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BIFFF 2022

Vesper triumphant at the 40th edition of BIFFF

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- The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival has awarded the duo formed by Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper for their latest film

Vesper triumphant at the 40th edition of BIFFF
Vesper by Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper

The fortieth edition of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF), which went back to basics after two editions marked by the health crisis, and welcomed its many fans in a new location, ended with the consecration of the new film from the duo composed of Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte and French director Bruno Samper. Vesper [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Buožytė and Bruno …
film profile
]
, an eco-anxious dystopia set in a world in ruins, where the most privileged have taken refuge in a fortress, had already delighted Czech audiences in Karlovy Vary. The film, a co-production between Lithuania, France and Belgium, has won the Golden Raven. It is the first time a Belgian co-production wins this award since the creation of the Festival in 1983.

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The Silver Raven, meanwhile, went to the French film Summer Scars [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Simon Rieth
film profile
]
by Simon Rieth, which blends realism, summer teen film and fantasy, presented last May in Critics’ Weeks in Cannes, ex-aequo with Argentine film Virus 32 by Gustavo Hernandez.

The European Méliès prize was given to the film by Nico Van den Brink, Moloch. A traditional horror film, where a Dutch community lives on the edge of a bog and find themselves hunted by a mysterious presence.

The festival organises several competitions and hands out many awards. Standing out among them is the Black Raven (Award from the Thriller Competition), given this year to Nightride [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Stephen Fingleton, a hallucinating single-take film set in nighttime Belfast, which follows the desperate quest of a rather lost man involved with some unaccommodating dealers.

Also worth noting in the Critics’ Prize handed out to Spanish film Piggy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlota Pereda
film profile
]
by Carlota Pereda, a sort of bloody coming of age story where a young woman bullied at school sees a chance to enact her revenge. Will she take it? The film, adapted from a short film by the director, was screened in January at Sundance.

Finally, the public celebrated another dystopia, Mad Heidi [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, a Swiss film by Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein, who revisit the myth of Heidi with great audacity and a hefty dose of humour and ferocity. In an alternate Switzerland fallen under the fascist thumb of a cheese magnate, Heidi lives in the mountains with her grand-father, who does his best to protect her from the world. But the naive young girl from the mountains will transform into a fierce fighter with only one goal: to eliminate a maximum number of fascists.

The awarded films:

International Competition

Golden Raven
Vesper [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Buožytė and Bruno …
film profile
]
- Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper (Lithuania/France/Belgium)

Silver Raven
Summer Scars [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Simon Rieth
film profile
]
- Simon Rieth (France)
Virus 32 - Gustavo Hernandez (Argentina/Uruguay)

Special Mention
Studio 666 - BJ McDonnell (United States)

European Competition

European Méliès
Moloch - Nico Van den Brink (the Netherlands)

Black Raven Competition

Black Raven
Nightride - Stephen Fingleton (UK/France/United States)
Special Mention
Limbo - Soi Cheang (China/Hong Kong)

White Raven Competition

White Raven
Life of Mariko in Kabukicho - Fuji Uchida and Shinzo Katayama (Japan)
Special Mention
Redemption of a Rogue [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Philip Doherty (Ireland)

Emerging Raven Competition

Emerging Raven
Kappei - Takashi Hirano (Japan)
Special Mention
Zalava - Arsalan Amiri (Iran)

Short Film Competition

Grand Prix
Sangue Nero - Ophélie Nève (Belgium)

Silver Méliès
Night Breakers - Gabriel Campoy (Spain)

Be TV Prize
Sylvie l’a fait - Adrien Orville (Belgium)

Youth Prize
Souvenirs de la lune - Antoine Dricot (Belgium)
Special Mention
En fin de conte - Zoé Arène (Belgium)

La Trois Prize
Souvenirs de la lune - Antoine Dricot (Belgium)

Audience Award
Friandise - Rémy Barbe (France)

Other Awards

Critics’ Prize
Piggy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlota Pereda
film profile
]
- Carlota Pereda (Spain)
Special Mention
Huesera - Michelle Garza (Mexico/Peru)

Audience Award
Mad Heidi [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein (Switzerland/Finland)

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(Translated from French)

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