Brussels (Belgium) will host – from September 14 to 17 – the first edition of “Brussels European FICTS Sports Film Festival” European phase of the “World FICTS Challenge 2015” Worldwide Championship of Cinema and Sport Television. The event, directed by Jean-Pierre Brouhon, is organized by Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles (chaired by Philippe Housiaux) in collaboration with FICTS.

 

Thanks to the Panathlon organisation and the power of images, Wolubilis will become a temple for the finest values conveyed by sport and sporting visuals!

Through a dazzling array of 52 films covering an impressive range of sports, cultures and performances, the inaugural edition of the Brussels European FICTS Sports Film Festival, organised by the Panathlon Wallonia-Brussels association, will transport you into a world that is far richer than you could ever have imagined!

Screenings that will quite literally carry you away

Images have the power to move us, give us joy and make us marvel and reflect, as well as to surprise us. Just like sport does! Which is why the Panathlon Wallonia-Brussels association has decided to stage this event. The aim is to use the power of images to celebrate the finest things that sport has to offer the community: i.e. to pass on quality messages and share emotions.

Ranging from China to Brazil, via Russia and Belgium, of course, the productions selected will provide a whole host of cultural views and characteristics that the audience can identify with, since 19 countries from 4 continents will be represented among the 52 films on the bill. Across over 44 hours of screenings, some 30 sports will be placed in the spotlight.

The top-quality programme includes the exclusive Belgian première of Wingmen, a film featuring the world’s three best base jumpers and wingsuiters: Jokke Sommer, Espen Fadness and the late Ludovic Woerth. The pictures will take your breath away.

Another major moment of great cinema will also be screened, with Le Pouvoir des Rêves (The Power of Dreams), in which the audience can follow the exploits of Arthur, a paraplegic student at UCL, through his intrepid journey through the mountains of Alaska. Courage and determination are also showcased in the French documentary, Les Audacieuses (Women Who Dare), featuring women leading the way in areas previously reserved only for men.

And that is just the very briefest of trailers for the astonishing visual fare on offer to audiences at the FICTS festival!

Far beyond a mere “film festival”

In addition to the film aspect of the festival, there are plenty of other activities that will give true impetus to the event. First of all, each afternoon will feature a workshop linked to one of the specific themes of this 1st edition of the festival – women’s sport, sport for all and the close relationship between sport and images. The workshops will take the form of round table discussions, enabling each participant to debate with contributors who specialise in the topic being discussed, such as Clotilde Talleu (member of the team researching Sport and Social Sciences at the University of Strasbourg), Arnaud Simon (General Manager Eurosport France), Thierry Zintz (Faculty of Motricity Sciences – UCL and Vice President of COIB), Guy Cheron (Faculty of Motricity Sciences – ULB) and Piet Moons (President of the Agoria Sports Technology Club).

There will also be two exhibitions on display, bringing a dash of graphic appeal to the event through no fewer than 90 illustrations depicting the finest sporting gestures and values. Finally, there will be activities provided free of charge to local schools and other learning establishments.

A Festival open to all

Panathlon Wallonia-Brussels has been promoting and defending the principles of sporting ethics since 2003. As a natural extension of our activities and through these screenings and selected topical debates, our aim is to encourage sport in all its diversity, while at the same time getting to know the new faces that will grace sport in the future.

The Brussels European FICTS Sports Film Festival has been created in such a way that Brussels will be recognised in the future as an important venue in the world cycle of film festivals staged by FICTS (Fédération Internationale de Cinéma et Télévision Sportif – International Federation of Sport Cinema and Television) when it comes to blending “Sport and Images”. It’s all about making a contribution, as the capital of Europe and in the name of Panathlon Wallonia-Brussels, to the rise of these new gems of the cinema.

Last – and by no means least – the entire FICTS event (films, exhibitions, workshops, etc.) will be totally free of charge to the public! This is enshrined in the policy for promoting the highly educational values of Sport embraced by Panathlon Wallonia-Brussels and, as its president, Philippe Housiaux, emphasises: “I believe that reaching a broad, mainly young audience provides us with a great opportunity. It’s a matter of teaching future generations about perpetuating the beauty of sport!”

Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles, association founded in 2003, aims to be among the key driving forces in the promotion of sporting values and ethics. The venue will be the Wolubilis (Woluwe-Saint-Lambert) new cultural center of the municipality of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, which includes, among others, a modern theater (486 seats), a library and an art gallery. The Festival will consist of Projections, Meetings, Exhibitions, Side Events, Workshops and Awards. Sections will be competitive: “Olympic Games and Olympic Spirit”, “Documentary”, “TV Show – New technology”, “Sport and Society”, “Movies”, “Sport Adverts”, “Movies & Tv Football” and “Spirit of team”. There will be a photographic Exhibition “The Spirit of Sport”: a selection of photographs (from the archive of the IOC and the Reporters Agency) divided into five themes (respect, brotherhood, emotion, engagement and participation). The “Brussels European FICTS Sports Film Festival” will be articulated in 50 hours of screenings consisting of short, medium and feature-length films, whether works of fiction, documentaries, special reports, etc., 3 conferences, one on each of the key themes described:

  • “Women’s sport” – the role of women in the world of sport and media coverage of women’s sport;
  • “Sport for all” – the issue of access to active participation in sport everywhere and in all circumstances; the creation of new sports and of new places to take part in sport;
  • “The close links between sport and the world of the image” – technology working for the development and promotion of sport and of refereeing.

You will find details of the entire FICTS programme at: www.panathlon.be/besff or www.facebook.com/BXLSportsFilmFestival

All the information about Festival:

Accommodation: www.sportmoviestv.com/brussels/accommodation.pdf