viewpoint documentary film festival
In 2018, the international film community saw the return of the Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival, an annual, weeklong event that highlighted documentary talent for more then a decade.
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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 is 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. In association with SMAK it also hosted Harmony Korine photo series ‘Milk Chicken Review’ and ‘Coke Head Swingers’ and the video installation ‘The Diary of Anna Frank. Part II’. The festival has hosted many noteworthy filmmakers: 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.
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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.
"Viewpoint seems to be an unknown gem with an engaged audience."
Heather Cassano
Most importantly, the Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival creates a space for unique visionaries and voices. True to its history, the festival screens 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.
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The Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival creates an intimate atmosphere in which to revel in the beauty and wonder of the cinema with like-minded cineasts from all over the globe.