Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) rewards films from around the world in closing ceremony

The BIFFF – Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival brought the curtain down on its 44th edition with a ceremony awarding prizes to a strong showing of international films at Brussels Expo on Saturday evening.

As Belgium’s most popular genre event for freaky, sci-fi, horror and thriller films, the festival screened more than 150 films over 15 days.

Its programme boasted a large international film selection, competing for a number of awards. For the public, it was an opportunity to catch movies unlikely to be screened in regular cinemas across Belgium.

Extending the programme across a period of three weekends for this year’s edition was a new move aimed at boosting attendance in the face of budgetary cuts.

It proved to be a gamble that paid off as the festival experienced record attendance, reporting an audience increase of nearly 30% with a total of 60,000 spectators.

The festival awarded a number of foreign films across the globe, highlighting the richness and diversity of the genre, as well as emerging talents. It was principally movies from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Kazakhstan that were honoured by the various juries. 

Emerging competition: 

Winner: Marãma by Taratoa Steppard (New Zealand)
Special mention: Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant by Thunderlips (New Zealand)

Black Raven competition:

Winner: Sicko by Aitore Zholdaskali (Kazakhstan)
Special mention: Zhazha by Darkhan Tulegenov (Kakakhstan)

White Raven competition:

Winner: You Are the Film by Makoto Ueda (Japan)
Special mention: Yesterday Island by Sam Voutas (Australia)

European competition:

Winner: Nightborn by Hanna Bergholm (Finland-Lithuania-France-UK)
Special mention: Pinocchio Unstrung by Rhys-Frake Waterfield (UK)

International competition:

Golden raven: Never After Dark by Dave Boyle (Japan)
Silver raven: Tristes Tropiques by Hoon-jung Park (South Korea)
Silver raven: Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie by Matt Johnson (Canada)

Public prize:

Winner: You Are the Film by Makoto Ueda (Japan)

Critics prize:

Winner: Yesterday Island by Sam Voutas (Australia)

The closing evening concluded with the traditional gothic and cosplay Vampire Ball. The 45th edition of BIFFF is scheduled to run from 25 March to 10 April 2027.

Photo: ©BIFFF