The Ardennes International Film Festival – First Edition Wrap-Up

The first edition of the Ardennes International Film Festival has come to a close — and what a beginning it was.

Held in the heart of Namur, in the atmospheric halls of Cinéma Le Caméo, our inaugural screening drew a full house, exceeding expectations. With a lineup of films subtitled or spoken in English, we faced a challenge: how would these stories resonate with a largely French-speaking audience?

The answer was clear in the quiet attention, the spontaneous laughter, the audible gasps — and in the lingering stillness between the credits and the applause. Language, it turns out, is no barrier when cinema speaks from a deeper place.

After the final frame, we traveled deeper into the Ardennes spirit — to a remote bio farm in Wépion, where filmmakers, cinephiles, and curious souls gathered around a bonfire. There, with a glass in hand and smoke rising into the night sky, stories continued to unfold — slowly, freely, and together.

We are honored to announce the award winners of this year’s festival — a diverse group of bold, inventive voices from around the world:

2025 Award Winners – The Ardennes International Film Festival

Best Narrative Film

The Cascade (Mexico) – Pablo Delgado Sanchez

A surreal, poetic vision of grief turned inside out — where tears become waterfalls.

Best Documentary Film

The Other Side of Despair (Switzerland) – Varsy Buchmann

A haunting reflection on exile, art, and identity in the shadow of forced displacement.

Best Experimental Film

A Little Longer (Canada) – Connor Kujawinski

A futuristic meditation on memory, access, and the price of remembering.

Best Underground Film

Spell (Brazil) – Khalil Charif

A sensorial dance-floor incantation that blurs documentary and dream.

Best Animated Film

The Core (Romania) – Robert Obert

A visual metaphor of consciousness and love as a shared act of becoming.

Best Super Short Film

Third Wheel (Switzerland) – Kevin Haefelin

A ghost story turned samurai comedy in under five minutes — pure cinematic mischief.

Best Connecting Cultures Film

Shifting Roots (Lebanon) – Angie Mrad

An intimate portrait of displacement, memory, and olive trees under fire.

Best Belgian Film

Unscarred (Belgium) – Théo Roland

A raw and moving collaboration between a son and his bipolar mother — healing through cinema.

Words from the Festival Team

Kris De Meester, Festival Curator:

“Serving primarily English-subtitled or spoken films to a French-speaking audience seemed like an impossible mission. But the reactions of a full house reminded us that cinema transcends language. It was profoundly moving to witness such pure laughter and silence — shared emotion beyond words.”

Sofie Luyten, Festival Manager:

“Gathering around a fire always has something mystical to me, and I really enjoyed closing our first edition this way. Gazing into the flames, where also silence is allowed, conversations go deeper; and I was touched to hear the profound and vulnerable stories that the movies had stirred. Grateful for this beautiful beginning  and my heart goes to everyone who supported it.”

To those who joined us: thank you.

To those who will discover us: the fire is still burning.

The forest awaits.

https://www.ardennesfilmfestival.com