17e Internationaal Filmgebeuren van Vlaanderen-Gent 1990

More than ever, the emphasis of the festival is on the films themselves. This year's focus is UK & Ireland, with films such as Bearskin, Vincent and Theo, Diary of a Sane Man and Chicago Joe and the Showgirl. This programma section also contains films by British filmmakers who are better known for their international work, such as Philip Saville. His lesser-known British film Fellow Traveler is shown. The exhibition "British filmmakers of the 80s" complements the film programme.

Dutch filmmaker Fons Fademakers, known for his collaboration with Flemish artists, receives an homage. His film Het mes, based on Hugo Claus' novella and written by Claus himself, is screened at the festival. Rademakers is also a member of the International Jury.

The Jury awards the Grand Prix to Freeze Die Come to Life by Vitali Kanevsky. The Georges Delerue award goes to Michael Kaymen’s music, in The Krays by Peter Medak.

Looking back at the past decade, the festival organises a retrospective called "Film in the Eighties". Half of the selected films are winners of the Unie voor Filmkritiek prize in the last ten years, the other half is selected by the readers of Humo (Belgian magazine), who could vote for their favourite films.

In the St. Pieters Abbey in Ghent, there's an exhibition on 25 Years of Film in Flanders, organised by the festival in collaboration with the ngo Film Memories. Visitors can discover archive material that showcase the history of Flemish film. During a day devoted to the Royal Film Archive of Belgium, there's a talk on film restoration and preservation. In the evening, L’Atalante is screened.