From Antwerp to Ostend

On the brink of invasion, holidaymakers promenade while refugees shelter in beach huts on the Belgian coastline in 1914.

The summer of 1913 saw the last big bash of the belle époque at the World's Fair in Ghent, advertised in the background of this film. One year on, Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium brought the world's attention back to a very different scene. This topical travelogue clings nervously to the coast, while the promenading and larks in the sea are contrasted with the refugees in beach huts.