Originally scheduled to unfold in early summer, the 3^rd edition of the Brussels International Film Festival eventually unspooled from 3 – 13 September, proving a real hit with Brussels audiences given their unshakeable love for movie theatres and unmissable film meetings. Set against the very peculiar backdrop of the health crisis, the event (in league with the Brussels Short Film Festival, which was organised by the same team and unspooled simultaneously) offered a little salve for a cultural sector which has been cruelly impacted by the crisis in Belgium.

(L'articolo continua qui sotto - Inf. pubblicitaria)

Three competitions took place within the Festival. Firstly, it was the Australian film by Shannon Murphy Babyteeth which walked away with the International Competition’s Grand Prize. The Jury Award, meanwhile, was won by both Fabio & Damiano D’Innocenzo’s Bad Tales [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Fabio e Damiano D'Innocenzo
scheda film] (Switzerland/Italy), which was unveiled in Berlin in the winter, and Sarah Gavron’s Rocks [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Sarah Gavron
scheda film] (UK), which was also the lucky recipient of the RTBF Award.

A Directors’ Week is also hosted by the Festival, organised in league with the French Association of Male and Female French-Speaking Directors and consisting of a European competition which invites audiences to see the world through the eyes of young and engaged filmmakers who demonstrate innovation and bravery in their choices. The Grand Prize in this category went to Electric Swan (Greece/France/Argentina), a mid-length work by Konstantina Kotzamani which was discovered last year in Venice, while the Jury Award was handed to Schoolgirls [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Pilar Palomero
scheda film] by Pilar Palomero (Spain), initially unveiled in Berlin. Another mid-length work was crowned the audience’s winner: Roxanne Gaucherand’s Pyrale (France).

Last but not least is the National Competition organised by the Festival and dedicated to Belgian productions. This year’s big winner was the documentary Saint Nicolas est socialiste by David Leloup, which was presented at the Festival in a premiere and which takes the form of a tragi-comic political farce following the fierce but fragile battle led over a period of two years by two locally elected officials who are trying to shake the Walloon Socialist Party’s century-long stronghold on a town in the province of Liège. The film scooped both the Grand Prize and the Audience Award, while the Belgian-Dutch title Retrospekt [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] by Esther Rots won a jury Special Mention.

The full list of winners is as follows:

International Competition

Grand Prize
Babyteeth - Shannon Murphy (Australia)

Jury Award (tie)
Bad Tales [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Fabio e Damiano D'Innocenzo
scheda film] - Fabio & Damiano D’Innocenzo (Italy/Switzerland)
Rocks [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Sarah Gavron
scheda film] - Sarah Gavron (UK)

National Competition

Grand Prize
Saint Nicolas est socialiste - David Leloup (Belgium)

Jury Special Mention
Retrospekt [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] - Esther Roots (The Netherlands/Belgium)

Audience Award
Saint Nicolas est socialiste - David Leloup

Directors’ Week

Grand Prize
Electric Swan - Konstantina Kotzamani (Greece/France/Argentina) (mid-length film)

Jury Award
Schoolgirls [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Pilar Palomero
scheda film] - Pilar Palomero (Spain)

Audience Award
Pyrale - Roxanne Gaucherand (France) (mid-length film)

Other Awards

RTBF Award
Rocks - Sarah Gavron

BeTV Award
Mano de obra - David Zonana (Mexico)