Velvet Room Brussels Launches the Auteur Cinema Archive: A Global Home for Visionary Film

Velvet Room Brussels is proud to announce the official launch of the Auteur Cinema Archive, a new international platform dedicated to preserving, showcasing, and celebrating auteur-driven cinema from past and present. The initiative is a collaboration with Whush, the independent streaming platform; Final Cut Magazine, a leading voice in film criticism; and The Tarkovski Grant, a unique filmmaker support program.

The Auteur Cinema Archive opens with a striking collection of landmark works and cult obscurities alike, including The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920), Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren & Alexandr Hackenschmied, 1943), Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dalí, 1929), and Dementia 13 (Francis Ford Coppola, 1963). From the radical montage of Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin to the raw punk psychosis of Abel Ferrara’s The Driller Killer, the Archive spans styles, decades, and continents—but always centers on the unmistakable voice of the filmmaker.

The project not only honors cinematic legacy, it actively nurtures the next generation. Each newly selected film is celebrated with a feature in Final Cut Magazine, and its creator is awarded The Tarkovski Grant, which provides free submissions to over 25 respected partner festivals worldwide. All filmmakers retain full rights to their work, granting the Archive only non-exclusive VOD access—ensuring both visibility and creative autonomy.

Curator Kris De Meester explains:

“The Auteur Cinema Archive isn’t about trends or commercial appeal. It’s about films with a signature—works that carry the fingerprints of their makers, whether they were made for pennies or by legends. We’re building a space where pure vision is what matters.”

The Archive is now open for submissions. Filmmakers around the world are encouraged to submit auteur-driven works for consideration and join a living, growing collection that challenges, disturbs, and inspires.

For submission details, visit https://www.auteurarchive.com