If you’re a lover of cult films, the “Offscreen Film Festival” in Brussels will be right up your street.
The festival is an alternative platform for independent audio-visual creations and outsider cinema.
Its programme offers a strong film profile for lovers of the unusual and nonconformist ranging from B-movies, cult and camp to underground cinema.
Past editions have attracted over 7,000 visitors and this year’s version looks like being just as popular.
The event takes place at different locations throughout the city (see link below for full details).
They include Cinema Nova, Cinematek and Kinograph.
All locations are easily reached by public transport.
Cinema Nova and Cinematek are less than a five-minute walk from train and metro station Bruxelles Central.
Kinograph is a ten-minute walk from Etterbeek Station and the tram lines 7 and 25.
Reserving a seat online is recommended. If no presale tickets are left available for a screening, there will still be some for sale at the ticket booth on the hour of the show. For these shows, however, it is advisable to be on time.
It all starts with the film “Else” on 12 March and other film showings continue until the end of the month.
The festival itself started in 2008 and has become an annual international film jamboree aiming to give audiences a chance to (re)discover repertory films, independent audio-visual creations.
New and sometimes unexpected associations between contemporary film and film history are explored by way of thematic programming modules.
The festival features cult films, documentaries and genre entries from around the world.
It is organised by the association Marcel, founded in 2003, which organizes cinematic events and develops programming for various screening venues throughout the year.
Aside from the annual Offscreen Festival, Marcel hosts audio-visual platforms such as the Cinematek (B to Z movies), Beurschouwburg (“OUT LOUD”), the MOOOV film festival (world cinema) in Turnhout and Bruges and the drive-in cinema at DOK in Ghent.
A spokesman for the Melies International Festival Federation said, “The Offscreen Film Festival is an indispensable guide to genre cinema and cult film with an annual three-week trip through the B to Z movie landscape.
This is a non-competitive event which offers cutting-edge pics, juicy pulp and rare curios, lovingly picked and packed into over 50 screenings. Showcasing independent and unreleased films, cult classics and offbeat genre fare from around the world Offscreen also specializes in thematic and retrospective programming.
