Discoveries from Belgium World Cinema

A short film in which a man needs to sort peas on a factory line.

The Year is 2012. Bin Laden is a political refugee in Brussels. Somehow, helped by the criminal underworld he becomes President of Europe. Europe, the new dictatorship, is an awful place of high security and closed borders . When the Afterman hears about the upcoming revolution, he returns from Russia to his fatherland. He accidentally joins a group of Lesbian freedom fighters.

For several years now, Peter and Claire have been a happy, uneventful couple. They both met online. Taking advantage of a seminar Peter has to attend, Claire invites André, her "email lover," to their home. Needless to say, the seminar is Peter's excuse to meet Eliane, his own "email lover"! But at the last minute, due to damaged vertebrae, he is unable to leave... The song "Rien vu, Rien entendu, Rien parlu" was composed and written by Stéphane De Coster and Marc Maloens. Recorded at the Palais des Congrès in Liège on December 23, 2005.

Raïssa and Alio have shared the same room in a foster home since their childhood. One evening, as she returns home, Raïssa discovers that Alio has left the place without telling her.

Lucy is a lively 11-year-old girl who loves skating, water ballet and hanging out with her best friends. But everything changes when she starts suffering from a rare sleep disorder called narcolepsy. To prevent accidents from happening, her parents become very protective, limiting her freedom. As her condition complicates even the simplest of everyday actions she begins to grow apart from her friends.

Amany Al-Ali stands out as one of Syria's few female cartoonists, residing in her father's home in Idlib, the last city unconquered by Assad's forces. Like her remaining neighbours she's submitted to relentless Russian airstrikes and caught between advancing troops and extremist groups. Despite acclaim for her art, she faces threats, condemnation, and degradation, causing her to contemplate leaving. Ironically, her artwork has graced galleries in France and Italy but never received exposure within Syria's borders. The film captures her endeavor to organize her inaugural exhibition in Idlib. This experience compels her to confront the harsh realities of a city defined by bombings and male interference. While organizing drawing lessons for women and girls, comforting her young niece, and sharing her story with the documentary crew, Amany's outlook on the future gradually erodes.

In June 2024, the European, federal, and regional dice will be rolled again in Wetstraat. For an entire legislative term, our politicians have had the opportunity to prove themselves. Did they make socially relevant decisions, or was it more a case of ordinary navel-gazing? And what about their promises from previous election campaigns? Time for a sharp and comical evaluation, thought Han Solo. Together with other talented comedians such as Jo Verhenne, Erhan Demirci, Zoe Bizoe, and Raf Coppens, they will tackle various topics, each with their own view and perspective on current politics.

A mother, depressed since the birth of her twin daughters, sinks into alcoholism, but her eldest son decides to do everything to save his family.

The 2nd short film as part of the Magica series dealing with pre-cinema. In the 18th and 19th centuries, optical views were shown in optical boxes with magnifying lenses. The showmen organised a real spectacle, with a barker, music and sound effects. The views played with light (transparencies, perforations). A series of engravings shows the public's enthusiasm for these shows. The second part of the film is a reconstruction of such a show. First, there are views of Paris, Venice, Constantinople and Versailles, followed by various disasters: plague, floods, fires and shipwrecks.

Led by the good-hearted father Soso, a family of four starts a blueberry farm to secure their future together. But with a home in northern Georgia, their village is close to the troubled border with the Russian-backed region of Abkhazia, where new conflicts have been rumbling for 30 years. Soso is a retired engineer, but together with his wife Nino and their sons Giorgi and Lazare, he throws himself into the ‘Plant the Future’ programme set up by the Georgian authorities to stabilise the area. Nino is haunted by memories of the war and dreams of her children experiencing the world, while Soso wants to maintain their connection to the land. But Giorgi and Lazare long for a different future, immersing themselves in anime and dreaming of visiting Japan. In the midst of their daily lives, the family navigates between hardship, joy and contemplation of a different future.

Bahoz is 19 years old and lives surrounded by nature and beautiful landscapes. Every day, he goes to the mountains to hunt although he catches very little. But today will be the day that will change his life forever.

A hill in Kyrgyzstan inhabited by men, women, some children. Smoke, birds, a waste dump like a Leviathan. Among them, a traumatized former soldier, a grieving mother, young people deprived of a future, living and facing their destiny.

The postcard obviously begins with a map. Posted in the Caribbean, it is addressed by a father to his son. We quickly understand that the mother and her child are preparing to leave for the funeral mass of the father in question. Confident in his father's life and good health, the boy refuses to believe that the coffin is occupied and, indifferent to the solemn atmosphere of the moment, he worries about a young woman standing apart from the procession.

After losing part of her memory in an accident, Leila, a young French woman of Iraqi origin, reconstructs her story by reconnecting with her family and exploring her roots. Through music and cinema, she brings her exiled father's poems to lite, dis-covers the reality of the Middle East, and embarks on a personal quest to understand her identity and find her voice.

A young girl struggles to come to terms with her mother’s psychological problems as she searches for her own female identity.

The story of Sarah, a young deaf woman who is about to hear for the first time. What will happen may upset her whole perception of the world.

Intimate portrait of Marie-Jo Gobron, belgian poet and the director's mother. 20 years after the release of a film about his father's paintings, the filmmaker continues the description of the artistic universe of his parents. Born in 1916 in Flanders near the French border, Marie-Jo writes mostly in French. Aged 85, she starts an autobiographical novel about her youth, its many events, and about her daring emancipation in art and love, which she confides here.

In the middle of a fire alarm at an art school, a staff member receives devastating news and finds an unexpected moment of connection with a student inside a weird costume.

Keita is a 8-year old boy from a Belgian-Japanese family. During the summer break, he spends two weeks with his grandparents at the Flemish countryside. Keita has a difficult relationship with his grandfather and they are both put to the test when they are forced to live under the same roof.

Samy Szlingerbaum made his film Dakh-Brisel (Brussels-Transit) in 1980, thirty years after any Yiddish feature film had been produced. Szlingerbaum felt that the only way he could relate the story of his family’s search for refuge after World War II was in Yiddish. This Belgian-based filmmaker, deeply impacted by New York experimental cinema, gives us a masterful blend of powerful drama and stark documentary to tell the story of postwar European Jewry. Home, as it had been, no longer exists, and all that Samy’s family wants is a place in which to sink new roots.

Sasha, a young Eastern European immigrant, finds herself at a crossroads when she's offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to leave her harsh life behind. Will she chase after a future free of responsibilities, just like her father did years ago, or will she stay to support the only family she has left?

West Flemish Brussels native Brihang, aka Boudy Verleye, is seeing his popularity soar. How does he balance this flourishing artist's life with young fatherhood? From the summer of 2024 to the spring of 2025. From the stage at Couleur Café to his latest album, "Droomvoeding": Brihang is having a remarkable year. He'll play Rock Werchter for the first time, tour the Netherlands, and receive an MIA and Gold Record for his "Droomvoeding" in early 2025. After that, Brihang's popularity reaches a peak. The show "Brihang - Extra Lang" sells out in no time. He effortlessly fills the Coretec Dome two nights in a row. As a West Flemish native, he becomes one with the audience. As much as Boudy and Brihang want to enjoy the "now," there's always something pushing him towards the future. He still lives in Brussels, but his heart is set on where he came from. Will he and his family find happiness elsewhere?

Greenwashing: it's a term that's come to the fore in recent years, as the urgency of the climate crisis becomes increasingly apparent. It's a troubling phenomenon in which companies which brand themselves as sustainable - in hopes of attracting green investment - continue to cause massive pollution. Just how deep does this deception run, and what is the solution?

Lithium is the essential element for the batteries of our electric vehicles and for our energy storage. Europe has enough lithium in its bedrock to become self-sufficient. But today there is no operational mine yet, and the EU is depending on imports from China. A new responsible way of mining is necessary, one that recognizes the importance of local and cultural preservation. Can the European Union lead the way?

Through monotony of daily realities, we see Sandra, a mother of two, raising her children with a frequently absent father. The satirical representation of her conventional familial life leaves us with questions about her personal desires.

Riko Tik used to be bullied as a kid, now he want revenge. He falsifies the book of the Sint so that it looks like all the kids have been naughty this year. Disguised as king Kabberdas he goes to the house of the Sint to fool the holy man with the wrong book.

On the border of Surinam and French Guyana, indigenous Wayana territory is overrun by intruders. Illegal gold miners poison the river, missionaries repress indigenous identity, and even doctors with the best intentions leave marks that are often silently violent. The Wayana call these intruders Parasisi.

Romances of earth and Water is a film designed for a choir of 14 adult characters and 6 children, each of whom also recognizes himself in the echo of the words of others. No lamentation or reproaches, the characters of the film do not complain, they are lucid. Through voice but also through music, poetry, dances and clay-based creations, they tell the fragility of every moment, couples who love each other, drought, the owner, dreams, culture, animals, the future for children, the price of things, money, and the earth.

A staging of the play "Hygiène de l'assassin" based on the novel written by Amélie Nothomb.

In his tower-block apartment in New Lodge, Joe reenacts memories from his childhood amidst the “Troubles”. In this Catholic area of Belfast, the number of deaths was tragically significant. Joe is joined by neighbours Jolene, Sean, Angie, and others, all willingly participating in this process of revisiting the collective memories that shaped their lives and the district they live in.

A staging of the play "Hygiène de l'assassin" based on the novel written by Amélie Nothomb.

In his tower-block apartment in New Lodge, Joe reenacts memories from his childhood amidst the “Troubles”. In this Catholic area of Belfast, the number of deaths was tragically significant. Joe is joined by neighbours Jolene, Sean, Angie, and others, all willingly participating in this process of revisiting the collective memories that shaped their lives and the district they live in.

Mateo lives in a small village near the crater of a volcano. As the volcano awakens, Alejandra, his love, sees it as an opportunity to leave and explore the world outside, while Mateo wishes to stay. As everything threatens to fall apart, Mateo realizes he has nowhere left to hide, not even behind the volcano.

In the wake of Greta Thunberg, the youth has been fighting for several months to save our planet. Leading the marches, on the front pages of the media as well as on social networks, young women have become, sometimes unintentionally, the key figures of this movement. Who are these women? Why are they so cheered and criticized at the same time? To better understanding of the commitment of Anuna and Adelaide (Belgium), Luisa (Germany), Lena (France), Leah (Uganda) and Artemisia (Brazil), we decided to follow them, but also to compare their struggle with that of another extraordinary woman who preceded them: Julia Butterfly. Twenty years ago, after spending 738 days on top of a majestic sequoia, this young American activist managed to save a thousand-year-old forest from being cut down. The film tells the story of the journey of these committed young women, each in their own way, but all driven by a unique energy, these "sisters in arms" tell their doubts and their desire.

Under a scorching sun, Charlie is bored out of her mind and dreams of going to the seaside. But she's forced to guard a seedy motel with her cousin Jess, who's slumped in her deckchair. The two teenagers don't get along and bicker at every opportunity. On the radio, the monotone voice of a collapsology researcher predicts the imminent end of the world.

Keren is a performer, filmmaker, activist. At 20, she left Israel to grow as an artist and person. After eight years in Europe, she feels the need to return to the contradictions she left behind. She joins the rallies against Netanyahu, volunteers with Palestinian families, finds love, keeps filming. The October 7 attack occurs. The war and genocide begin. The fracture keeps deepening.

1. Find a reassuring explanation for a bout of sleeplessness: the eating of white turnips; 2. Observe the mechanisms of passion; 3. Escape inadequate ideas. It’s the story of a breakup.

In a universe divided in two, Lune, a fearless teenager, lives with her family in the Forest. The motto there is to live from hand to mouth, carefree and a lot of naps, which is not Lune's taste. Her dream is to go behind the thick layer of mist that surrenders their forest. Following the disappearance of her brother, she finds herself in the City and discovers a thrilling world of technology, where time is counted through the production of magical energy, which is slowly destroying her native Forest. With the help of her newly adopted brother, a nervous but attaching guy named Joe, and his friends, she will restore a new balance.

A radical and experimental ode to youth, ranging from naturalistic to grotesque, a visual poem in three acts, from teenager to young adult. The film is set in the quiet Belgian region of Flanders—where Vanderperre himself grew up—and revolves around five teenagers who are growing up in a chaotic way; in scenes we see actors dancing, drinking, and using drugs, bullying or even abusing each other. The film is driven more by emotion than by story.

Documentary footage of a parade in Antwerp celebrating the annexation of Congo to Belgium.

A moral dilemma occurs when a girl attempts to steal from a store.

A quiet evening in a Flemish village. A sports bag is stolen from a car. We follow a day in the life of three young people. Ultimately, it turns out that the world is very small...

Roger is in trouble, but he will bounce back. All he had to do was obtain a modest loan from Monsieur Durieu, a banker's son. But Durieu refuses him his money. Humiliated, Roger decides to take action: he kidnaps Durieu and handcuffs him in an abandoned barn. Monsieur Durieu then offers him a deal: break into the safe room of the bank of his sworn enemy. The two men fraternize around their new common cause, the one that could finally make them Great Lords.

The sudden disappearance of the popular host of a relationship advice radio show leaves a vacuum. Listeners are uncertain about the direction their romantic endeavours should take.

Twenty years ago, crooks John and Ron were able to hide the diamond they stole in young Gert's football at the Old Castle Inn owned by Marlène's family, just before being arrested. Today, the crooks have escaped and want the loot back. But a contractor has got permission to tear down the ruined inn and build an apartment building on the site, unless it's completely repaired within a week. When Marlène calls him, Gert abandons his planned week of holiday at sea to do the daunting job, helped by the mayor, Van Leemhuyzen and Octaaf. Alberto meanwhile rides through town on his motorbike, trying to get his career launched as a 'flying barber'

The Stache follows two young adults, Bob and Simu, who decide to grow mustaches for a month. For one, it works. For the other… not so much. On the surface, it’s funny and awkward. But underneath, it deals with insecurities we all know too well; comparing ourselves to others, feeling behind in life, and forgetting to appreciate the things we already have.

When the catering of a film set has canceled, one of the runners is burdened with the task of fixing lunch against impossible odds.