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Razor Reel Flanders Film Fest
Since 2008, the Razor Reel vzw has organised an annual film festival. What was first called Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival is now known as Razor Reel Flanders Film Fest. But if you use the first two words, we are already satisfied.
Razor Reel is a Flemish genre film festival in which the non-profit organization, through a broad, fantastic (mainly referring to the genre, but also as an empowering term) programming, makes the genre film known to the general public, stimulates the genre film culture and the knowledge of the genre film through focus programming, contributes to the promotion of the genre film, offers a stage to debuting talent and promotes social cohesion. The main objective of the festival is to stimulate and awaken the imagination of the audience. We have been doing this for fifteen years.
During the festival, both current feature films and short films are screened. It is not only important to schedule film premieres, but above all to provide a curated overview of the current state of the genre film. Every year, we focus on current themes, countries that stand out because of their genre films, innovative directors, etc. In addition, we also pay attention to the history of the genre film and place special emphases in the programme.
Awards
Awards will also be presented at the festival. Razor Reel is a member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), where we annually award the Méliès d'Argent to the best European short film. This then competes for the Méliès d'Or, which is awarded by MIFF. In 2021, our entry "Last Dance" won this coveted award. You can find more information about the Méliès d'Argent here.
We also have two other competitions. The Young Blood award rewards the best international debut filmmaker and is a recognition of quality and creativity. Our audience also has an opinion which we like to hear: the performance which the visitors liked best deserves the Audience Award. An overview of all award winners can be found here.
Guests
When you think of a film festival, it is hard to imagine it without guests. Directors, actors, producers and the less visible people who work behind the scenes, they're all welcome at our festival.
No big Hollywood names, but people who have something to add to the films we select. Young film makers pass by our festival to present their film (often as a premiere), but over the years we have also had some big names from the European and American film world as guests.
Think of Robin Hardy, Ruggero Deodato, Jan Verheyen, Paco Plaza, Jane March, Sven De Ridder, Martin Kemp, Xavier Gens, Jake West, Amanda Fuller, Richard Stanley, Simon Boswell, Martin Kemp, Ben Wheatley, Howard J. Ford, Aaron Keshales, Navot Papushado, Simon Rumley, Adam Tsuei...