already many times before, but then it was again in that safe bubble. That helped technically, as they looked in the camera, but it didn’t feel like an alien or something abstract. We didn’t have that box all the time and that was only with the interview parts.”
Although archival footage is used throughout, though it’s used sparingly. “Thom didn’t want an archive movie and he wanted to use as little archive footage as possible,” says Speeckaert. “It’s still a movie where those archives really can help to place you back in the ‘40s, but I think he’s happy that it’s not all the time. It’s really about reminding us of the history because today we live in such a complex world and I think this documentary will help to keep reminding us.”
“I do want to also give a lot of love to the decor because documentary doesn’t have the same financial support as fiction,” continues Speeckaert. “The art director, Špela Tušardid such a good job creating those worlds. I’m so happy how she approached it and itwas very helpful. Normally when I do documentary, I do my own focus and I don’t have a gaffer. It’s just the director, sound person and myself. But here it was a bit bigger with the decor. There was the art director, the director and sound person, but we also had a gaffer and a focus puller. For two days we had a dolly as well, which for a documentaryis very fancy. The lighting person was alone for the duration, so everybody worked really hard. Everybody was on the same page and it was really powerful to see it unfold and see people tell their stories in front of the camera.”
Of course, working on a film like this can be difficult to discuss. “On every project I learned so much and I love the projects where I still am learning things of the world and people and emotions. This one is the most difficult to talk about because it is so complex. The conversation about this movie should never stop,” concludes Speeckaert.
Camera Crew
Gaffer: Gert-Jan Coorevits
1st AC: Robbe Vandekeere
Grip: Jesse Umut
Inserts: Camera assistent + gaffer: Diren Agbaba
By Oliver Webb
behind the scene photos by Enzo Smits