Film Fest Gent offers 'adventurous edition' with massive lineup
Film Fest Gent is promising an "adventurous edition" as it presented its programme on Thursday. The film festival begins on 9 October with a huge lineup of domestic and international films.
The festival will open with Small Things Like These, the latest film by Belgian director Tim Mielants, marking the fourth consecutive year that a Belgian film has opened at the event. Previous years included works by directors Fien Troch and Lukas Dhont.
Mielants is no stranger to major film festivals; earlier this year, his film, a co-production with Ireland starring Cillian Murphy, opened the Berlinale. The film is set in a small Irish town where Murphy's character, a coal merchant, uncovers dark secrets about the local convent's involvement with the Magdalene Sisters.
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There will be a diverse programme featuring about 95 feature films and 29 shorts, selected from more than 1,500 entries, with a mix of well-known and smaller names. “There will be a lot to discover,” festival director Wim De Witte said. "There may be more new voices than in previous years."
This year, big names include new releases from celebrated directors such as Pedro Almodóvar and Steve McQueen, along with Anora, the latest film from Sean Baker, which recently won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
Beyond these high-profile films, the festival will be a platform for emerging voices. "There are a lot of debuting directors," De Witte said. "That is always a bit more adventurous, in the sense that these are films for which you don’t have many references in advance. But few films will disappoint people, I think."
The selection draws from prestigious festivals like Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Telluride and Toronto. Among the notable entries is Julie Zwijgt, the debut feature from Leonardo van Dijl, which has been chosen as Belgium’s submission for the Academy Awards.
#FlandersNewsService | The presentation of the Film Fest Gent, 19 September 2024 © BELGA PHOTO JONAS DHOLLANDER
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