HAPPY SAD: DAAN GIELIS (Oliver Rynders)

Screenings: - TUESDAY 3 NOVEMBER at 8:30 PM - tickets HERE! – MONDAY 23 NOVEMBER at 6:45 PM - tickets HERE! Screening of 3/11 in the presence of director Oliver Rynders! TIP: buy your season ticket for 2026-27 HERE first, and save 2 euros per regular screening for our entire upcoming season! —– Just as young artist Daan Gielis’s (34) career is getting the wind in its sails, his health goes into a steep downward spiral. Daan suffers from the incurable autoimmune disease scleroderma, and must undergo an extremely risky heart surgery as soon as possible. In ‘HAPPY SAD’ – named after one of his best-known works, an installation featuring a large glowing smiley face that laughs and cries at the same time – Daan and his beloved Lotte recount how they navigate between hope and fear in the final 6 months before the surgery. With his signature drive, and with the courage of despair, Daan steadily continues working on his oeuvre until he is wheeled into the operating room: ‘There is no escaping anymore...’ ‘HAPPY SAD’ is about the inseparable bond between creation and transience, a central theme in Daan's work. A film about a life for art and about the art of living. HAPPY SAD Directed by: Oliver Rynders B 2026, 80 min. Screenings: - TUESDAY 3 NOVEMBER at 8:30 PM - tickets HERE! – MONDAY 23 NOVEMBER at 6:45 PM - tickets HERE! Screening of 3/11 in the presence of director Oliver Rynders! TIP: buy your season ticket for 2026-27 HERE first, and save 2 euros per regular screening for our entire upcoming season! Een Art & Film screening in collaboration with Academie Mechelen De press about ‘HAPPY SAD': “Happy Sad” is a rock-solid documentary about a young artist who, like an alchemist, was able to transform his own fragility into solidified hope. A monument to friendship, love, art, and life, an ode to fragility with a big fat F’ – Bent Van Looy ‘The neons of the late Daan Gielis are luminous poetry’ – Chantal Pattyn, Klara https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/01/29/happy-sad-zoveel-emoties-bij-het-werk-van-wijlen-daan-gielis/ ‘He even arranged for me to be allowed to film his open-heart surgery’ – De Morgen https://www.demorgen.be/tv-series/hij-had-het-zelfs-geregeld-dat-ik-zijn-openhartoperatie-mocht-filmen-film-over-overleden-kunstenaar-daan-gielis-gaat-in-premiere~b326e124/