Because We Are Visual

Gerard-Jan Claes (Belgium, 1987) is a filmmaker, lecturer, author, and curator. He is the co-founder and artistic director of the international film magazine Sabzian and co-founder of the independent film distributor Avila. As a filmmaker, Claes collaborates with Olivia Rochette (Belgium, 1987). Their joint filmography includes Because We Are Visual (2010), Rain (2012), Grands travaux (2016), Mitten (2019), and Kind Hearts (2022), which won the Grand Prix for Best film in the Generation competition at the Berlinale. Since 2009, the duo has provided audiovisual work for choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her dance company Rosas. For Sabzian, he co-edited, with Stoffel Debuysere, the publications Hong Sangsoo. Infinite Worlds Possible (2018), Wang Bing. Filming in a Land in Flux (2018), and Out of the Shadows (2021). More recently, for Leuven University Press, he co-edited with Stéphane Symons Francis Alÿs. The Nature of the Game (2023). As a curator, Claes organised a complete retrospective of Johan van der Keuken at CINEMATEK Brussels, and more recently, a series dedicated to Serge Daney at ICA London. Claes taught at P.A.R.T.S. and LUCA School of Arts in Brussels. 
 

Olivia Rochette (Belgium, 1987) is a director, cinematographer, and co-founder of the online film magazine Sabzian and Avila, a film distributor and online video platform for Belgian cinema. As a filmmaker, she collaborates with Gerard-Jan Claes (Belgium, 1987). Their shared filmography consists of Because We Are Visual (2010), Rain (2012), Grands travaux (2016), Mitten (2019) and Kind Hearts (2022). Since 2009, the duo provides audiovisual work for choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her dance company Rosas. (Avila)