Here by Bas Devos will have its Belgian premiere in the Official Competition of the 50th edition of Film Fest Gent. The film had its world premiere earlier at the Berlinale, where it won the top prize in the Encounters section. Today it was also announced that Here will be screened in the Wavelengths section in Toronto and in the Main Slate programme of the New York Film Festival, a remarkable achievement for a Flemish film.
Here is Bas Devos's fourth feature film and is already the third film by the director to be shown at Film Fest Gent. Both his debut film Violet (2014) and the nocturnal odyssey Ghost Tropic (2019) were part of the Official Competition of the festival. With Here, Devos casts his patient and humane gaze on a Romanian construction worker who strolls through the Belgian capital and its nature. It is a gentle, humanistic city symphony with green fingers that pays tribute to the invisible ones. And to mosses.
Synopsis
Stefan is a gentle-hearted construction worker in Brussels who is about to depart for his homeland Romania. With leftovers from his refrigerator, he prepares a large pot of soup to distribute to his friends and family as a parting gift. Stefan's paths cross with those of a young Belgian-Chinese woman who dedicates her doctoral studies to mosses. Her interest in the barely visible intrigues him.
Bas Devos
Bas Devos was born in Zoersel, Belgium. Since his graduation, he has directed two short films, The Close and We Know. His first feature film, Violet, won the Jury Prize at Berlinale Generations in 2014. Its successor Hellhole had its world premiere in the Panorama programme at the 2019 Berlinale. Three months later, Devos unveiled his third film, Ghost Tropic, during the Quinzaine des cinéastes in Cannes. His latest feature film, Here, won the prize for best film in the Encounters section of the Berlinale in 2023, as well as the FIPRESCI prize. Bas Devos teaches film at KASK in Gent.
Here is a production of Quetzalcoatl in co-production with Kunstencentrum Buda, kunstencentrum nona, 1080, Proxiums and Shelterprod, in collaboration with Taxshelter.be & ING, supported by the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (VAF) and Tax-Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government.