The 43rd edition of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) unspooled from 9-21 April at Brussels Expo’s iconic Palais 10, bringing together more than 45,600 visitors. On 18 April, the gathering’s main competitions concluded with an awards ceremony.

The three principal prizes were handed out by the international jury, consisting of genre-film director Christophe Gans (Beauty and the Beast [+leggi anche:
trailer
making of
intervista: Léa Seydoux
intervista: Vincent Cassel
scheda film], Crying Freeman, Silent Hill [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film]), Spanish writer-director Paco Plaza ([REC] [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
intervista: Julio Fernández
scheda film], The Grandmother [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Paco Plaza
scheda film]) and Italian actress Simona Tabasco (Luna Park, season 2 of The White Lotus). The Golden Raven was bestowed upon Soi Cheang’s Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. The Hong Kong-made action-thriller follows the story of Chan Lok-kwan, a refugee from mainland China who accidentally enters the notorious Kowloon Walled City, where he tries to survive by participating in underground fighting rings.

The Silver Raven was shared between two films: Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film], and Honey Bunch by Canada’s Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli. The former horror-comedy, a story about beauty standards and fierce competition between stepsisters, also received the Audience Award. Moreover, the jury gave a Special Mention to Lorcan Finnegan’s psychological thriller The Surfer [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Lorcan Finnegan
scheda film], which stars Nicolas Cage as a surfer who wants to buy his old childhood home back, only to be put through hell by a group called the Bay Boys.

The Silver Méliès for Best European Feature Film went to Mattias J Skoglund’s The Home [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Mattias J. Skoglund
scheda film]. The horror flick is set in a retirement home for people with dementia, haunted by a malevolent spirit that has taken control of one of the residents.

As usual, the festival handed out an array of other awards across several competitions. The Black Raven (the gong intended for the best thriller) went to James Ashcroft’s The Rule of Jenny Pen, starring John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush, who shared the Best Actor Award at Spain’s Sitges Film Festival in 2024. Just like The Home, Ashcroft’s work unleashes terror upon a care home for stroke survivors and people with dementia.

The White Raven is an award for the most bizarre, radical and difficult-to-categorise films. This year, it was scooped by Grace Glowicki’s Dead Lover, a hilariously grotesque genre mashup about a gravedigger who resurrects the love of her life. It was written and produced by Glowicki and Ben Petrie, who also star as the macabre couple.

BIFFF celebrated its winners in style, with an awards ceremony filled with audience remarks, monsters and musical renditions by jury members. Sadly, though, it is currently unclear if the festival will be able to return for another edition next year, as budget cuts in the cultural sector are threatening its future. The gathering would not be able to finance another edition with its own reserves, unless political decision makers rally behind it – which is to be hoped for, as Brussels would certainly miss this wacky event, which is particularly beloved for bringing together people from all kinds of different backgrounds and orientations.

Here is the list of award winners:

International Feature Film Competition

Golden Raven   
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In - Soi Cheang (Hong Kong)

Silver Raven (ex aequo)
The Ugly Stepsister [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] - Emilie Blichfeldt (Norway/Poland/Sweden/Denmark)       
Honey Bunch - Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli (Canada)

Special Mention
The Surfer [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Lorcan Finnegan
scheda film] - Lorcan Finnegan (Australia/Ireland)                  

European Feature Film Competition

Silver Méliès      
The Home [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Mattias J. Skoglund
scheda film] - Mattias J Skoglund (Sweden/Estonia/Iceland)         
Special Mention          
Un monde merveilleux [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] - Giulio Callegari (France)

Black Raven Competition (for thrillers)

Black Raven
The Rule of Jenny Pen - James Ashcroft (New Zealand)    
Special Mention
Tabula Rasa - Juanfer Andrés, Esteban Roel (Spain/Dominican Republic)

White Raven Competition

White Raven
Dead Lover - Grace Glowicki (Canada)  
Special Mention
Sister Midnight [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Karan Kandhari
scheda film] - Karan Kandhari (UK/Sweden/India)          

Emerging Raven Competition

Emerging Raven
A Girl With Closed Eyes - Sun-Young Chun (South Korea)
Special Mention
The Wailing [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Pedro Martín-Calero, Isabe…
scheda film] - Pedro Martín-Calero (Spain/Argentina/France)     

Critics’ Prize
Hallow Road - Babak Anvari (UK/Ireland/USA)

Audience Award
The Ugly Stepsister - Emilie Blichfeldt

Short films

Best International Short Film
Hold Up - Ori Guendelman (USA) 

Silver Méliès for Best European Short Film
The Musical Spider - Henry Moore Selder (Sweden)

Belgian Competition Grand Prix
Foreign Body - Mathieu Mortelmans, Cécile Delberghe (Belgium)

BeTv Award
Foreign Body - Mathieu Mortelmans, Cécile Delberghe

La Trois Award
Metamorphosis - Elodie Lebrun, Cécile Delberghe (Belgium)

Cinergie Award
The Leader Will Come - Michiel Geluykens, Manuel Janssens (Belgium)

Youth Jury Award
The Leader Will Come - Michiel Geluykens, Manuel Janssens
Special Mention of the Youth Jury
Autokar - Sylwia Szkiladz (Belgium)