Film Music Days Puts Composers and Directors Together at Ghent Event

The World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent, Belgium, have spent decades building themselves into one of Europe’s premier destinations for film music. Now the festival’s 26th edition is stepping out of its lane and sharing the stage with the main event.

Starting Oct. 8, the WSA’s Film Music Days will run alongside the full Film Fest Ghent schedule, rather than waiting until the main festival winds down. Program director Wim De Witte calls the shift a deliberate move toward integration. “We’re expecting much more integration and interaction between visiting filmmakers and composers,” he says.

A Festival Within a Festival

The story began in the 1980s, when Film Fest Ghent adopted screen music as its calling card. That decision led to the World Soundtrack Academy and Awards at the turn of the millennium. For years, the WSA operated largely in parallel with the parent festival, with talks, roundtables, performances and awards ceremonies held separately.

“This year, we’ve organized two talks around that conversation: how filmmakers approach music, how they communicate with composers, where to place it, what kind to use, and whether it should work against or heighten a scene,” De Witte says.

The first talk pairs Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont with longtime composer Valentin Hadjadj and music supervisor Pierre-Marie Dru. The second brings German director Edward Berger together with Volker Bertelmann, whose work De Witte calls his “musical soulmate.” Dhont is a former attendee turned jury member, while Bertelmann has won WSA Film Composer of the Year twice.

Why the Shift Happened

The change comes partly from demand. De Witte says WSA member requests pushed the festival toward a more collaborative format. He also points to communication gaps between creatives.

“Composers have told us how difficult it can be to communicate with filmmakers because they speak different languages, while directors have told us how hard it can be to explain what they want from the music,” De Witte says.

The program now includes matchmaking and student networking sessions. Industry days also welcome Third Character, an annual film music market organized with Music & Cinéma Marseille, which pairs composers with producer-director duos developing new projects.

A Match Made in Ghent

De Witte points to a direct success story. Dhont and Hadjadj met as students at a 2013 Third Character session in France, and their partnership now carries them to Flanders.

“When you bring people together, it sometimes grows into a collaboration,” he says.

He also cites director Jacqueline Lentzou and rocker-composer Colin Stetson, who met on Ghent’s 2023 jury and went on to make Venice Horizons prize-winner “A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra.” Dhont sat on that jury too.

The Weekend Slot

Organizers hope the earlier weekend timing will boost industry attendance. That could open new ways to address familiar concerns.

“We try to avoid another AI talk, but whenever we ask our boards which subjects we should focus on, AI always ends up on the list,” De Witte says. “Of course, you don’t need to convince our members that composers, not machines, should make the music. You need to convince producers.”

Keeping the Camaraderie

Even as it welcomes new attendees, the WSA wants to preserve the casual camaraderie that has made Ghent a key stop for global talent.

“Composers often say they live in L.A., just around the corner from each other, but never see each other there,” De Witte says. “And then they meet in Ghent. After all, we do have Belgian beer and chocolate.”

What to Watch

The Oct. 8-10 edition kicks off a day after the festival opens with “Coward,” from native son Lukas Dhont. Dhont calls the Belgian Oscar submission “a musical about the repression of emotions.” The film’s key music team will travel to Ghent for the event.

Here is how the festival’s film music programming breaks down:

1. Opening night: “Coward,” with Dhont present.
2. Two WSA talks pairing filmmaker-composer duos.
3. Industry days featuring Third Character market.
4. Matchmaking and student networking sessions.

The shift marks a notable change in format for the WSA, which has historically run as a separate event. By moving Film Music Days into the main festival’s schedule, the organizers are betting that proximity will drive collaboration.

De Witte’s enthusiasm is genuine. He clearly believes in the power of face-to-face connection over online networking, and the examples he cites — Dhont and Hadjadj, Lentzou and Stetson — prove the model works.

For anyone who cares about the craft of screen music, this is the place to be. The beer and chocolate are nice, but the real draw is the chance to see collaborators form in real time.

Source material: “Composers, Filmmakers Sync Up at World Soundtrack Awards’ Film Music Days,” Variety.

composer collaborations · film festival · film music · Ghent · World Soundtrack Awards