Week in arts & culture (19/06/2024)
Ghent cocktail bar Jigger’s made the list of the best 50 cocktail bars in Europe at the recent Cocktails Spirits conference in Paris, an annual event that tracks new trends in the cocktail industry. The Jigger’s team did a presentation introducing their bar and its reservation only concept and made two of their speciality cocktails. www.jiggers.be
Ghent-based Irish filmmaker Declan Lynch is accepting scripts to be part of the Follow film project. Ten short scripts will be selected to be fused together for one feature-length film, starring the same pair of characters in different parts of the city. The film will screen at the International Film Festival in Ghent this October before being released online. Both emerging and established writers are invited to submit scripts, which can be written in either Dutch or English, and the deadline is 29 July. www.tinyurl.com/followgent
The author of the best-selling book The 500 Hidden Secrets of Brussels has now published The 500 Hidden Secrets of Antwerp (Luster, €14.95), detailing little-known places and facts about the port city. Brussels-based Scottish writer Derek Blyth, who was formerly the editor-in- chief of Flanders Today, gears the book towards locals as much as tourists. www.lusterweb.com
Screen Flanders is allocating nearly €5 million to 20 international film productions that will be shot partially or fully in Flanders. The investment is expected to return about €20 million to the region in audio-visual work. Most of the projects are in co-operation with France or the Netherlands, including Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods, De behandeling (The Treatment) by Flemish director Hans Herbots and De dwaaltuin (The Rambling Garden) by Flemish director Douglas Boswell. Screen Flanders is an initiative of economy minister Kris Peeters, with the goal of bringing more co-productions to the region. www.screenflanders.be
Top chefs from around the world will cook for a 70 lucky few in Ghent during the Gelinaz! event on 30 June. Locals Jason Blanckaert, Kobe Desramaults and Olly Ceulenaere will be joined by 20 more chefs, including Basque chef Eneko Atxa of two-Michelin star restaurant Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, Spain and Agata Felluga of Paris’ Le Chateaubriand, number 18 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Entrance is gained only by bidding on a seat through eBay. www.gelinaz.com
