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 [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mohamed Ben Attia
scheda film] 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 [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Italy’s Alice Rohrwacher, which was selected in competition in Cannes this year, Animal [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sofia Exarchou
scheda film] by Greece’s Sofia Exarchou, which won Dimitra Vlagkopoulou an acting award in Locarno, Creatura [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Elena Martín Gimeno
scheda film] by Spain’s Elena Martín Gimeno, who scooped the Europa Cinemas Label in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, Deserts [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Faouzi Bensaïdi
scheda film] by Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, which was also presented in the Directors’ Fortnight, and Hesitation Wound [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Selman Nacar
scheda film] 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jawad Rhalib
scheda film] (Belgium) by Jawad Rhalib, which was discovered in Rotterdam and which earned Lubna Azabal an acting trophy at Tallinn’s Black Nights Festival; Sisterhood [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Nora El Hourch
scheda film] (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 [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (France/Kosovo) by Luàna Bajrami, which was presented in Venice’s Orizzonti line-up; The Summer With Carmen [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Zacharias Mavroeidis
scheda film] (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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gentian Koçi
scheda film] by Gentian Koçi, and Backstage [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil B…
scheda film] 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 [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Alejandro Rojas e Juan Seb…
scheda film], which bagged the Fipresci Prize in Tallin last year.