Award Winners for Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival 2023 Unveiled

Yesterday, the 2023 edition of the Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival came to an end after a week of screening documentary film gems coming from Belgium and all around the world. As is tradition, the festival took place at Ghent's beloved independent cinema Studio Skoop, where guests could also enjoy a free drink at the cosy Skoop Café. 

"The documentary film genre has so many sub-genres. This year's edition of Viewpoint proved this point clearly. Cinéma Verité, underground, experimental, essay, hybrid... such a fascinating palette," says Festival Director Kris De Meester. "The highlight of the festival was without a doubt 'Beast' with a record number of admissions, and the public favourite. It was a treat to meet the filmmaker and main subject of the film. Because of the success during the festival the film will get picked up for a theatrical release."

The festival was happy to welcome a number of special guests – filmmakers and crew members of this year's official selection. A big thank you to Allard Dettiger, Jasmine Issa, Nina Leeuwerck, Francisco Javier Rodriguez, Laura De Baudringhien, Gilles Van Damme, Anouck Ramaut, Walter Arfeuille and crew members from 'Beest', Laurence Buelens, and Ruth Vandewalle.

Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival is pleased to share with you this morning the award winners of 2023:

Best Documentary Feature Film: PETITES (BELGIUM) BY PAULINE BEUGNIES

Best Documentary Short Film: DANCING WITH ROSA (SPAIN) BY ROBERT MUÑOZ RUPÉREZ

Best Experimental Documentary Film: LIMITS (SWITZERLAND) BY SIMON DE DIESBACH

Best Underground Documentary Film: DOWN TO THE BOTTOM ( USA) BY CARINA MILLER

Best Cinéma Vérité Film: THE SHELL (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA) BY MARKO LONČAREVIĆ

Best Essay Film: THE MECHANICS OF FLUIDS (FRANCE) BY GALA HERNÁNDEZ LÓPEZ

Best Super Short Documentary: VEGETATIVE (FRANCE) BY HANNAH PAPACEK HARPER

Best Hybrid Documentary Film: JAIME (BELGIUM) BY FRANCISCO JAVIER RODRIGUEZ

Best Society Documentary Film: BERLIN BYTCH LOVE (GERMANY) BY HEIKO AUFDERMAUER, JOHANNES GIRKE

Best Health Documentary Film: THE MESS WE MAKE (NETHERLANDS) BY ALLARD DETIGER

Best Connecting Cultures Film: I NEVER HAD DREAMS OF MY SON (UKRAINE) BY JASON BLEVINS

Best Belgian Documentary Film: BEAST (BELGIUM) BY JOOST LAPERRE, JILLIS SCHRIEL

Congratulations to all!

The Ghent Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival would like to thank Studio Skoop and Tarkovski Agency for their continued support, and all guests for coming out to enjoy another week full of independent documentary cinema. Starting today, filmmakers can submit their work to the 2024 edition of the festival: https://filmfreeway.com/viewpointdocfest. See you all next year!