Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival
Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival is an annual, weeklong event that has highlighted documentary talent for over a decade.
The 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.
The festival has hosted many noteworthy filmmakers: Peter Entell, Harmony Korine, 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 revived Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival, continues to emphasize lesser known, vanguard documentary works and further its tradition of galvanizing budding talent.
Most importantly, the Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival creates a space for unique visionaries and voices. True to its history, the festival will screen films of both novices and veterans—with medium and low budgets—from all over the globe. The festival’s goal is to create a warm, open atmosphere in which filmmakers, fans, critics, and producers can watch the films of emerging talents, explore new cinematic techniques and styles, and award cinematic excellence.
The Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival will create an intimate atmosphere in which to revel in the beauty and wonder of the cinema with like-minded cineastes from all over the globe.
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A Human Ride (Germany) by Kristian Gründling
The transformation of transportation is on everyone's lips, and the future of mobility has become one of the most talked-about topics. But why does it matter so much? If transportation presents such enormous challenges, why don’t we just stay at home? Is mobility a fundamental human need?
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The wisdom of wonder, Eugenia Balcells once and again / Luis Felipe Ruiz Benitez
Through a rare intimacy developed over 15 years working with famed Spanish video artist Eugènia Balcells, this documentary is a journey into the world of a master. Spiraling through time, the film rediscovers a sense of enchantment that courts deep knowing. Honoring over 40 years of renowned work...
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Irpinia (United Kingdom) by Jameisha Prescod
Irpinia is the story of black British hope from the perspective of the Windrush generation. At the age of 24, Dudley Porteous boarded a ship called the Irpinia in search of a better life in England, the so-called mother country. Now 86 years old, Dudley reflects on his exciting journey to sea and...
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Tangle (Belgium) by Carla Hoogewijs, Frank Stevens
Tangle is a multimedia film blending vivid imagery, haunting words, and evocative soundscapes to delve into the core questions of human existence. Structured as a monologue in five chapters, it begins with a single breath of steam and culminates in the miracle of cell division, symbolizing the cy...
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New Voices in the City (Belgium) by Ekaterina Gardener
The city of Ghent serves as the stage for the stories of 15 newcomers from various parts of the world, where they share their integration stories. Love, family, education, or drama served as reasons for coming here. The film reveals their deep-seated hopes and dreams, talents, and daily lives. Th...
