Gender neutral acting awards during the 12th edition of the Ensors

The Ensors for Best Actor and Best Actress will be dropped and from now on only one Ensor will be awarded for the Best Acting Performance in both leading and supporting roles. The debate on gender equality has been going on in the film and television sector for several years and was recently discussed at the Netherlands Film Festival and the Berlinale in Berlin. For the 2022 edition, vzw De Ensors will look at the acting performance and award an Ensor for Best Acting Performance Leading Role (Film), Best Acting Performance Leading Role (TV series), Best Acting Performance Supporting Role (Film) and Best Acting Performance Supporting Role (TV-series). “Acting is an art form, not a sports discipline. We feel it's no longer appropriate to make gender based distinctions '' says Michaël Pas, chairman and spokesperson of the Actors' Guild. The Ensor for the supporting role is new, so the number of Ensors to be awarded remains the same.

New interpretation

In 2022, remakes will be eligible for the Ensors for the first time, whereby the addition of specific Flemish creativity remains an important assessment criterion. In addition, some awards will undergo a transformation: the Ensor for 'Debut of the Year' becomes 'Most Promising Talent of the Year'. “With the Ensor for 'Most Promising Talent of the year' we want to put a professional in the spotlights who has not yet had a breakthrough to the general public, but who over the past year proved to be one to watch.” explains Wim Vanseveren, chairman of the board of vzw De Ensors. In addition, the Ensor 'International Breakthrough of the Year' will also receive the modified interpretation 'International Performance of the Year'. After all, more and more often, working abroad is for Flemish talent  no longer a one-off opportunity, but is followed by several other projects.

Diversity and inclusion

Finally, vzw De Ensors wants to fully assume its public and representative role within the Flemish audiovisual sector and in this way contribute to a respectful culture for everyone, regardless of gender, age, education, disability, religion/philosophy, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social and/or economic background and (sub)cultures. De Ensors strives for inclusive organizational values and a diverse composition within its representative functions.

Ostend Film Festival

The Flemish film and television prizes are traditionally awarded on the closing day of the Ostend Film Festival (FFO), which takes place from Friday 21 January to Saturday 29 January 2022. Anyone who has recently been active in our audiovisual sector can become a member of the Ensor Academy and vote. in all categories. The Ensor Academy is supported by the following professional guilds: V.O.F.T.P., Union of Directors, Scenarist Guild, Actors Guild, S.B.C., Montage.be, Flanders Doc and the Belgian Screen Composers Guild.

In addition to the Ensors, the Jamies will be awarded for the second time at FFO on Friday 28 January. In this way, FFO wants to include in its programme all content, from film to television and online, and on any screen.

Overview Ensors

• Best of the best: Best Film, Best TV Series, Best Short Film (based on a shortlist compiled by the jury, fiction, documentary and animation present at least once), Best Youth Fiction (Film & TV Series), Best Documentary ( Film), Best Documentary (TV Series), Best Animation.
• Film: Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Acting Performance Leading Role, Best Acting Performance Supporting Role
• TV Series: Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Acting Performance Leading Role, Best Acting Performance Supporting Role
• Across all genres: Best Director of Photography, Best Makeup, Best Costume, Best Art Direction, Best Music, Best Sound, Best Editing
• Based on numbers: The Box Office Price
• Chosen by third parties: The Albert Bert Prize - International Achievement of the Year (board of directors De Ensors), Most Promising Talent of the Year (board of directors De Ensors), Best Co-production (Film, board of directors De Ensors), The Lifetime Achievement Award (Film Festival Ostend )​​, The Audience Award