8e Internationaal Filmgebeuren Gent 1981
For the first time, the 8th International Film Event no longer takes place in January but in autumn: from 13 to 22 November 1981. The opening film is Coup de Torchon by the legendary French filmmaker and über-cinephile Bertrand Tavernier, who was one of the first big international guests to come to Ghent for this.
In 1981, films were shown in avant-premiere for the first time. During this edition, the festival organises mini tributes dedicated to American documentary filmmakers Leo Hurwitz and Les Blank and German film director Robert Van Ackeren. New music films are screened, including Rude Boy about The Clash and Rust Never Sleeps, a film about and also made by Neil Young, under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey. Furthermore, the Filmgebeuren introduces children's and youth films and there is the Belgisch Filmvenster, which also aimed to introduce the audience to films by Belgian filmmakers, such as La Mémoire Fertile by Michel Khleifi and Maria Danneels or the life we dreamed or something like that... by Robbe De Hert.
