– Despite the uncertainties it faced last year, the BIFFF is back at its previous venue again, with a spine-chilling programme and eagerly awaited guests
Kyma by Romain Daudet-Jahan
The 44th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) will unspool from 3-18 April at Brussels Expo’s Palais 10. The upcoming edition of the gathering, which was still on shaky ground last year, offers a mix of tried-and-tested, gory charm alongside a few new additions. These include a break from Heysel on Easter Monday with an exclusive screening of the first two episodes of RTBF‘s sci-fi show Ethernal at Flagey, as well as various activities at the Pinball Museum.
This year’s event will showcase 130 feature films across six competitions as well as 50 short films. The public will be able to enjoy 19 of these shorts during the new “Little Night” activity, which will run until the early hours of 18 April.
The Méliès jury, comprising Belgian filmmaker Aline Magrez, producer Grégory Zalcman and Cineuropa’s own Valerio Caruso, will have a tough time choosing from among seven films: Romain Daudet-Jahan’s Kyma, about a living sound wave capable of breaking solid matter; Julia Jackman’s terrifying fable 100 Nights of Hero [+see also:
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trailer
film profile]; Hanna Bergholm’s Berlinale entry Nightborn [+see also:
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interview: Hanna Bergholm
film profile]; Glenn McQuaid’s Irish dark horror-comedy The Restoration at Grayson Manor; Pinocchio: Unstrung by Rhys-Frake Waterfield, screening as a world premiere; the Norwegian creature feature Kraken by Pål Øie; and, last but not least, Aleksandar Radivojević’s Karmadonna, which is about a murderous pregnant woman.
The international jury, consisting of producer and editor Michael Doherty, Norwegian filmmaker Thea Hvistendahl and English actress Tuppence Middleton, will also be spoilt for choice. This competition features nine movies, including Dave Boyle’s Japanese ghost flick Never After Dark and Caleb Phillips’ Imposters as a European premiere. Both pictures previously screened at SXSW 2026.
BIFFF will also host the Emerging Raven Competition, intended for first and second works. Pictures standing out in this strand include Mārama by Māori-English filmmaker Taratoa Stappard, a gothic-horror flick about a young Māori woman in 1859 Victorian England who uncovers a dark colonial secret; the world premiere of Aaron Fisher’s Corporate Retreat, a feature about a team-building exercise gone wrong; and the Spanish-Finnish AI thriller Singular [+see also:
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interview: Alberto Gastesi
film profile] by Alberto Gastesi.
In addition to its many competitions, the BIFFF will also be inducting two new members into the “Knight of the Order of the Raven”: Italian actress and director Asia Argento (Dark Glasses [+see also:
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film profile]) and US thesp Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog, Argo). Moreover, BIFFF will treat its attendees to a plethora of other events, such as the “Being Stephen King” writing workshop, art and make-up contests, and its legendary costume party, the Bal des Vampires.
