First round of titles for the 42nd Film Fest Gent

Once again the yearly sections return: the official selection competition, which includes the French-Belgian co-production ‘Les Cowboys’ by Thomas Bidegain, also known as the screenwriter of Jacques Audiard and ‘Our Little Sister’ by Japanese A-list director Hirokazu Koreeda. But there are also two debuting features competing for Best Film and Music: British-New-Zealand ‘Slow West’ by John Maclean with Michael Fassbender amongst others and Cannes sensation and Grand Prix winner ‘Son of Saul’ by László Nemes. ‘The Lobster’, the first international production of Yorgos Lanthimos, features a star cast including Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly and Léa Seydoux.

Besides the opening film ‘The Ardennes’ by Robin Pront, Galas & Specials includes films that will be screened at the festival before being released in Belgian theatres. ‘Carol’ by Todd Haynes, the adaptation of ‘Price of Salt’, on of the most personal novel by Patricia Highsmith, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. With ‘The Assassin’ Hou Hsiao-hsien proves once again why he remains the greatest director of the Taiwan’s New Wave Cinema.

The section Global Cinema, which screens contemporary authors cinema, presents one of the most cinephile events of the last Cannes film festival: ‘Arabian Nights’, the monumental triptych by Portuguese director Miguel Gomes (‘Tabu’). Furthermore, there will a few intriguing portraits of artists and musicians such as ‘Mr Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown' by doc guru Alex Gibney and actor Ethan Hawke delivers a dazzling homage to pianist and friend Seymour Bernstein in 'Seymour: an Introduction'. For the 50th anniversary of Truffaut's well-known 'Hitchcock' book, Kent Jones asked A-list directors like Martin Scorsese, David Fincher en Wes Anderson how they were influenced by the director of ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Psycho’.

This year the festival’s focus is on UK Cinema which will cover a wide variety of recent British films. ‘45 Years’ by Andrew Haigh (‘Weekend’) featuring Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay as a retired couple undergoing a crisis when celebreating their 45th wedding anniversary. The amusing ‘A Royal Night Out’ by Jullian Jarrold is an imaginary piece of history about a night on the town with young Queen Elisabeth II.

The film music concerts also remain a highlight of Film Fest Gent. The British focus will also be showcased at the Great British Film Music Concert on 22 October and for the last 15 years the festival will close with the annual World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert. This year, central guests are Alan Silvestri, Patrick Doyle and Discovery 2014 Daniel Pemberton, who will all be attending the event on 24 October. The best scores of Silvestri were performed by Brussels Philharmonic and the Flemish Radio Choir, conducted by Dirk Brossé and recorded at the Flagey Studios by Galaxy Studios.

This autumn, Film Fest Gent and Vooruit join forces once again! During the festival there will be two unique audiovisual shows from artists like Nozinja and Jeruzalem in My Heart. The legendary composer Terry Riley will perform live music to a film of his choice, together with his son Gyan. With his ensemble Black Flower, Nathan Daems provided the score for ‘Love, Theft and Other Entanglements’, the latest film of Palestinian director Muayad Alayan. There will also be various art installations on scene and the book event ‘Uitgelezen’ will be tailored to a film-based theme as well.

Last but not least, you can become a Film Fest Friend yourself and enjoy numerous perks at the festival. As a Friend, you are the first to receive the official festival program in your mailbox and you will have the privilege to order film tickets a day in advance –with a special Friends discount. Film Fest Friends will also be invited to the exclusive Preview Night on Monday 12 October! You can find all the advantages on our website where you can join the Film Fest Friends!

The entire program will be announced on 24 September. The 42nd edition of Film Fest Gent takes place from 13 October until 24 October at Kinepolis Gent, Studio Skoop, Sphinx, Vooruit, KASKcinema, Bijloke and ’t Kuipke.

The listed films are divided throughout the various festival sections:

In competition:
- LES COWBOYS by Thomas Bidegam – France/Belgium - OUR LITTLE SISTER by Hirokazu Koreeda – Japan
- SLOW WEST by John Maclean – UK/New Zealand
- SON OF SAUL by Lazlo Nemes – Hungary
- THE LOBSTER by Yorgos Lanthimos – Griekenland/UK

Galas & Specials
- THE ASSASSIN by Hou Hsiao-Hsien – Taiwan - CAROL by Todd Haynes – UK/USA
- D’ARDENNEN by Robin Pront - Belgium

Global Cinema
- ARABIAN NIGHTS I, II and III by Miguel Gomes – Port/Fr
- LOVE, THEFT AND OTHER ENTANGLEMENTS by Muayad Alayan – Palestine

UK Cinema
- 45 YEARS by Andrew Haigh – UK
- A ROYAL NIGHT OUT by Julian Jarrold – UK

Sound and Vision
- MR. DYNAMITE: THE RISE OF JAMES BROWN by Alex Gibney – USA - SEYMOUR: AN INTRODUCTION by Ethan Hawke – USA

Artists on Film
- HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT by Kent Jones – USA