Culture beat – June 5

The Brussels Film Festival opens at Flagey on Friday (June 6) with a preview of French drama La Chambre bleue by Mathieu Amalric. British director Sir Alan Parker (The Commitments, Angela’s Ashes, Evita)  is the honoured guest at the 12th edition of the festival which is dedicated to European cinema. It screens more than 70 shorts and features from various genres, including 14 cult films, plus workshops, DJ sets, film concerts (My Little Cheap Dictaphone, The Flying Horseman, Follakzoid) and open-air exhibitions. The festival closes on June 14 with The Two Faces of January by Hossein Amini, an appealing adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1964 thriller. Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst star.

It may be a public holiday, but city centre literary house Passa Porta is open on Monday (June 9) for Michael Cunningham to present his latest novel, The Snow Queen. The American author found inspiration for his seventh work while on a literary residence at Passa Porta in 2011. Although a contemporary novel about life and death, the novel alludes to the Hans Christian Anderson classic fairytale of the same name. Gay writer Barrett and his musician brother Tyler live in modern-day New York and have messy, convoluted lives. Cunningham creates a fable out of their complicated relationships. There are no shortage of literary references; the Pulitzer prize-winning author of  Virginia Woolf tale, The Hours, is a teacher of creative writing at Yale University.  Cunningham talks to Lieven Vandenhaute (VRT) in English.

Dinner in the sky? It’s more like stars in the sky as a succession of Michelin-starred chefs serve up their signature dishes in an aerial restaurant hovering above Cinquantenaire Park during the month of June. The second edition of the ‘unforgettable experience’ caters for 22 diners and costs €250 per person. For the weekends of June 7 & 8; June 14 & 15, chefs combine their talent for Italian-themed gastronomy. The Belgian concept has now been experienced in more than 40 countries worldwide.

Outside Brussels

The annual music feast Festival of Wallonia launches in Liège on Saturday ( June 7) with a concert by festival patron, the saxophonist and composer Fabrizio Cassol. The festival is a classical music spread that travels down the Danube river for a tour of Central Europe,  as well as a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Walloon music hero Adolphe Sax. Cassol and his trio Aka Moon perform Pitié, an adaptation of Bach’s St Matthew passion that mixes jazz, manouche and blues.  The festival journeys into six towns and regions in Brussels and the south of Belgium for 150 high-calibre and convivial concerts. Discover the popular sounds of Bohemian, Balkan and Hungarian music as well as opera and family-themed concerts. Until October 16.

There are garden and flower shows in rural chateaux every season in the depths of the Belgian countryside. Within easy reach of the capital, though, is Je suis au jardin at Château de la Hulpe this weekend, Friday to Sunday. The annual fair is as much about lifestyle as it is sowing hardy annuals or propagating shrubs, so this is the place for designing or sprucing up your outside space, whether it be a balcony, terrace or patio and rolling lawn. Vintage is the theme of this year’s edition as gardening trends go retro. Ladies Day on Saturday means entrance is free for women; otherwise admission is €7, free for under 12s. There are plenty of activities for all the family, including children’s games, pony rides and gastronomy.