10/11/2015 - Nine films in competition, hailing from all shores of the Mediterranean, will be duking it out for the awards handed out by the jury chaired by Baya Kasmi, as well as for the Cineuropa Prize

Enclave by Goran Radovanovic

For its competition, the Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival (4-11 December) has selected nine fiction features, which will be battling it out for the Grand Prix, the Special Jury Prize, the Cineuropa Prize, the Critics’ Award and the Young Jury’s Award.

From Spain to Turkey, via Serbia and Kosovo, these films provide a timely overview of the Mediterranean area. Among them we find Mediterranea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile], a blisteringly topical movie by Jonas Carpignano (a co-production between Germany, Italy and France) that follows the difficult first steps of Ayiva, who has just left Burkina Faso in order to seek out a better life across the sea, regardless of the animosity of the local communities he may encounter. Enclave [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] (Serbia/Germany) by Goran Radovanovic revisits the recent history of Kosovo and follows the journey of a young Christian boy from Serbia who finds a safe haven in the enemy “forces”, the Muslims of Kosovo, as he attempts to build a dignified grave for his grandfather. Several years later in Kosovo, in Babai [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Visar Morina
film profile] (Kosovo/Germany/Macedonia) by Visar Morina, a father and his son ponder the question of exile. Ungiven [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Croatian director Branko Schmidt is another movie that deals with conflicts and the scars they leave. Meanwhile, Amama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Asier Altuna
film profile] by Asier Altuna, a Spanish film shot entirely in Basque, follows the fortunes of a family whose members are at loggerheads with each other, and tackles the clash between the rural and urban environments, the past and the present, and tradition and modernity.

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Besides the competition, the festival will also offer a panorama of around ten films, a rich documentary section, and a focus on Turkish cinema. As often happens, the Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival serves as a sounding board for the sticking points in the world today, shedding some new light on the conflicts and the challenges that trouble the shores of the Mediterranean, and often also the rest of the world.

(Translated from French)