-3.png)
Where Silence Speaks in Flames
In the shadow of ancient trees, where mist drapes the hills and silence hums with secrets, cinema finds its rawest form.
The Ardennes International Film Festival is not merely a place to watch films — it is a passage. A crossing. A quiet invitation to enter the forest and listen closely.
We gather films that speak in symbols, silence, and flame — works that haunt, provoke, bewilder, and illuminate. We celebrate auteurs, outsiders, and dreamers, those who defy formulas and follow visions. Stories that need to be told.
Screenings take place in the atmospheric halls of Cameo in Namur, but the true soul of the festival lies deeper in the woods — at a remote bio farm, where fire crackles under open sky and minds meet in quiet intensity. There, we host informal Q&A sessions, fireside analysis, and late-night conversations, surrounded by trees and the pulse of something ancient.
This is not industry.
This is ritual.
This is where film returns to story, and story returns to flame.
Step into the dark. The forest is listening.
Where Silence Speaks in Flames.
STREAMING SELECTION
Next to our physical screenings we’ll also be screening online with the special STREAMING SELECTION. The Streaming Selection will go online one week prior to the opening of the physical part of the festival and will stay online until the last day of the festival. Viewers will be able to watch, but not download your film. If needed we can geo-block your film to our region.
We’re open to any genre (narrative, web series, made for tv, documentary, experimental …) and especially any duration (which is always an issue for the physical part of the festival). Selected filmmakers will receive all official selection perks (The Tarkovski Grant, …) and are in the running for any of the award titles. When you submit your film for consideration to both a physical section and the Streaminng Selection it is possible to be selected for both, but this is of course not guaranteed. Filmmakers that submit their film only to any of the other sections (so any other than the Streaming Selection) will not be selected for an online screening.
Proud partner of The Bigger Screen
The Ardennes International Film Festival is supported by The Bigger Screen, an organization that aims to make film as an art form more accessible and more inclusive.
Supporting Film Festivals: Film festivals are not only a place to share films, but they are a safe haven for film makers to connect, share, and learn. The Bigger Screens supports and engages with over 25 respected international film festivals from mainstays like the 61st Ann Arbor Film Festival and the Brussels Independent Film Festival to emerging events such as the Venice Film Week and The Producer’s Night Los Angeles. These events bring filmmakers and filmgoers together, providing that place to connect and engage in a comfortable setting, away from Hollywood glitz and glamour.
Connecting Cultures Program: Each year, The Bigger Screen selects ten countries and grants filmmakers from those areas the ability to submit their work free of charge to partner festivals all over the world. This opens the door of film exposure to those who may not otherwise be able to enter. As we support inclusivity and shareable films, this program exemplifies our mission.
Local Filmmakers Program: We understand that the cost of making a film can be taxing, so to encourage rising talent, we waive the festival submission fee to local talent. With numerous worldwide locations for festivals, this provides great opportunity for filmmakers around the world to enter the international film scene. This opportunity opens the world of film. Think global, act local, right?
Inclusive Audience Program: Our screenings are always low or even free of charge to provide opportunity for interested film goers to view up and coming, challenging, and inspiring pieces of art, encouraging students, seniors, and those in underprivileged environments to share the experience of film and cinema. We welcome film goers, regardless of income and financial status.
The Tarkovski Grant: All selected filmmakers will receive The Tarkovski Grant, a film festival submission fee waiver package with an average value of about $500. This not only saves you a lot of money, but it also recognizes your work as something to watch for during the selection procedure, making a selection with another partner film festival more likely - but of course, never guaranteed. The Tarkovski Grant supports hundreds of filmmakers each year in their challenging journeys as independent filmmakers, by promoting existing films, no matter the genre, style or length.
Previous Editions
Find award winners, official selections and photos of previous festival editions: