“La Gradiva” by French director Marine Atlan has won the Grand Prix for Best Film at the 53rd edition of Film Fest Gent. The International Jury was impressed by the lively but nuanced portrayal of being young. “DAO,” the new film by French-Senegalese director Alain Gomis, was awarded the Georges Delerue Award for Best Soundtrack, for the fluid way in which the music connects two worlds. “Everytime” by Sandra Wollner was chosen by the Youth Jury for the Explore Award.

The Official Competition of the 53rd edition of Film Fest Gent came to a festive end on Saturday evening, October 17, with an awards ceremony followed by the screening of the closing film “Le Faux Soir” by Michaël R. Roskam. A diverse line-up of twelve films from no fewer than nineteen countries provided a surprising competition. This year the International Jury consisted of Sandra den Hamer, Nicole Vögele, Lous and the Yakuza, and Jaume Claret Muxart, led by Belgian film director Felix van Groeningen.

Grand Prix for Best Film

The jury ultimately decided to award the Grand Prix for Best Film to the intoxicating yet vulnerable “La Gradiva” by Marine Atlan. With “La Gradiva,” cinematographer Marine Atlan makes her feature-film debut, following a group of French high school seniors on a class trip to Naples and Pompeii. While their teacher, Mercier, played with great strength by Antonia Buresi, attempts to inspire them with frescoes and volcanoes, her students—portrayed largely by newcomers—are focused primarily on one another. Among the classmates, friendship, desire, and sexuality are constantly being explored. Atlan captures just how intense, vulnerable, and at times even cruel, life on the threshold of adulthood can be. Beneath the Italian sun, insecurities and frustrations bubble to the surface, set against the timeless backdrop of a city that was once buried in ash.

The jury stated the following regarding “La Gradiva”: ‘For its brilliant portrayal of the contemporary experience of youth—capturing its friendships, sexuality, desires, confusions, and anxieties with profound authenticity we, the jury, are proud to award the Grand Prix to “La Gradiva” by Marine Atlan. We were deeply moved by the striking ensemble cast, its bold use of language, and an impressive, nuanced portrayal of how teenagers express themselves. The depiction of the enthusiasm for teaching, for art and for history gives the whole film a vibrant aura. We were inspired by how tender and organic the queerness and masculinity of the youth group was filmed. While the trajectory of the main character challenged expectations and was difficult to accept, it ultimately served as a powerful, necessary plea for deeper human compassion.’

 

“La Gravida” (2026, trailer)

‘Exhibiting masterful cinematic excellence through its exceptional photography, meticulous editing, and evocative use of music and sound, “La Gradiva” is a work of great cinema. A hypnotic ballade meandering between a volcano on the brink of eruption, frescoes preserved for thousands of years, and a city captured so vividly that we had the feeling we could smell it through the screen.’

“La Gradiva” is distributed in Belgium by Cinéart and will be in Belgian cinemas starting October 28. The Grand Prix comes with a distribution grant of €20,000 and a media campaign worth €12,500 in the Flemish newspaper De Morgen.

Grand Prix Special Mention

The jury also awarded a Special Mention to “Jean,” the debut film by Belgian director Jolke Van Aerde. Her poignant and sincerely observed feature debut follows a boy from Antwerp named Jean over the course of several school years, tracing his arduous search for a future—a search shaped from an early age by an all-encompassing (educational) system. Crafted with care and deep sensitivity, “Jean” is an unflinchingly honest coming-of-age documentary, both in front of and behind the camera, about a driven adolescent fighting for his opportunities. But is it a fair fight?

Regarding “Jean,” the jury stated: ‘In the Grand and rich selection of the films in this years’ competition of the Film Fest Gent, there is a fresh and new voice that seduced the jury and from whom we definitely want to hear and see more of in the near future. Therefore we decided to spotlight this talent with a special mention. In a nonlineair and intuitive way the filmmaker invites us in the life of a young boy, Jean. The film becomes incredibly intimate as we get pulled into his life, and we see him struggle to fit into the school system, yet with an admirable desire to go on and do better. Jumping back and forth in time and place, the film starts claustrophobic, and opens up beautifully. We were moved by the honesty and the humanity and want to award Jolke van Aerde with a special mention for her impressive debut film “Jean.”’

Georges Delerue Award for Best Soundtrack

At Film Fest Gent, film and music go hand in hand. Each year, the Official Competition highlights the impact of music and sound on cinema, making the Georges Delerue Award for Best Soundtrack one of the festival’s most significant honors. This year, “DAO,” directed by Alain Gomis, was named the winner of the Georges Delerue Award. Gomis’s latest film intertwines a wedding in France with a memorial service in Guinea-Bissau, both centered on the same Afro-French family, with a woman named Gloria at its heart. Drawing more than ever from his own personal experiences, the French-Senegalese director relied largely on improvisation, encouraging his ensemble cast to explore the love and sorrow embedded within these rituals. Gomis blends the performances of seasoned actors with those of non-professionals, merging a fictional narrative with a documentary-style approach.

The jury said of “DAO”: ‘If we believe that images are the body of a film, music is its blood, its pulse! For this price we wanted to choose the film that we believe embodies this feeling the best and this is why we are honored to give the Georges Delerue Award to “DAO” by Alain Gomis. A love letter to freedom and jazz, “DAO” acts like a portal between multiple cultures and realities, and delivers throughout its course the most enchanting musical pieces that guide the viewer throughout its journey. The various themes and movement explored in the soundtrack of this film are a testimony of the unique experience of living between two continents and belonging to two realities. The music is the heartbeat of this film: it enters and marries the scene before leaving in the most unexpected way. The mixture of traditional music and newly composed work follows the various topics of the film and helps to define how to experience togetherness in family. We were welcomed into a world of celebration, of ceremonies and life and death. The voices of the female characters and the ancestors sing alongside each other and create a mysterious song of life.’

In addition to a distribution grant of €20,000, the prize includes a media campaign in De Morgen worth €12,500.

Explore Award

On Saturday evening, the Explore Zone Jury named Sandra Wollner’s “Everytime” the winner of the 2026 Explore Award. Each year, the Explore Zone Jury at Film Fest Gent is composed of five perceptive film enthusiasts aged 18 to 26. These jurors follow a selection of films chosen for their thematic, formal, or substantive appeal to young people.

Following a tragic event involving her sixteen-year-old daughter, Jessie, Ella attempts to rebuild her life. To everyone’s surprise, she reaches out to Lux, the boy who was with Jessie that night. Together with her youngest daughter, Melli, she invites him on a holiday to Tenerife, where each of them grapples with the loss in their own way. In “Everytime,” Sandra Wollner employs a restrained style, in which an underlying sense of unease and subtle music avoid dictating the audience’s emotions. Having already won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes, and now the Explore Award at Film Fest Gent, the film is one that raises questions rather than providing answers, leaving ample space for the viewer’s own interpretation.

The youth jury said about “Everytime”: ‘Over the course of this 53rd edition of Film Fest Gent, we watched around fifteen films as the Explore Zone Jury. Each one explored what it means to be young, with all the ups and downs that come with it. One film in particular stayed with us. It starts in a world that feels very real, then its vivid images, haunting soundtrack and video game footage gradually blur the line between reality and imagination, leaving us to piece things together for ourselves. Through this, it finds an unexpected way to explore loss: what it can do to a family, and where it can lead them. And the Explore Zone Award goes to… “Everytime” by Sandra Wollner.’

With the Explore Award, the film receives a media campaign worth €27,500 in De Morgen and Knack Focus. This gives the winning film a helping hand for its release.

Belgian and International Short Film Awards

On Sunday October 11, the winners of the short film competitions were announced at Film Fest Gent. The short film jury consisted of Max Ferguson, Felipe Casanova, and Vladlena Sandu. “Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon” by Bill Morrison won the Award for Best International Short Film. This short film provides a compelling depiction of the violent actions taken by ICE agents in Chicago on October 12, 2025; the award includes a prize of €5,000, made possible in part by the National Lottery.

In the competition for Belgian student short films, the top prize went to “A Story in White” by Mosaic. The Award for Best Student Short comes with a prize of €5,000, courtesy of Amplo. Additionally, the audience selected “Fruits de Merde” by Lukas Gevaert as the winner of the Audience Award for the best Belgian student short film. This film receives a post-production budget of €5,000, supported by Sonhouse.

Joseph Plateau Honorary Award

Earlier in this edition, two iconic filmmakers also received the Joseph Plateau Honorary Award. British director Danny Boyle, known for the multi-award-winning films “Trainspotting” (1996), “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), and “127 Hours” (2010), attended a screening of his latest film, “Ink,” at Film Fest Gent, where he was presented with the Joseph Plateau Honorary Award. The movie is a compelling biopic about media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Celebrated British actor Sir Tom Courtenay was also honored with the Award during a screening of Lance Hammer’s poignant, deeply human drama “Queen at Sea.” In the film, Courtenay plays the husband of a woman suffering from dementia.

Jo Röpcke Award

At the Knack Focus Film Day, Angelo Tijssens received the Jo Röpcke Award—an honor named after the former BRT film journalist. Each year, during Film Fest Gent, the weekly magazine Knack presents this award to someone who has made a significant contribution to Flemish cinema. Since 2008, the award has been given to recipients such as Cato Kusters, Fien Troch, Felix van Groeningen, Lukas Dhont, and Tim Mielants. Tijssens receives the accolade for his work as a screenwriter on acclaimed films including “Girl,” “Close,” “Julian,” and “Coward” (which served as opening films for Film Fest Gent in 2018, 2022, 2025, and 2026, respectively), as well as “Dust” (2026). Through these projects, he has proven himself to be a passionate storyteller, capable of exploring complex themes without resorting to cheap sentimentality or didactic messaging.