Medy van der Laan, Secretary of State of the Netherlands, described Jan Decleir as a ‘monument’ on awarding him the Golden Veal Culture Price last year at the Dutch Film Festival.

He is one of Belgium’s most prolific and respected film and television actors, having appeared in over 80 productions. From his first film role in 1971 as an idler playing opposite Willeke van Ammelrooy in Mira, to the passionately committed priest fighting for social justice in the 1992 film Daens, to the inhuman and dreaded bailiff in Karakter, or the aging assassin in this Festival’s De Zaak Alzheimer, Jan Decleir’s screen presence is commanding.

It is no coincidence that three of his most notable films, Daens, Antonia and Karakter, were all nominated for Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film, or that the latter two both won.