
Joseph Plateau Honorary Award
The Joseph Plateau Honorary Award is presented to distinguished guests of Film Fest Ghent whose achievements have earned them a special and distinct place in the history of international filmmaking.
The award itself is a replica of professor Joseph Plateau’s Phenakisticope, the device he designed to illustrate his theory of the persistence of vision, which became the basic principle behind the idea of “moving images”. Plateau invented the Phenakisticope, an animation device which creates the illusion of motion.

- Andrea Arnold, director (UK) - 2021
- Harry Kümel, director (Belgium) - 2021
- Viggo Mortensen, actor and director (USA/Denmark) - 2020
- Géraldine Chaplin, actress (USA) - 2019
- Agustí Villaronga, director (Spain) - 2019
- Dirk Impens, Producer (Belgium) - 2018
- Pierre Drouot, Producer (Belgium) - 2017
- Johan Leysen, actor (Belgium) - 2017
- Greta Scacchi, actress (Italy) - 2017
- Ken Loach, director (UK) - 2016
- Jeremy Thomas, Producer (UK) - 2016
- Sir Alan Parker, director (UK) - 2015
- Christopher Plummer, actor (Canada) - 2015
- Paul Schrader, director (USA) - 2013
- István Szabó, director (Hungary) - 2013
- Jacques Dubrulle, former festival director (Belgium) - 2013
- Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, directors (Italy) - 2012
- Emmanuelle Riva, actress (France) - 2012
- Isabelle Huppert, actress (France) - 2011
- Norman Jewison, director (USA) - 2011
- Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne, directors (Belgium) - 2011
- Chris Lomme, actress (Belgium) - 2011
- Catherine Deneuve, actress (France) - 2010

- Paul Greengrass, director (UK) - 2010
- Dirk Brossé, composer (Belgium) - 2010
- Kevin Costner, actor and director (USA) - 2009
- Claude Miller, director (France) - 2009
- Andy Garcia, actor and director (USA) - 2009
- Woody Harrelson, actor (USA) - 2008
- Richard Jenkins, actor (USA) - 2008
- Walter Parkes & Laurie MacDonald, producers (USA) - 2008
- Kathleen Turner, actress (USA) - 2007
- Danny Glover, actor (USA) - 2007

- Walter Hill, director (USA) - 2007
- Agnes Varda, director (France) - 2006
- Mike Leigh, director (UK) - 2005
- Alan Ladd Jr, producer (USA) - 2005
- Zbigniew Preisner, composer (Poland) - 2005
- Nand Buyl, actor (Belgium) - 2005
- Lord Richard Attenborough, director and actor (UK) - 2004
- Toni Curtis, actor (USA) - 2003
- Jeanne Moreau, actress (France) - 2002
- Juliette Binoche, actress (France) - 2002 (JPP Holemans Award)

- Jean Reno, actor (France) - 2002
- Hanna Schygulla, actress (Germany) - 2002
- Jan Van Raemdonck, producer (Belgium) - 2002
- Roland Verhavert, director (Belgium) - 2002
- Blair Underwood, actor (USA) - 2002
- Gabriel Yared, composer (France) - 2001
- Bertrand Tavernier, director (France) - 2001
- Roy E. Disney, Vice chairman Walt Disney Company (USA) - 2001
- Richard & Lili Fini Zanuck, producers (USA) - 2001
- Roger Corman, director (USA) - 2001
- Morgan Freeman, actor (USA) – 2000

- Hans Zimmer, composer (Germany) - 2000
- Stanley Donen, director (USA) - 1999
- Sandra Bullock, actress (USA) - 1999
- Irwin Winkler, producer (USA) - 1999
- Peter Greenaway, director (UK) - 1999
- Bonnie Arnold, producer (USA) - 1999
- Robert Wise, director (USA) - 1998
- Elmer Bernstein, composer (USA) - 1998
- Sir Peter Ustinov, actor (UK) - 1998
- Shohei Imamura, director (Japan) – 1998

- Alain Resnais, director (France) - 1998
- Gina Lollobrigida, actress (Italy) - 1997
- Sydney Pollack, director (USA) - 1997
- Sir David Puttnam, producer (UK) - 1997
- James Earl Jones, actor (USA) - 1995
- Gabrielle Claes, conservator Royal Belgian Film Archive (Belgium) - 1995
- Henri Storck, director (Belgium) - 1994
- John Hurt, actor (UK) - 1994
- Jean-Claude Petit, composer (France) - 1994
- Robert Altman, director (USA) - 1993
- Philippe Sarde, composer (France) - 1993
- Alain Cuny, actor (France) - 1992
- Carl Davis, composer (USA) - 1992
- André Delvaux, director (Belgium) - 1991
- Michel Legrand, composer (France) - 1991
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