National Competition
The National Competition of the 29th edition of the BSFF welcomes this year 41 films selected from more than 370 submissions received in 2026! Discover the list of selected films without further delay.
Since its early days, the BSFF has been committed to showcasing and discovering the future leading figures of Belgian cinema. Bouli Lanners presented his first short film Travellinckx there in 1999, followed by Cécile de France, who won the Best Performance Award in 2000 (Le Dernier Rêve). In 2004, Michaël Roskam introduced his first film in competition (Carlo), while in 2014, Laura Wandel’s short film (Les corps étrangers) was selected for Cannes.
More recently, notable names include Delphine Girard (Une Sœur), Valéry Carnoy, whose debut feature film (La Danse des Renards) is currently in theatres, and Alice d’Hauwe (La moisson), who was recently awarded Best Fiction Short Film at the Magritte du Cinéma. A mark of quality, since 2018 the competition has been an Academy Awards® qualifying event (as illustrated by I’m Not a Robot, which won the Oscar for Best Short Film in 2024), as well as a qualifier for the European Short Film Audience Award (ESFAA), which each year includes the Audience Award in its tour of European festivals.
From intimate dramas to offbeat comedies, as well as socially engaged documentaries and inventive animation, the National Competition showcases the very best of Belgian short filmmaking. It is both a treasure trove for film lovers and a prestigious platform for the directors, actors and crews involved.
Out of more than 370 submissions, 41 films have been selected, each driven by bold perspectives and rich creativity. From the seaside to the mountains, from Brussels to Rio, by scooter or cargo plane, this 2026 selection promises to take you on a powerful and moving journey.
Enjoy the discovery, have a great festival, and long live short films!
- À Bas le Soleil (Sundown) - Lucien Lepoutre - Kwassa Films
- À Corps (Embodying) - Baptiste Guiard - Wise Up Productions - (Aussi en Compétition Internationale)
- Air Horse One - Lasse Linder - White Boat Pictures
- Autokar - Sylwia Szkiladz - OZÙ Production / Vivi Film
- Baise-moi à Saint-Gilles - Victor Ruprich-Robert - JAK
- Ce qui n’existe pas n’existe pas (That which does not exist does not exist) - Guillaume Senez, Franck Morand, Lazare Gousseau - Versus
- Côté Cour (Break a Leg) - Lionel Delhaye - Narrativ Nation
- Du pain et des jeux (Bread and games) - Judith Longuet Marx, Léa Tarral - Dérives
- Inmaculada Concepciou - Jean-Benoît Ugeux - Apoptose Productions / Dérives Production / Wallonie Image Production
- Is the mansion I will live in ? - Rafaelle Fillastre - Queers on the move
- Klonter - Levi Stoops - LUNANIME
- La Petite Reine Blanche - Théo Hanosset, Mathieu Georis - OZÙ Production
- La Vague Verte - Dimitri Kourtchine, Beatriz Courtot - Wrong Men North
- Le Casting - Camille Britte - La Cambre - (Aussi en Compétition Next Generation)
- Le Sens du drame - Bruno Tracq, Selma Alaoui - Things to Come
- L'Enfant-cavale (The run-child) - Margo Brière Bordier - Need Production
- Les Homards (The Lobsters) - Maïa Descamps - Fox the Fox- (Aussi en Compétition Internationale)
- Les Terres gelées (Frozen Lands) - Thomas Schira, Takeiki Flon - Rubis Productions
- Like a beast - Bruno Tondeur - Take Five
- Mammoletta - Vinciane Le Men - Taste it Productions
- Merci Johnny - Fabrice Chan - DENZZO Brussels
- Moineau (Sparrow) - Jan Maes
- Nique ton père (Fatherfucker) - Grégory Carnoli - HELICOTRONC
- O Rio de Janeiro Continua Lindo - Felipe Casanova - Cruising Pictures / Un point bleu pâle
- On naît on meurt (We come we go) - Sarah Lederman - Mirage
- Onbewoond Eiland (Desert Island) - Greet Verhaert, Davy Bosschem - BOSS'EM
- Partout la Lumière (Everywhere the Light) - Pauline Beugnies - Tarantula
- Pour Cristianny Fernandes (To Cristianny Fernandes) - Maria José Freire, Anaïs Carton, Pauline Fonsny - Dérives
- Réunion de Famille - Jean Forest - Rayuela Productions
- Scritch Scritch - Chloé Larrère - Initial Films
- Shutterspeed - Jasper De Maeseneer - Victor Longin - (Aussi en Compétition Next Generation)
- SǒN - Micha Volders - Mutropia
- Surtout prenez soin de vous - Mathilde Blanc - Novak Prod
- SYREBRIST - Joachim Weissmann - Abisko
- Tantalum - Matthias De Groof - CobraFilms
- The Catcher - Luka Galle - LUKASCOPE
- The Jezebels - Thanasis Tsimpinis
- Umwelt - Elko Van Raemdonck - LUCA School of Arts
- Un ciel si bas (A sky so low) - Joachim Michaux - Naoko Films
- Une histoire d'amour plus tard (A Love Story Later) - Romain Lhote - Matching Socks
- Zwermen - Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger - Beast Animation