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A film music concert becomes a tradition from the late 80s onwards. During the 16th Internationaal Filmgebeuren, the concert Film Music in Europe is one of the major events. The BRT-Philharmonic Orchestra performs with Mikis Theodorakis conducting. In the film programme there is a special focus on Japan. Opening film is Brian De Palma's Casualties of War, while Het Sacrament by Hugo Claus closes the festival.

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.

At the 23rd edition of the World Soundtrack Awards - Film Fest Gent's annual film music awards - Italian composer Nicola Piovani will be awarded for his contribution to film music. The World Soundtrack Academy honours Piovani, best known to us for his Oscar-winning music for La vita è bella, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The World Soundtrack Awards will be presented at the conclusion of Film Fest Gent 2023 during a ceremony and concert on Saturday 21 October.

For the 17th time, from 10 to 20 October 1990, the International Flanders Film Festival is organized in Ghent. This year, the emphasis lies on the films themselves, more perhaps than in the past editions. The festival’s concern has been to compile a programme of quality films from all over the world.This year’s focus is UK and Ireland, with films such as Bearskin, Vincent and Theo, Diary Of A Sane Man and Chicago Joe and the Showgirl. The opening film is Ju Dou by Zhang Yimou and Yang Feng-Liang, the closing film is Ghost by Jerry Zucker. The pre-opening film is Henry & June by Philip Kaufman. There's also a unique exhibition on 25 years of film in Flanders in the St. Pieters Abbey in Ghent.

The programmation of the 18th Film Festival of Flanders - Ghent offers an extensive scale of films and also many side events. This year will be the seventh consecutive year the International Flanders Film Festival - Ghent organizes a competition on the impact of music on film. This competition is reserved to non-musical fiction films. All films dealing with music or owing their existence to music have been brought together in other festival sections. Besides a couple of important premières, there is again the Focus on the World Cinema, and this year, a tribute to Hollywood-legend Kirk Douglas and the great films from the Zoetrope Studios. The unique character of the impact of music on film will be clear during the presentation of the Plateau Awards and the Michael Nyman concerts. The opening film is Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King, and the festival closes with Mike Nichols' Regarding Henry. We have also remained true to the international character: some 18 countries (including the Third World) are represented during this edition. This year’s focus is Spain, with films such as Cronica Del Alba, El Dorado and Los Santos Innocentes.

This 19th edition (October 7-18, 1992) sees a name change: from "Filmgebeuren van Gent" to "Film Festival of Flanders." More than 100 feature films are distributed over four festival sections and some 'firsts'. Thus, in the official competition "Impact of music on film", the prize for the "film with the best musical accompaniment" is named for the first time after Georges Delerue. A retrospective is dedicated to Argentine filmmaker Alejandro Agresti (also a member of the jury). Outside of competition, a number of important films are reserved for so-called "events": such as the gala opening with the premiere of the Flemish film Daens by Stijn Coninx: the spectacular closing night with the Disney cartoon The Beauty and the Beast and the special screenings on Youth Day, Dutch Day, Quebec Evening, Laurel and Hardy Day. But there is also a Focus on Quebec alongside the Filmspectrum which aims to show and unique panorama of world cinema with 40 titles. Finally, for the real cinephiles - in world premiere - a selection of film monuments from the Piper Heidsieck Classic Film Collection.

The 20th edition of the Flanders International Film festival - Ghent (October 14 - 23 , 1993) pays special attention to European cinema. The International Film Festival wants to emphasize the interaction between music and film as its main theme. That is why the films in competition are front and centre of the festival programme, followed by a number of non-competing films. The musical films and films about music are presented in the Filmspectrum section. The festival opens with The Age of Innocence (Martin Scorsese) en closes with Aladdin (John Musker, Ron Clements).

Film Fest Gent presents the PRESS PLAY: Music in Games concert on Thursday 19 October 2023, which will bring music composed for video games to life. The music by, among others, composer Austin Wintory - known for award-winning games such as Journey, Abzû and Assassin's Creed Syndicate and who will also be hosting the concert - will be performed live by Brussels Philharmonic. Film Fest Gent is also launching a new international music award, one that celebrates the best original score for a video game and/or other interactive media: the WSA Game Music Award, a prize chosen by the public.

Composer Laurence Rosenthal is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 23rd edition of the World Soundtrack Awards, which takes place as the concluding event of Film Fest Gent on Saturday 21 October. The 50th edition of the festival crowns two grandmasters of the world of film music in its anniversary year. Earlier, it was announced that Italian composer Nicola Piovani will be a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award as well.

The recently deceased Ryuichi Sakamoto at age 71 was in 2016 the first Eastern composer who received the World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award here in Ghent. He was born in Tokyo and learned to play the piano from since he was three years old. Not only was he a fan of Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach and Claude Debussy, but he also loved British rock music. Sakamoto just wasn't entirely sure if The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were British or American. Debussy's nationality was much clearer to him. He recognised Asian influences in the Frenchman's oeuvre, which influenced Sakamoto's own music. And so it came full circle. East and West, with Sakamoto they went hand in hand in a fascinating manner. Add in influences from genres such as electro, dance, ambient and ethnic music and a highly remarkable musical cocktail arises. That was served by the Yellow Magic Orchestra, of which he was one of the three members. And so he became a pop icon.