30/11/2023 - The 23rd Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival is set to unspool between 1 and 8 December

Between 1 and 8 December, Brussels will play host to the 23rd edition of Cinemamed – Brussels’ Mediterranean Film Festival, which will provide the public with an opportunity to discover upwards of 70 films. A dozen or so of these works are screening in Belgian premieres and one major theme is family, which is a core value in Mediterranean culture and in films such as After the Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by French director Mehdi Fikri, which charts the painful journey embarked upon by a young woman looking to redress the injustice suffered by her late brother, who was a victim of police brutality, and Behind the Mountains [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mohamed Ben Attia
film profile] by Tunisia’s Mohamed Ben Attia, which follows the reunion of a father, who has just been released from prison, with his young son. These two works are among seven films set for presentation within the Official Competition, alongside La Chimera [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Italy’s Alice Rohrwacher, which was selected in competition in Cannes this year, Animal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sofia Exarchou
film profile] by Greece’s Sofia Exarchou, which won Dimitra Vlagkopoulou an acting award in Locarno, Creatura [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elena Martín Gimeno
film profile] by Spain’s Elena Martín Gimeno, who scooped the Europa Cinemas Label in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, Deserts [+see also:
film review
interview: Faouzi Bensaïdi
film profile] by Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, which was also presented in the Directors’ Fortnight, and Hesitation Wound [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Selman Nacar
film profile] by Turkey’s Selman Nacar, presented in Venice’s Orizzonti section.

The festival is also scheduled to host a second competition going by the name of Revolution, which looks to highlight the challenges facing Mediterranean youngsters today, and blends fiction and documentary forms. This section will likewise see 7 movies battling it out for a selection of awards, namely Amal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jawad Rhalib
film profile] (Belgium) by Jawad Rhalib, which was discovered in Rotterdam and which earned Lubna Azabal an acting trophy at Tallinn’s Black Nights Festival; Sisterhood [+see also:
film review
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interview: Nora El Hourch
film profile] (France/Morocco) by Nora El Hourch, awarded the Junior Jury Prize in Namur’s International Francophone Film Festival in October; the documentary I’m Not Lakit (Lebanon/Romania) by Marie Sura; Phantom Youth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (France/Kosovo) by Luàna Bajrami, which was presented in Venice’s Orizzonti line-up; The Summer With Carmen [+see also:
film review
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interview: Zacharias Mavroeidis
film profile] (Greece) by Zacharias Mavroeidis, likewise presented in Venice, though this time within the Giornate degli Autori line-up; and last but not least, Turkish titles Blue ID by Burcu Melekoglu and Vuslat Karan, which nabbed the Audience Award in the IDFA, and Almost Entirely a Slight Disaster by Umut Subasi.

In addition to these two competitions, the festival will be further offering up a Panorama section, sharing works whose distribution in Belgium is yet to be announced, including Albania’s Oscar representative A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gentian Koçi
film profile] by Gentian Koçi, and Backstage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil Be…
film profile] by Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane, whose choreographies come courtesy of the internationally renowned choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, who also stars in the film. The inclusion of a Cineuropa Jury, which is set to award a prize to one of the selected movies, is also well worth a mention.

Events set to open and close the festival, meanwhile, include Matteo Garrone’s new movie Me Captain [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - a film of discovery at the Venice Film Festival and Italy’s candidate at the Oscars - which will be screened in Brussels on 1 December, homing in on the painful matter of migration on the doorstep of Europe and, in the closing slot on 8 December, Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez’s Spanish movie Upon Entry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alejandro Rojas and Juan Se…
film profile], which bagged the Fipresci Prize in Tallin last year.

(Translated from French)