Barco is supporting the 40th Film Fest Gent, Belgium, which runs through October 19th with projectors, an LED display and an interactive voting solution for the Best Belgian Student Short Film Competition. This year’s festival also features collaboration with the legendary Cinema De Keizer in Lichtervelde, thus illustrating Barco’s vision for the Cinema of the Future for smaller theaters and art house cinemas.
For Film Fest Gent 2013, Barco’s rental partner XL Video installed several projectors, to allow visualization during events and screenings at various festival venues. To welcome the guests of the Kinepolis multiplex, traditionally the heart of the film festival, rental partner Photonics set up a big LiveDots C8 LED display that streams live video content of the red carpet activities. One Kinepolis theatre further featured technology from dZine, a Barco company, facilitating a live interactive voting session for the Best Belgian Student Short Film Competition.
In addition, Film Fest Gent chose to cooperate with the authentic, one-theater Cinema De Keizer. Established in 1924, Cinema De Keizer is the lifework of cinephile Agnes Debaillie and a reference beacon in Belgian cinema. It reopened its doors to the public in December 2012, after a complete makeover during which a Barco compact DP2K-10S digital cinema projector was installed. Cinema De Keizer enjoyed an extremely successful first digital year, which culminated in being chosen as a satellite venue for Film Fest Gent. Cinema De Keizer has the honor of showing Behind the Candelabra, the festival’s closing film October 18.
Sofie Eeckeman, who operates Cinema De Keizer said, “Last year’s refurbishments have catapulted us into the digital age and we’re constantly upgrading our technology to bring our theater into the future. Last week, we installed three new digital signage screens and we’re planning to offer interactive content in the future. We really believe that the combination of our old era charm and advanced technology enhances the cinema experience. The partnership with Barco and Film Fest Gent helps us highlight this added value. It’s great to get appreciated by big names in the world of cinema, like Film Fest Gent and Barco.”
Tim Sinnaeve, Barco’s market director digital cinema said, “Together with our partners in the exhibition industry, we’re constantly working on new applications, like interactive concepts for cinemas. This includes enabling moviegoers to use smartphones to participate in the cinema experience, for example during real-time voting sessions. We’re excited to provide a sneak peek of some of these applications during the 40th anniversary of Film Fest Gent, both at Kinepolis and Cinema De Keizer.”
Film Fest Gent www.filmfestival.be