25/08/2022 - The BIFFF is back for exceptionally summery dates in a new location for a heightened edition in order to celebrate its anniversary

For its 40th anniversary, the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival returns from 29 August to 10 September with a plethoric edition, to say the least, which will multiply encounters and events. The festival will also be held for the first time at Brussels Expo, a large site that should be able to accommodate its large audience. With no less than six competitions, thematic sections (such as a brand new documentary section), prestigious masterclasses (with, amongst others, Barry Sonnenfeld and John McTiernan) and festive events, the festival intends to come back with a vengeance after two editions prevented or amputated by the pandemic.

In European Competition, we find 8 features from around the world, including the local and challenging but stunning Belgian film Megalomaniac [+see also:
film review
interview: Karim Ouelhaj
film profile] by Karim Ouelhaj, already prized at Fantasia. At its side, the French film The Five Devils [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Léa Mysius, discovered in Directors’ Fortnight this year in Cannes; the Austrian film Rubikon [+see also:
film review
interview: Leni Lauritsch
film profile] by Magdalena Lauritsch, a science-fiction film presented as a premiere; Piggy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlota Pereda
film profile] by Carlota Pereda (Spain/France), a kind of re-reading of the Carrie myth selected in Sundance; the Dutch film Moloch by Nico van den Brink; Hinterland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefan Ruzowitzky
film profile] by Oscar-winning Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky (co-produced with Luxembourg), presented in Locarno on the Piazza Grande; Cop Secret [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hannes Þór Halldórsson
interview: Hannes Þór Halldòrsson
film profile] by Hannes Þór Halldórsson, an Icelandic comedy also discovered in Locarno in the Competition; and finally, Piety [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Eduardo Casanova, a co-production between Argentina and Spain. These films will be competing for the very sought-after Méliès prize.

The BIFFF also welcomes an International Competition, in which there too eight films will be competing: Huesera by Michelle Garza Cervera (Mexico/Peru), Tiny Cinema by Tyler Cornack (United States), Virus 32 by Gustavo Hernandez (Argentina/Uruguay), American Carnage by Diego Hallivis (United States), The Witch Part Two: The Other One by Park Hoon-jung (South Korea), Studio 666 by BJ McDonnell (United States). Two European co-productions will take part in this International Competition: Summer Scars [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Simon Rieth
film profile] by French filmmaker Simon Rieth, presented last May during Critics’ Week in Cannes, and Vesper [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Buožytė and Bruno …
film profile] by Lithuanian filmmaker Kristina Buožytė and French filmmaker Bruno Samper, a dystopia selected in Competition in Karlovy Vary, co-produced between Lithuania, France and Belgium.

Let us note that the festival is setting up a brand new Competition this year, the Emerging Raven Competition, intended for first and second works. It will allow the discovery of ten films by new filmmakers who dare to make genre films, including the first feature film by Belgian director  Véronique Jadin, Employee of the Month [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Véronique Jadin
film profile], a feminist and joyfully macabre comedy discovered at Tribeca and Fantasia, but also the Swiss film Mad Heidi [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein, You Lie You Die by Spanish filmmaker Héctor Claramunt, The Visitor from the Future [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by François Descraques (France) and the Franco-Senegalese co-production Saloum [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jean-Luc Herbulot.

The other competitions organised by the festival are the Black Raven (dedicated to thrillers) and the White Raven (ex 7th parallel competition). The Critics' Prize will be awarded to one of the 10 films selected from the various competitions.

(Translated from French)