Flemish “Oscars” will stay gender-neutral

It’s not about the statuettes, but about the different award categories where actors and actresses compete against each other

The Ensors is the name of the annual awards presented to the best Flemish actors, films and TV series every year at the end of the prestigious Ostend Film Festival, which takes place in February. Two years ago, these awards made a bit of a regional splash in the news headlines when the organizers announced that from then on, the Ensors would be gender-neutral, a decision which was recently confirmed despite some fresh rounds of criticism.

The ”gender-neutral” determination does not refer to the statues, which just like the Oscars consist of a human figure of somewhat undetermined gender, but rather to the award categories. In other words, the decision essentially scrapped the traditional categories that pitted male actors versus other male actors and female actresses versus other female actresses to decide who was best at their craft.

Since 2022 prizes have been given for the 'best performance in a leading role' and 'best performance in a supportive role,' in films and series respectively. The idea of the organizers was to promote true equality and to account for the modern reality that there were actors who didn’t identify with the classic binary genders.

The well-intentioned move, however, has ended up giving very controversial results as both in 2022 and 2024 all the major awards ended up only in male actors’ hands.

The voting procedure will be adjusted though

The organizers of the Ensors then argued that this was part of what they were trying to show to society that the industry had been unfairly stacked in favour of male actors since it is them who were usually given the most interesting roles.

The awards event has decided to keep its new format despite growing criticism because they are convinced that it is only through this format that the structural deficiencies around gender in the Flemish film industry can be exposed.

What the organizers have agreed to compromise on is the voting process for the separate categories. From now on, only professional peers working in the same field of the industry will vote in the second round of voting that determines the winners.

For example, screenwriters will only be able to vote for nominees in the best screenplay category, which the board believes should ensure a "richer palette" of award winners.