Founded in 1974.

In the same way as the Sundance Film Festival (Utah) or Premiers Plans held in Angers, the Festival's programme focuses on first and second European films with all genres represented (long, short, fiction, animation and documentary). The Official Competition features about fifteen films previously unreleased in Belgium, with several prizes at the end. The programme also includes films with a distributor in Belgium, which are due to be released in the months following the Festival.

The Brussels Film Festival has established its place as discoverer of young talents in the heart of the European capital. A real springboard for all filmmakers, the festival shows a vast program, reflecting the diversity and richness of European cinema.
Since his arrival at the lead of the festival, Ivan Corbisier has made important changes before allowing its veritable take-off. Breaking loose from the limitation of first and second features, the program opens to the entire European cinema. While staying a discoverer of talents, the Brussels Film Festival can henceforth keep track of the career of the already discovered filmmakers and invite prestigious guests, needed in order to give the festival a genuine dimension on the media scene.

Main prizes of the official competition:
GOLDEN IRIS AWARD for the Best Film, WHITE IRIS AWARD for the Best First Feature