Festival films in Belgian theatres

A multi-day hike doesn't go as planned for seventeen-year-old Sam (Lily Collias in a breakout role). Adolescent character study Good One thoughtfully observes how the teenager in turn thoughtfully observes her oversharing travel companions. India Donaldson's finely tuned feature ...

Widely regarded as depicting one of the most dysfunctional families in cinema history, Festen is recognized as the first film created under the strict guidelines of the radical Dogme 95 movement. Thomas Vinterberg’s explosive tale of buried secrets and simmering resentment turns ...

In Kurdwin Ayub’s elliptical sophomore feature a former MMA fighter from Austria gets a job in Jordan, introducing three young daughters from a wealthy family to mixed martial arts. But she soon discovers she’s been hired on a pretext. Mond is a slow-burn political thriller ...

Intense grief blurs the boundaries of time and space in Super Happy Forever, the French-Japanese drama by Kohei Igarashi. Here, past, present, memories, and reality subtly merge, casting a new light on love and loss. Like in his previous films, such as Hold Your Breath Like a ...

One of the greatest achievements by Akira Kurosawa,Ikiru shows the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an explora­tion of death.

Several lonely hearts in a semi-provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their lives.

A group of Copenhagen eccentrics find a therapeutic release and confront apathy via unacceptable, idiotic behaviour which they call ‘spazzing’.

In his sophomore feature film, French actor-director Gilles Lellouche blends intense love with the harsh reality of the gangster life to create an epic romance that defies genres and social boundaries. Set in a French working-class neighborhood in the 1980s, the film explores a ...

Sex and death in the countryside, it's a phrase that perfectly fits L'inconnu du lac director Alain Guiraudie's latest tale of sexual repression about a man who returns to his French village to attend the funeral of his old employer (the village baker). Religious hypocrisy, ...

When Martin Scorsese talks film history, you know you’re in for a treat. In Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, he personally and passionately journeys through the lasting grandeur of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s work. "Certain films you simply run ...

When a Brooklyn sex worker marries a sweet but immature Russian nepo baby, bringing down the wrath of the boy's parents upon them, a frantic rollercoaster across New York ensues. Destigmatizing sex work, Sean Baker's Palme d'Or winner is a kinetic and messy ...

After her acclaimed documentary Rabot, Christina Vandekerckhove transitions to fiction with Milano, a poignant tale about a father and his deaf son, starring Matteo Simoni and newcomer Basil Wheatley. Set in a social housing neighborhood, the film explores the emotional strains ...

When their lives are threatened, a father and his teenage daughter make a run for it. The father is to blame, as he is the head of a Corsican mafia clan. Julien Colonna's debut - dubbed a Corsican version of The Godfather by critics in Cannes - is both an overwhelming crime epic ...

Mythologizing the the story and ambition of West Belfast hip hop trio Kneecap known for their use of the Irish language, Rich Peppiatt's music biopic (not a documentary!) follows the three real-life band members Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí on the road to becoming the ...

Shapeshifting between different tones and genres, Aaron Schimberg's multi-layered and somewhat twisted A Different Man is a revisionist Beauty and the Beast story about a man whose face is transformed (into hunk Sebastian Stan) only to discover his fortune didn't take the hint. ...

Crossing Istanbul is a queer road movie through the trans community of Istanbul. The stern-looking yet charming Lia is searching for her estranged niece but encounters herself in the streets of the vibrant Turkish metropolis. Levan Akin’s fourth feature opts unequivocally for ...

Conclave, directed by All Quiet on the Western Front director Edward Berger, is a gripping thriller set inside the Vatican, where cardinals gather to elect a new pope after the pontiff's death. Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence, overseeing the process while battling his ...

Favoriten, named after Vienna’s most populous and diverse district, follows the vibrant community of an elementary school class over the course of three years. 25 children and their dedicated teacher. Director Ruth Beckermann’s heartwarming and inspirational exploration to ...

Winner Georges Delerue Award for Best SoundtrackThe sixth feature film of Miguel Gomes, the director of Tabu (2012) and the Arabian Nights-trilogy (2014), won the Best Director prize at Cannes this year. Grand Tour is a period piece and a playful hide-and-seek draped in an ...

Creating visual poetry in raw environments, exploring man's vulnerability but at the same time the power of all life: Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank, American Honey) masters it like no other. In her fifth fiction feature Bird, she tells the story of twelve-year-old Bailey who grows up ...

Pedro Almodóvar makes his English-language debut with The Room Next Door, an intense exploration of mortality and friendship featuring the dream duo of Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. The director of Oscar-winners Todo sobre mi madre and Hable con ella recently won the Golden ...

In Jesse Eisenberg's sophomore feature as a director, two American cousins travel to Poland in search of the roots of their grandmother, who barely survived the Nazi camps. A Real Pain is a bittersweet road movie with a big heart, and although the subject matter is no joke and ...

Two brothers, Tarek (26) and Fouad (12), unexpectedly get a chance to escape their current lives, but their chances turn faster than expected. In addition to brotherly love and big dreams, brothers Ish and Monir Ait Hamou show in their directorial debut BXL the fierce battle ...

The Ballad of a White Cow duo returns with a (bitter)sweet romcom about two Iranian septuagenarians with butterflies in their stomach who refuse to accept the strict religious laws of their country and spend a night together. My Favourite Cake is an audacious and often ...

Andres Veiel's revelatory, deep-diving documentary on infamous Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl makes a strong case the Hitler-loved director of Triumph des Willens and Olympia cannot be viewed in isolation from nazism. Using 700 boxes of film, letters, memoir drafts, ...

In When the Light Breaks, Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson captures the raw emotions of grief as two young women mourn the same lover. Set against Iceland’s stark landscapes, the film focuses on the quiet yet intense moments of loss. With its minimalist style and evocative ...

Fifteen years after his beguiling yet wholesome feature debut Mary and Max, Oscar-winning animator Adam Elliot writes and sculpts a new 100% CGI-free "clayography", telling the Dickensian tale of Grace Pudel, a snail-hoarding woman whose life is a series of unfortunate events. ...

We all grieve differently. Désirée Nosbusch’s poignant debut film Poison, adapted from Lot Vekemans' play, explores how sorrow can poison our lives. Following Edith (Trine Dyrholm) and Lucas (Tim Roth) as they confront their shared grief for their child, this earnest drama ...

“I just want you to lock me up!” The alcohol-addicted Rona is desperate for a refuge in The Outrun. The road to recovery is hard, the road to her childhood home in the stormy Orkney Islands equally so. On the horizon awaits the promise of a breath of fresh air to help Rona clear ...

Ariane Labed’s directorial debut adapts Daisy Johnson's acclaimed novel Sisters. The film centers on September and July, two inseparable sisters with an almost telepathic connection. From the opening scene, where they appear dressed like the eerie twins from Kubrick’s The ...