A horrific Europe
As the 26th Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film opens this Saturday, it is clear that after several years of Asian domination, there is a resurgence of European films in the horror genre.
As well as the 11 European films in the Méliès Competition, Germany and Belgium will also be in the spotlight during two thematic days.
Young French directors are making increasingly gory films. Moreover, Hollywood has started to turn its gaze towards these uninhibited “Frenchies”, such as David Moreau and Xavier Palud, directors of the opening film, The Eye, and Xavier Gens, director of Hitman [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which was recently released in the US.
Gens’ latest work Frontier(s) [+see also:
trailer
film profile], (EuropaCorp), will screen in international competition at the BIFFF.
The competition includes six European titles among the 11 films in the line-up. Audiences will have the chance to discover [REC] [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
interview: Julio Fernández
film profile], the latest film by Spanish master Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza (Audience Award and Jury Prize at the Gérardmer Festival, Goya for Best Actress and Best Editing, among other awards), which is a variation on the “caméra-vérité” theme. A US remake is already underway.
The competition results will be announced on April 8.
In the remake category, the Festival will screen in avant-premiere Funny Games US by Austrian director Michael Hanneke, his own re-elaboration, aimed at the US audiences of his original Funny Games, which attracted a lot of attention at Cannes ten years ago. Co-produced by Halcyon Pictures (UK), Celluloid Dreams (France) and X Filme International (Germany), the film is being released in the US by Warner.
The largest European genre festival, the BIFFF attracts over 60,000 viewers and boasts a 2,500-seater theatre. Visitors can also enjoy the unmissable Vampire Ball. Above all, the festival offers thousands of fans the opportunity to sample, at any time of the day, a film genre that is usually savoured by night.
(Translated from French)
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