Öndög to be released in Belgium thanks to first prize at Film Fest Gent

During the Film Fest Gent, the Grand Prix is awarded every year to a film that competes in the International Film Fest Gent Competition. The international weight prize is good for a distribution award of €20,000 to support the Belgian release of the film and a media campaign of €27,500, of which €10,000 are set for De Morgen.

The award for 'Öndög' persuaded film distributor and festival organizer MOOOV to release the film. "A small, intimate story, portrayed in a grand and compelling way. Öndög came out as the big winner at Film Fest Ghent, so it was an absolute must for MOOOV that this film should appear in Belgian theaters", says Marc Boonen, artistic director of MOOOV.

Wim De Witte, program director of Film Fest Gent, is thrilled with the release: "We are delighted that this special film will be released in Belgian theaters thanks to MOOOV and our award. As a festival, you always hope that the selected films that don't have a Belgian distributor at the time of the festival, get picked up and also have a life after the festival, which is precisely the reason why we created the distribution award.”

Majestic Mongolia

'Öndög' by Wang Quan'an is a film about the life cycle, albeit in reverse order. A grand and majestic project on intimacy and affection, in which people are sometimes just dots on a colorful canvas. Perhaps the main protagonist of the film is Inner Mongolia: from the opening shot, Wang has paid much attention to the landscape.

The international jury that awarded Quan’an at Film Fest Ghent 2019 consisted of director and chairman of the jury Joachim Lafosse, film critic Guy Lodge, sound designer Midge Costin, director Radu Jude and producers Fiorella Moretti and Dora Bouchoucha Fourati. They were full of praise for this eccentric contemplation about life and death on the Mongolian steppe.

Release

Öndög will be screened at MOOOV Film Festival, which runs from April 21st to May 4th. The official release will follow on May 13th.