4. Jan Vanderheyden and Edith Kiel: ‘Leading’ the Belgian Film Sector While Taking Orders from the German Propaganda Service

This chapter analyses the career development of Jan Vanderheyden (1890–1961) and Edith Kiel (1904–1993) during the German occupation of Belgium (1940–1944). Vanderheyden established himself as one of the most productive Belgian film producers and directors in the 1930s. Within the Belgian film community, it was no secret that Vanderheyden owed a large part of his success to his German partner, Edith Kiel. When Belgium was occupied and the Belgian film industry had to contend with the German Propaganda Division, his peers (film distributors and producers) chose Vanderheyden as their representative. Vanderheyden enthusiastically accepted this position. With equal enthusiasm, he became the ‘Leader’ of the ‘Corporate Organisations’ that the German authorities established. He would keep that position until September 1944, when the Allied armies liberated Belgium. By that point, Vanderheyden had already fled to Germany. He returned to Belgium in 1948 and was found guilty of economic collaboration and incarcerated until 1951.

Vanderheyden often served as a ‘middleman’, who enthusiastically implemented German film policy, even when it meant the closure of many distribution companies. In return, the German authorities allowed him and his partner to direct feature films, at a time when this was no longer allowed for any other Belgians.