Film Fest Gent: Annual international film festival in Ghent

The Film Fest Gent has become a not-to-be-missed event on the Flemish and international cultural scene. It owes its success to an infallible formula: a Belgian premiere of more than 100 quality films and major film music concerts by top composers.

Every year, 100,000 people visit Ghent and enjoy films, concerts and talks during Film Fest Gent, Belgium’s biggest international film festival.

The movies shown during the festival are mainly films that are not in the regular offer in Belgium. Additionally, numerous films find their way to the Belgian audience through pre-premières at this festival.

Film Fest Gent pays close attention to film music, putting an often underestimated branch of the film industry in the spotlight. Composers and film music professionals from all over the world travel to Ghent for unique concerts, film music seminars, workshops and masterclasses. Since 2001, Film Fest Gent has also organised the World Soundtrack Awards: an annual awards ceremony for film music during the festival. 

Awards are presented each year during Film Fest Gent:

• Official Competition (for best film)
• World Soundtrack Awards
• Joseph Plateau Honorary Award (for festival guests who have left an indelible mark on filmmaking)
• International Short Film competition
• Competition for Best Belgian Student Short
• Explore Zone (for films for and by young people)
• North Sea Port Audience Award

Want to take a break in between all those films or want the opportunity to discuss what you’ve just watched with other people? Then the Film Fest Café across from Kinepolis Gent is the place to be. You can choose from many delicious snacks and/or drinks. Another advantage: during the daily FFG Talkies, you can listen to an interesting conversation between directors, actors or artists. Are you enjoying Film Fest Gent in one of the other locations? You will have ample opportunity to enjoy a drink there too.

2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Film Fest Gent. This calls for celebrations throughout the year. The cherry on the (birthday) cake will be when all films of the past few years will become available on the website.

In honour of Film Fest Gent’s 50th anniversary, 25 film composers from all over the world composed a short piece of music. These scores were the starting point for 25 short films, which will be presented during the festival. So for once, music was the inspiration for the films instead of the other way round.  

FFG Remake
For its 50th anniversary, Film Fest Gent presents a collection of sustainable accessories: FFG Remake, a partnership with sustainable design firm Volmaakt, students from HoWest and Luca School of Arts. The students designed new products made from old promotional materials of Film Fest Gent. They were made in partnership with sustainable design firm Volmaakt. Want to take a piece of film festival history home with you? That’s possible. You can purchase these unique designer pieces at Volmaakt (located in Speldenstraat 1) during an exhibition in the last two weekends of September and the first two weekends of October and during the film festival itself.

Are you driving to Ghent? First check whether you may enter the city centre with your vehicle. Clean vehicles may enter the city centre free of charge, polluting vehicles have to pay. Is your vehicle allowed to enter, but do you not have a Belgian or Dutch number plate? You will ALWAYS have to register!