Open-air cinema in Brussels: Summer screenings across the capital

Don’t miss out on the magic of cinema under starry skies thanks to film festivals and screenings in Brussels all summer long.

For some, they may will also be a welcome alternative experience to the current World Cup mania being shown on giant outdoor screens in many a public square and park.

Kicking off the film season is the annual open-air cinema extravaganza Bruxelles fait son cinema, from 26 June to 18 July.

It is staged in each of the capital’s 19 municipalities, including offbeat locations. The free festival launches this Friday evening with the 2025 Spanish film El maestro que prometio el mar by Patricia Font in Meudon Park in Neder-over-Heembeek. The historical drama about a village school was inspired by a true story.

It continues on Saturday evening with Têtes brûles by Maja-Ajamis Yde Zellama at Parc Saint-Vincent in Evere. The 2026 Belgian film offers a moving portrait of a group of teenagers in Brussels coping with grief.

The itinerant open-air cinema programme was inspired by the tradition of showing alfresco films during balmy evenings in Mediterranean countries. Organised by non-profit Libération Films Animation in collaboration with municipal cultural centres, it promotes cultural diversity in the capital while celebrating neighbourhood communities. Films are predominantly in French or in other European languages, subtitled in French.

Venues open at 21.00 with the free screenings starting at nightfall, around 22.10. Refreshments are available from the festival bar.

Films fans are also fortunate this summer as the biannual PleinOPENair returns from 1 to 15 July. The Nova cinema festival is principally staged over two weekends with a programme focusing on urban and housing issues.

It is hosted by two different venues, each undergoing redevelopment: the former Audi factory in Forest and the dilapidated Verdonck stadium in Anderlecht.

The programme each weekend includes free concerts, urban walks and other activities as well as Belgian and international film screenings. It aims to increase citizen participation in neighbourhood projects while raising questions about our relationship to housing and public spaces.

The Forest site stages the programme for the first weekend on 3 & 4 July with the 1989 Michael Moore film Roger & Me accompanied by concerts and performances.

It is then the turn of the abandoned Verdonck football stadium in Anderlecht to host proceedings on 10 & 11 July, including the screening of Grand Paris by Martin Jauvat (Fr 2022).

There are also three Wednesday evening interior screenings, including the documentary Audi, et après? on 1 July at 20.00 at the site of the recently-closed car-manufacturing plant. It is followed by a post-screening talk.

In addition to these two well-known festivals, it is also possible to catch film screenings at Vaux Hall Summer in the Royal Park. It features Cinema Galeries’ programme L’Heure d’été with a focus on Taiwanese cinema from 30 June to 11 August.

The Cinquantenaire Park is home to drive-in cinema Cinair from 13 to 16 August, but its waiting list only for tickets.

Wrapping up the season is the non-profit Cinemaximiliaan, which organises pavement screenings in Rue de Manchester in Molenbeek on 15, 22 and 29 August and 5 & 12 September. Don a headset for Cinema Trottoir’s film nights, including a street dinner.

Photos: (main image) ©Bruxelles fait son cinéma; La Cambre 2025; ©Bruxelles fait son cinéma; PleinOPENair; Audi, et après?; Cinema Trottoir ©Cinemamaximiliaan