We see how a fat baker's son, cheerful and whistling, has himself hauled up a mountain by a large number of native slaves. Realism, surrealism and the absurd compete for priority in these narratives, which are in part based on extensive research, but for the larger part sprung from the imaginations of the filmmakers. They feature a Pygmy employed in a hotel working as an ashtray holder, a Fleming in search of happiness who falls in love with a snail, a native porter who survives a terrible accident, and an army deserter who flees to the colony to make bricks. The remaining four chapters take place predominantly in the colony. The film’s title is taken from one of the king’s addresses, in which he stated he wanted a piece of 'that magnificent cake'. He got one, thanks to successfully lobbying at the Berlin Colonial Conference in 1884-1885, where European heads of state divided Africa into chunks. The king in the opening scene of This Magnificent Cake! is Leopold II, the Belgian king whose urge for self validation at the end of the nineteenth century led him to desire a private colony. She and Roels are currently working on their first feature length film. Since summer 2019 De Swaef has also been a member of the Oscar Academy. It is also very special that the film was screened in Dutch and Belgian cinemas, despite its unusual length.
Even though this is only the duo’s second short film following their studies at the LUCA School of Art in Gent, it proved so special that it was picked to be part of the Cannes Director’s Fortnight 2018 short film selection. Everything has been worked out down to the tiniest details. Even the water is wool, so a baguette, or the metal bars of a ship’s cabin. The 44-minute film has been made using stop-motion technology – each frame photographed separately – and made entirely from wool, felt and textiles.
This is the beautiful, funny and symbolic opening scene of This Magnificent Cake!, made by the Belgian film duo Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels.
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