Raoul Servais. Godfather of the animation movie in Belgium. And the first Belgian to win a Golden Palm at the Festival de Cannes. SERVAIS is the story of a living legend, on his way to a date with history. At the end of 2018, being 90 years old, Servais was offered two permanent exhibition spaces at Mu.ZEE – Kunstmuseum aan Zee in Ostend. Side by side with James Ensor and Léon Spilliaert, until the end of time.

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This documentary relates the three years prior to this milestone. Starting in October 2015, the film traces the everyday life of Servais. Being an internationally acclaimed animation film maker, he still goes beyond his own limitations time and again, and does it with a contagious enthusiasm, diligence and regularity. Tirelessly, he inspires youths as well as staff members to push their own boundaries.

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In this intimate and honest portrait, we are privy to Servais’ new projects, his sources of inspirations, his larger-than-life dreams, his resourcefulness, his doubts and failures. No matter which direction he takes, the close connection with his home, a mere stone’s throw from Ostend, is never far away. A string of events and activities leads us to the films that have shaped his oeuvre.

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Full of admiration and awe, while retaining a critical edge and thus steering clear of blind adoration, SERVAIS is a poetic profile of a master who keeps on coursing through life with a youthful yearning and a perpetual sense of wonder.