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BRIFF 2019

The BRIFF lifts the veil on its second edition

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- The Brussels International Film Festival has revealed the details of the programme set to unspool at its very European sophomore edition

The BRIFF lifts the veil on its second edition
It Must Be Heaven by Elia Suleiman

For its second iteration, the fresh-faced Brussels International Film Festival will offer a selection of films hailing from the four corners of the Earth – and, in particular, from Europe – that have been unveiled at the biggest festivals over the course of the last year. The opening film of BRIFF 2019 will be It Must Be Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elia Suleiman
film profile
]
 by Elia Suleiman, fresh from its Cannes screening. 

The festival will take place under the patronage of several prestigious guests, such as Belgium’s Bouli Lanners and Emilie Dequenne; French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius, whose next film, The Lost Prince [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, is expected to arrive in early 2020; and cult Italian-based US helmer Abel Ferrara, who will present his latest film, Tommaso [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Abel Ferrara
film profile
]
, which was shown as a Special Screening last month on the Croisette, among others. 

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Among the nine titles in the International Competition, we find seven European movies, including the opening film, as well as Zombi Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile
]
, the new picture by Bertrand BonelloGod Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Labina Mitevska
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile
]
 by Teona Strugar MitevskaRay & Liz [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Richard Billingham
film profile
]
 by Richard Billingham, unveiled at Locarno and festooned with awards ever since, the Irish documentary Shooting the Mafia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Kim Longinotto, and the co-productions The Orphanage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Shahrbanoo Sadat
film profile
]
by Afghanistan’s Shahrbanoo Sadat and Unremember [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
 by Flavia Castro. The selection is rounded off by So Long, My Son by China’s Wang Xiaoshuai and Ghost Town Anthology by Canada’s Denis Côté.

The festival is devoting a whole competitive section to European film, its Director’s Week, supervised by the filmmakers from the ARRF (Association of Male and Female Film Directors). Eight movies are on the menu: the French title Sophia Antipolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Virgil Vernier
film profile
]
 by Virgil Vernier (and incidentally, tribute will be paid to the French filmmaker, as the gathering will programme two of his previous films, Mercuriales [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 and Andorre), Light as Feathers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rosanne Pel
film profile
]
by Rosanne Pel (Netherlands), Animus Animalis (A Story about People, Animals and Things) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aistė Žegulytė
film profile
]
by Aiste Zegulyte (Lithuania), Aren’t You Happy? [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Susanne Heinrich (Germany), The Last to See Them [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Sara Summa (Germany), All About Yves [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benoît Forgeard
film profile
]
 by Benoit Forgeard (France), Where There Is Shade [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Nathan Nicholovitch (France) and Koko-Di Koko-Da [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Johannes Nyholm
film profile
]
 by Johannes Nyholm (Switzerland/Denmark). 

Lastly, it is worth noting that the festival is also organising a National Competition, which will boast Belgian productions (Cavale by Virginie GourmelCentury of Smoke [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Nicolas Graux and Jeunesse sauvage [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Frédéric Carpentier) and co-productions (Good Favour [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Rebecca DalyOleg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juris Kursietis
film profile
]
 by Juris Kursietis and Dirty God [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sacha Polak
film profile
]
 by Sacha Polak) as well as a Panorama that will enable audiences to (re)discover the best Belgian flicks of the past year. The festival unspools from 20-29 June – be there or be square.

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(Translated from French)

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