Young Critic Savina Petkova on 'Wildlife'
15 Oct 2018
Brisk honesty in long takes is the main character in actor Paul Dano’s debut feature Wildlife (2018). The anthropomorphised camera is the unnamed sibling in this 1960s American family portrait, based on a novel of the same name by Richard Ford, telling the coming-of-age story of Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal), Jean (Carey Mulligan), and their son Joe (Ed Oxenbould).
Young Critic Patrick Preziosi on 'I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians'
17 Oct 2018
The title of “I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History As Barbarians” comes as part of a larger monologue about halfway through Radu Jude’s newest filmic hybrid of fiction and history, when an actor portraying Nazi collaborator Ion Antonescu quotes a speech, which was originally delivered in 1941 to justify the massacre of Romanian Jews.
Young Critic Ruairí McCann on 'The Wild Pear Tree'
17 Oct 2018
Out of the several literary giants that director Nuri Bilge Ceylan namechecks in the end credits of ‘The Wild Pear Tree’, Dostoevsky seems to have the strongest presence, since what has come before has been determined by the whims and failings of an ‘underground man’ named Sinan.
Jóhann Jóhannsson wins posthumous World Soundtack Award for Best Film Composer
18 Oct 2018
The annual World Soundtrack Awards have been given out during the 45th edition of Film Fest Gent in Belgium tonight. The winners of the 18th WSAwards include Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ramin Djawadi, Kendrick Lamar, Rutger Reinders, Tamar-kali, Laurent Eyquem, Logan Nelson and Philippe Sarde, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Young Critic NJ Nuñez on 'The Favourite'
18 Oct 2018
Slaps precede sweet talk and lovers’ tussles are primal and sexually charged in Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘The Favourite’ (2018). Sex and power prove to be interconnected forces at play and feed off of each other, often in destructive ways. The film is an irreverent spin on a cliché-ridden genre that in Lanthimos’ capable hands transforms into a hilarious lesbian love and sex story involving a battle of wits coupled with a mud-caked, spittle-flecked take on physical comedy.
'Cold War' by Paweł Pawlikowski and 'High Life' by Claire Denis victorious at 45th Film Fest Gent
19 Oct 2018
'Cold War' by Oscar winner Paweł Pawlikowski ('Ida' and 'The Summer of Love') received the Grand Prix for Best Film at the closing night of Film Fest Gent. The Georges Delerue Award for Best Music was given to Claire Denis' space drama 'High Life'. Sonam Larcins ‘Après le silence’ won the Award vor Best Belgian Student Short, while Ottó Bánovits' 'Dark Chamber' won Best European Short.
Explore Zone Jury awards 'Mein Bruder heißt Robert und ist ein Idiot'
19 Oct 2018
The youth jury awarded the Explore Zone Award to Philip Grönings drama 'Mein Bruder heißt Robert und ist ein Idiot' for "his audacity, absurdism and unusual way to tackle certain themes". This award is presented to the best film out of the Explore Zone. This trail concentrates on films aimed at young people between 18 and 26 years old.
'Capharnaüm' wins the North Sea Port Audience Award
22 Oct 2018
You have decided: 'Capharnaüm', the Lebanese Oscar submission by director Nadine Labaki, wins the North Sea Port Audience Award. After eleven festival days, during which around 150 movies were screened, the emotionally convincing film received the highest praise of the audience.
'Cold War' wins the Canvas Audience Award
22 Oct 2018
After winning the Grand Prix earlier this week, 'Cold War' also received the Canvas Audience Award. The TV channel had selected five films out of the entire programme, out of which Paweł Pawlikowski's internationally acclaimed drama scored the most audience votes.
Wim De Witte named program director of Film Fest Gent
09 Jan 2019
Film Fest Gent presented the 45th edition of the festival in October 2018. It offered a program with a fine selection of high-quality films, including the opening film 'Girl' and the winner of the international jury 'Cold War' (now in theatres), but also with a lot of 'smaller' films ('First Reformed', 'Hotel by the River', 'Long Day's Journey Into Night') and a series of rediscoverable classics (with a Tribute to the Hungarian director Miklos Jancso). The music section which, in addition to the World Soundtrack Awards Gala, also presented the first edition of Videodroom in collaboration with Vooruitand a series of film music industry events for an international group of young composers, was very well received. The program received a lot of attention of press and public, both nationally and internationally. The festival welcomed 106.013 visitors in its 2018 edition.