36th Ghent International Film Festival is succesfully halfway
11 Oct 2009
After 6 days, the 36th Ghent International Film Festival is succesfully halfway so it is time for a round-up. With an overwhelming attention of the media and nothing than positive reactions we can say that the opening film The Misfortunates was a real succes. But also the other screenings are doing well. And it is not finished yet!! Tonight we will be enjoying the concert of Kevin Costner at the Handelbeurs. On Wednesday 14th of October the french composer Alexander Desplat and the Traffic Quintet pay a musical tribute to the mythical women called "Divine Féminin. The japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi will enchant us on the 15th of October with two concerts in Vooruit. Andy Garcia will present on the 16th of October his film City Island. And last but not least, the french composer Alexandre Desplat will close the festival after de World Soundtrack Awards.
The media campaign has certainly done it's purposes. The ticket sales have increased by 10 percent comparing with last years and have even sold up to 3.000 tickets on particular days. The sales on the website have increased as well allthough we had some minor problems with our computersystem. Some concerts are already sold out, but tickets are still available for Divine Féminin with music from for instance Birth, The Virgin Suicides, The Hours, Basic Instinct, Vertigo and Psycho.
The Divine Féminin concert is really something you shouldn't miss; the concept is really original, an adaptation of existing filmmusic by Alexandre Desplat with a Quintet and animated with projecton of visual creations.
Tickets can be purchased at the Handelsbeurs.
In the meantime, a lot of talent has walked the red carpet and presented their film to the public: Jörgen Bergmark (A Rational Solution), Henry Bernadet & Myriam Verreault (A L'Ouest de Pluton), Zou Peng (Dongbei, Dongbei), Simon Ellis (Dogging: A Love Story), Florian Gallenberger (John Rabe), Miraz Bezar (Min Dit - The Children of Diyarbakir), Scandar Copti (Ajami), Xiaolu Guo (She, A Chinese), Jalali Babak (Frontier Blues), Federico Godfrid (La Tigra, Chaco), Gabriel Noble (P-Star Rising), Hakki Kurtulus & Melik Saracoglu (There), Erik Poppe (Troubled Water), Haim Tabakman (Eyes Wide Open) and Peter Brosens & Jessica Woodworth (Altiplano).
But most of the guests still have to arrive this week namely : Lee Daniels (Precious), Claude Miller (Marching Band), Raymond De Fellita (City Island), Damani Baker & Alex Vlack (Still Bill), Eran Merav (Zion and his Brother), Cyrus Nowrasteh (The Stoning of Soraya M), Peng Tao (Floating in Memory), Esther Rots (Kan door huid heen), Kazuhiro Soda (Mental). Actor and producer Andy García will present together with his daughter Dominik City Island. And last but not least many composers will travel to Ghent to attend the World Soundtrack Awards. Those who have already confirmed their presence : Alexandre Desplat, Marvin Hamlisch, Shigeru Umebayashi, A.R. Rahman, Marc Streitenfeld, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil.
Let us not forget also the three belgian films : Double Take by Johan Grimonprez (14/10), the documentary Not Waving But Drowning by Elias Grootaers (12/10) and the portrait of Tom Barman Tempo of a Restless Soul by Manu Riche and Renaat Lambeets (14/10). The massive attention that The Misfortunates had being the opening film will surely help the release of the film.
The Misfortunates is number 1 in the belgian box office . The same happened to the premiere of Daens and De Zaak Alzheimer when they were the opening films in former Ghent Film festivals.
Many visitors have already discovered the interesting Almost Cinemaprogram at Vooruit, and the Anime! Exhibition at the Provincial Cultural Centre- Caermersklooster. This exhibition runs to the 10th of January 2010.
The festival team hopes that the following days will attract as much public interest and wishes all the visitors an enjoyable festival !!
For more information and tickets : www.filmfestival.be