Sven Hollebeke
Researcher with a focus on the affective power of cinema.
In December 2025, I started my journey as a PhD candidate within the Culture & Education research group, under supervision of Professor Kris Rutten. Before that I obtained a Bachelor's degree in Languages & Literature (KUL) and both a Master's degree in Cultural Studies (KUL) and Film Studies & Visual Culture (UA) magna cum laude., with dissertations on Terrence Malick, Robert Bresson, and Jean-Luc Godard.
My love for cinema as an art form and "an equipment for living" (K. Burke) brought me to Knack Focus, where I worked as a freelance film critic, and - from 2020 on - to Film Fest Gent, Belgium's largest international film festival, where I worked on six editions as a communication officer, overseeing all print & digital publications. As a freelancer, I contributed to Kaboom Animation Festival in Amsterdam & Utrecht, next to hosting screenings in my favourite film theatre, BUDA arts centre.
My doctoral research is an extension of my belief in cinema as an affective medium and a charged, polyphonic object that elicits a plurality of emotions. As such, film contributes to the individual and collective meaning-making process. Everyone feels and acts different at the movies, but the beauty is in the art; whether it's Toy Story, a Terrence Malick film, or a sumptuous 50s melodrama.
Outside academia, you can of course find me at a film theatre, giving introductions to screenings, or at a local football match. I am also still actively involved with film festivals and the Urgent.fm radio show Kuleshov.
De Krook
Miriam Makebaplein 1
9000 Ghent
Belgium
&
Henri Dunantlaan 2
9000 Ghent
Belgium
Office 120.043
&
GUM (Ghent University Museum & Botanical Garden)
Karel Ledeganckstraat 35
9000 Ghent
Belgium