Ghent, 24 April 2023 - Yesterday, the 2023 edition of the Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival came to an end after a week of screening documentary film gems coming from Belgium and all around the world. As is tradition, the festival took place at Ghent's beloved independent cinema Studio Skoop, where guests could also enjoy a free drink at the cosy Skoop Café.
"The documentary film genre has so many sub-genres. This year's edition of Viewpoint proved this point clearly. Cinéma Verité, underground, experimental, essay, hybrid... such a fascinating palette," says Festival Director Kris De Meester. "The highlight of the festival was without a doubt 'Beast' with a record number of admissions, and the public favourite. It was a treat to meet the filmmaker and main subject of the film. Because of the success during the festival the film will get picked up for a theatrical release."
The festival was happy to welcome a number of special guests – filmmakers and crew members of this year's official selection. A big thank you to Allard Dettiger, Jasmine Issa, Nina Leeuwerck, Francisco Javier Rodriguez, Laura De Baudringhien, Gilles Van Damme, Anouck Ramaut, Walter Arfeuille and crew members from 'Beast', Laurence Buelens, and Ruth Vandewalle.
Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival is pleased to share with you this morning the award winners of 2023:
Best Documentary Feature Film:
PETITES (BELGIUM) BY PAULINE BEUGNIES
Best Documentary Short Film:
DANCING WITH ROSA (SPAIN) BY ROBERT MUÑOZ RUPÉREZ
Best Experimental Documentary Film:
LIMITS (SWITZERLAND) BY SIMON DE DIESBACH
Best Underground Documentary Film:
DOWN TO THE BOTTOM ( USA) BY CARINA MILLER
Best Cinéma Vérité Film:
THE SHELL (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA) BY MARKO LONČAREVIĆ
Best Essay Film:
THE MECHANICS OF FLUIDS (FRANCE) BY GALA HERNÁNDEZ LÓPEZ
Best Super Short Documentary:
VEGETATIVE (FRANCE) BY HANNAH PAPACEK HARPER
Best Hybrid Documentary Film:
JAIME (BELGIUM) BY FRANCISCO JAVIER RODRIGUEZ
Best Society Documentary Film:
BERLIN BYTCH LOVE (GERMANY) BY HEIKO AUFDERMAUER, JOHANNES GIRKE
Best Health Documentary Film:
THE MESS WE MAKE (NETHERLANDS) BY ALLARD DETIGER
Best Connecting Cultures Film:
I NEVER HAD DREAMS OF MY SON (UKRAINE) BY JASON BLEVINS
Best Belgian Documentary Film:
BEAST (BELGIUM) BY JOOST LAPERRE, JILLIS SCHRIEL
Congratulations to all!
The Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival would like to thank Studio Skoop and Tarkovski Agency for their continued support, and all guests for coming out to enjoy another week full of independent documentary cinema. Starting today, filmmakers can submit their work to the 2024 edition of the festival: https://filmfreeway.com/viewpointdocfest. See you all next year!
ABOUT VIEWPOINT DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
Filmplaneet in Ghent founded the Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival in 1994, to focus explicitly on documentary films. During its original nine year run, the festival has become a respected international festival and was renowned for its strong, qualitative and independent film selection. Highlights were Frederic Wiseman's 'Domestic Violence', which had it’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and the focus dedicated to the work of American documentary filmmaker Alan Berliner, who presented his latest film personally. In association with S.M.A.K. it also hosted Harmony Korine's photo series ‘Milk Chicken Review’ and ‘Coke Head Swingers’ and the video installation ‘The Diary of Anna Frank. Part II’. The festival has hosted many noteworthy filmmakers: Peter Entell, Albert Maysles, Sergeï Dvortsevoy, Steve James, Heddy Honigman, Kim Longinotto, Michael Glawogger, Hans Van Den Broeck, Monteith McCollum, Gabriel Noble, Deborah Hoffmann, Frances Reid, Thom Vander Beken. Unfortunately, in its original incarnation, the festival came to an end in 2003. Inspired by that original movement, the Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival was relaunched in 2018, and has since then been continuing to emphasize lesser known, vanguard documentary works and further its tradition of galvanizing budding talent.
Source: Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival, 24/04/2023.
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