Now nearing its 26th edition, the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent have made the Belgian city film scoring’s home base. That story began in the 1980s, when Film Fest Ghent adopted screen music as its calling card, a focus that led to the World Soundtrack Academy and Awards at the turn of the millennium. The World Soundtrack Awards has since become a major showcase and industry hub, running largely in parallel with its parent festival.
In past editions, those talks, roundtables, performances and awards ceremonies usually began as the main festival wound down. This year, the WSA runs alongside it, bringing filmmakers and composers together in concert. It’s fine kismet that the Belgian Oscar submission, which Dhont calls “a musical about the repression of emotions,” brings its key music team to Ghent, even as the wider shift stems just as much from WSA member requests.
Both talks unite established creative duos while putting two festival fixtures front and center, with Dhont a former attendee turned jury member, and Bertelmann, a two-time WSA Film Composer of the Year. Together, they reflect the WSA’s ambition to use Film Fest Ghent as a film music incubator. To that end, the program includes matchmaking and student networking sessions, while the industry days welcome Third Character, an annual film music market organized with Music & Cinéma Marseille that pairs composers with producer-director duos developing new projects.
Those looking for results needn’t go far: Dhont and Hadjadj met as students at a 2013 Third Character session in France, forging a partnership that now carries them to Flanders. Clearly, an auspicious year.) Looking ahead, WSA organizers believe an earlier weekend slot will boost industry attendance, which in turn could open new ways to address familiar concerns. You need to convince producers.” Even as it welcomes new attendees, the WSA wants to preserve the casual camaraderie that has made Ghent a key stop for global talent.
After all, we do have Belgian beer and chocolate.”
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