The Brussels Film Festival (BRFF), formerly the Brussels International Film Festival and Brussels European Film Festival, was an annual event showcasing works of
European cinema, held at
Le Flagey in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
. It ran from 1974 at various locations until 2003, when it moved to the Flagey Building, and held its last edition in 2016. Its top prize was known as the Golden Iris.
History
The first Brussels Film Festival took place in January 1974, on the initiative of the Chambre Syndicale Belge de la Cinématographie and Dimitri Balachoff. From 1975 the festival was renamed the Festival International du Film de Bruxelles (Brussels International Film Festival) and was acknowledged by the
Fédération Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films (FIAPF). In 1990 the organisation was taken over by K Com, a communications agency, and from that time it was the only film festival in Belgium supported by both
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
- and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
-speakers. Three years later, a new section was created, dedicated to the cinema of a chosen European country. In 1998, its 25th anniversary, the Festival was hosted by Ireland, and moved locations in ensuing years.
In 2002 the festival found itself without a home, owing to the bankruptcy of the Kladaradatsch! Palace, and organisers had to cancel the 29th editiont. In 2003 Dominique Janne took the helm and the festival moved to Fagey. It was referred to as the Brussels European Film Festival;
[ ]IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
says that the Brussels International Film Festival was succeeded by the Brussels European Film Festival in 2000. It was renamed Brussels Film Festival at some point.[
From 2009, the festival was associated Prix LUX, and Ivan Corbisier became director of the event in December of that year, with his first festival in 2010.][
In its later years, programming comprised seven sections: Competition, which included European and world premiere feature films; Panorama, "an overview of contemporary European cinema"; Premiers (sic); Open-air, with a screening each night in Place Sainte-Croix ( Flagey Square); Short film competition; and a Retrospective, featuring the work of great filmmakers such as ]Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier (25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer.
Life and career
Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, s ...
, Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are th ...
, Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...
and Jacques Doillon
Jacques Doillon (; born 15 March 1944) is a French film director. He has a habit of giving lead roles to inexperienced young actresses in his films on family life and women. Some actresses to break through are Fanny Bastien, Sandrine Bonnaire, Ju ...
.
13th edition (2015)
The 13th Brussels Film Festival was held from 5 to 12 June 2015 and featured French actress Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer.
She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
as its guest of honor. The festival's top prize, the Golden Iris, was awarded to German director Christian Frosch for the film ''Rough Road Ahead''.
Final edition (2016)
The last (14th) edition of the Brussels Film Festival appears to have taken place in 2016.
References
External links
*
{{film-festival-stub
Film festivals in Belgium
Culture in Brussels
Film festivals established in 1974