19/10/2012 - Ten fiction features are to vie for the Grand Prix, the Special Jury Prize from the jury headed by Serge Riaboukine, and a Cineuropa prize

Saint - Josse, the Brussels commune that is home to the greatest diversity of populations, is to host the 12th Mediterranean Film Festival. From November 9 to 17, the Botanique Cultural Centre is to screen 70 films, fictions and documentaries, from 20 countries in the Mediterranean Basin.

Many of the films to be screened have been marked by the events that have shaken and continue to shake the Arab world. This is to be discussed during the debates organised as part of the festival. To stress the importance of the event, the opening ceremony is to take place at the Bozar with a screening of Italian film Magnifica Presenza [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (photo) directed by Ferzan Ozpetek.

In the international competition, ten films are to vie for the festival’s Grand Prix and its Special Jury Prize to be handed out by a jury headed by actor Serge Riaboukine. The audience is to vote for its favourite film from the 2012 edition and Cineuropa is also to hand out an award.

Beyond the films in competition, others are to be screened in the Panorama (a selection of films made over the last two years), MeDoc (documentaries), Coup de Coeur du Court, and Cinema Italia (the most representative Italian productions of this year) sections.

In the corridors of the Botanique, festival goers may cross paths with some of the many guests attending the festival to present their films, such as Nabil Ayouch (God’s Horses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nabil Ayouch
film profile]), Binevsa Berivan (Phone Story, Sidewalk), Pierre Duculot (Miles from Anywhere [+see also:
trailer
interview: Pierre Duculot
film profile]) Chergui Kharroubi (Ibn Khaldun), or perhaps even actress Lubna Azabal, the guest of honour for 2012, who received the Magritte for Best Actress for her role in Incendies [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Sixteen films produced or co-produced by Belgium have been selected, all linked to lived realities in Mediterranean countries. They are to be screened in the Medoc, Short Films, or Panorama sections, while God’s Horses, co-produced by YC Aligator film, is to run in the official competition.

Concerts, markets, discussions, and debates are set to transform the Botanique into an immense Mediterranean town square.

The Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival is an initiative by the Commission communautaire française (Cocof - audiovisual sector), co-organised with non-profit association Cinémamed. The European Union’s Euromed Audiovisual programme is a partner in the festival.

(Translated from French)