Films and fun at the Brussels Short Film Festival

The Brussels Short Film Festival (BSFF) is back in its 21st edition from 25 April to 6 May, recently having been honoured by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival for Academy Awards nominations.

Back are the regular features: the national competition, with 34 films from 400 submissions, the international competition featuring 60 films from 30 countries culled out of 4,340 submissions from 96 countries, and the next generation competition, 35 films from students out of 1,066 submissions, all competing for €45,000 in prizes.

But probably the most appreciated feature of the festival is the friendly atmosphere: the organisers are very serious about their dedication to fun for everyone, symbolized by Chimay's generous sponsorship. Mingling and connecting is what it is all about.

A big part of the fun are the 200 non-competitive films in four sections called Musts, Travellings, Rock'n'Rolls and Events. New this year in the Musts is two sessions programmed by the legendary Clermont-Ferrand Festival celebrating its 40th anniversary, which is the biggest short film festival in the world. A very popular Must is the free open-air screenings at the Mont des Arts.

This year the Travellings features spotlight Korean and Swiss cinema. The Rock 'n' Rolls include the trashy shorts, the very short shorts, and a competition, the funny shorts, in which anyone can propose a funny film on the festival website and based on likes a selection of the films will be screened and the film with the highest applaudometer score will win €500.

The Events include the Night of the Shorts which starts at 20.30 and goes until 3.00 in the morning. It is broken into three sections, with a complementary drink at both intermissions. Very popular is the battle section where programmers from two different foreign festivals duke it out by projecting their favorites with the audience deciding via applaudometer.

Beyond screenings there are numerous activities for professionals including a film market, workshops and various networking cocktail parties and lunches. And for the younger set there are special screenings and creative workshops.

Venues this year are Flagey, Vendôme, the big top on Place Fernand Cocq, the Mont des Arts, Bozar, and new this year, Palace.

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