THE APPLAUSE MAN
Dir.: Ruben Vermeersch
2014 | 39 min
Belgium
Antoon De Pauw had his fifteen minutes of fame during the ‘90’s. He was known for his numerous attempts to steal applause on public occasions. No stage, show or event was spared from Antoon’s streakings: fully dressed-up in tuxedo, he jumped on scene to receive the applause from the audience. The purpose of these appearances has always remained a mystery. Was it rebellion against the growing mass media? Or was it a cry for attention? Some said he was just mad, crazy. What started out as something innocent had become a life-changing obsession for Antoon. Addicted to the rush and trapped in a controversial media storm, he completely lost it. His sudden death, 10 years ago, left a lot of questions unanswered. The Applause Man shines a new light on the life and story of this forgotten cult-celebrity. The Applause Man is a film about a man devoted to applause, and how far he went for his passion.
The film is screened in Flemish with English and Latvian subtitles.
Ruben Vermeersch (31) studied Audiovisual Arts at RITS Brussels. After graduation, he soon started working his own projects, by going to Cairo for his portrait of a one-legged taxidriver in ‘Fate on wheels’. In 2014, he directed the documentary ‘What about Eric?’ together with Lennart Stuyck, about Eric Kabongo, a young African rapper trying to make it in Belgium. Meanwhile, he also worked on his new documentary The Applause Man, which later won Best Documentary at Festival du Film de l’Art 2015 in Brussels, Belgium.
The screening of will be followed by a lecture "Inside the Applause Man: How a Crazy Story Came to the Screen." The director of the "The Applause Man", Ruben Vermeersch, takes you behind the scenes of the making of his critically acclaimed film. Ruben will share with the audience the production process from the story's origins to the films reception. Ruben shares the story of how making the film was even crazier than the actual life story of the applause man himself.