Ten reasons to attend Ostend Film Festival’s 10th anniversary
More films and a wealth of activities make heading to the coast for the anniversary edition of the Ostend Film Festival an easy proposition
Best of the Fest
1 Look! Ostend's annual selection of films in competition for the jury prize all have one thing in common: They look good. They were made using the aesthetic opportunities that the art of cinema provides, from the design to the photography to the lensing. These are not movies to watch on a laptop. The runaway highlight is United States of Love, the story of four women testing the borders between communism and freedom in the early 1990s by one of Poland’s strongest contemporary directors, Tomasz Wasilewski. He will be present at the screening on 15 September.
2 Poland Speaking of Polish directors, you’ll find a few of them on the programme of this year’s festival, part of the new guest country focus. Get in the mood during Polish Night in the festival’s cafe in Kinepolis. Though there are only five Polish movies on the bill, it’s an intriguing mix of immigrant drama, romantic comedy and straight-up horror. Look out for The Red Spider, the fiction film debut by documentary director Marcin Koszalka, which indeed mixes fact and fiction as a serial killer haunts 1960s Krakow. Demon, meanwhile, is being hailed the world over for director Marcin Wrona’s refreshing take on the demonic possession story.
3 Taste of Europe Aside from Poland, many European countries are represented in the Taste of Europe section, which screens new films from around the continent that have not been released in Belgian cinemas. Don’t miss Sparrows, a cut-above coming-of-age drama in an Icelandic village from director Rúnar Rúnarsson, and Parents, popular Danish TV actor Christian Tafdrup’s moodily surreal feature debut about what happens when an aging married couple get the chance to live their lives all over again.
4 Guests Ostend welcomes a number of directors, who will chat with the audience before or after screenings. Recommended is celebrated American indie filmmaker Ira Sachs, who presents his much-heralded new film Little Men (pictured above). It’s an avant-premiere, with the film scheduled to open in Belgium later. (There are several other premieres at the festival, including Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie and Into the Forest, Canadian director Patricia Rozema’s adaptation of the novel of the same name about the meltdown of modern society when the electricity cuts out.) The festival is also introducing audiences to Flanders’ best and brightest, hosting one young film industry talent every day. You’ll find Martha Canga Antonio, star of Black, on the bill, as well as Robrecht Heyvaert, the director of photography behind Black and D’Ardennen, two of the region’s best-looking films of the last year.
5 Masterclass The festival’s posh opening night party at the Kursaal is already sold out, but the opening film is being screened at Kinepolis the same night. Everybody Happy is Flemish director Nic Balthazar’s third feature, after Ben X and Tot altijd (Forever). It stars the inimitable Peter Van den Begin as, ironically, a depressed comic. It’s also screened later in the festival, coupled with a masterclass for the public, wherein Balthazar discusses how he chooses his projects and why he gave up his job as a journalist for the unsure world of filmmaking.
There's more
6 Debates Every day during the festival, the public can attend talks in Ostend culture centre De Grote Post. Flemish film critic Lieven Trio will interview local and international guests such as Belgian film director Jaco van Dormael, American director Ira Sachs and Flemish actor Johan Heldenbergh.
7 Master Selection Every year, the festival designates a Master of Ceremonies for the festival, and this year it’s Flemish actor Kevin Janssens. Last year Janssens wowed film audiences used to seeing him play lover boys or action heroes with a brilliant turn as the twitchy ex-con Kenneth in the fantastically grisly D’Ardennen. The masters put together their own programme of favourite films and, as if to prove that Kenneth is a role closer to his heart than a rom-com love interest, he’s chosen to celebrate film noir, with classics such as Raging Bull, On the Waterfront and A Woman Under the Influence. He says it’s actually the women in the films that fascinate him the most: “Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich… Time after time, strong women who can go head to head with the strong male actors of their day.”
8 Filmcafe If you don’t go to the festival, the festival will come to you: Flemish films from the last couple of years are being screened in bars and community centres across Ostend. Where better to watch Café Derby, for instance, than behind a pint at De Platse? Or mingle with locals at Marine Club Hazegras for Achter de wolken (Behind the Clouds).
9 Best of the Fest In a very smart move, the festival is reshowing all the films that win prizes on the last day, so instead of lamenting having missed the movie that won the jury prize, you get the chance to see it again. It’s a great idea that other festivals should take note of.
10 Festivalpas While the public isn’t invited to Flanders’ film awards ceremony, the Ensors, which takes place in Ostend during the festival, you can see all the films nominated for an Ensor for the democratic price of €6. You’ll also pay that for the Master Selection, while Look! and premieres will cost you €9.50. And at €3, you can see a documentary for less than the price of popcorn. If you want to see several films, opt for the festival pass for €30, which gets you into everything.
9-17 September, Kinepolis and other locations in Ostend
About the author
Lisa Bradshaw is the editor-in-chief of Flanders Today. She worked as an editor and journalist in her homeland, the United States, before moving to the awesome city of Ghent in 2004. If she’s not in the office, she’s probably at a film festival.
