The Partner Country – Kingdom of Belgium programme marked the opening days of this year’s Rab Film Festival, featuring a screening of the Belgian-Dutch film ‘Heysel 85’ and a reception hosted by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium.
The film ‘Heysel 85’ by director Teodora Ana Mihai was screened on Saturday, 22 August, at the Winter Cinema. Before the screening, the audience was welcomed by William De Baets, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the Republic of Croatia, the programme’s guest of honour, whose brief introduction opened an evening dedicated to Belgian cinema.
Based on true events, the film took the audience back to May 1985, when Liverpool and Juventus met in the European Cup Final at Heysel Stadium in Brussels. At the centre of the story are Marie, the daughter of the mayor of Brussels, and Italian television journalist Luca Rossi, whose paths cross as the unrest at the stadium spirals out of control and claims dozens of lives.
‘Heysel 85’, which premiered at this year’s Berlinale, offered the audience a tense reconstruction of the events behind one of the greatest tragedies in the history of European football, while raising questions about institutional responsibility, safety and the consequences of violence.
The programme dedicated to the Kingdom of Belgium continued on Sunday, 23 August, with a reception hosted by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium, bringing together festival guests, organisers, partners and friends of the festival.
Rab Film Festival thanked the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in the Republic of Croatia and Ambassador William De Baets for their support and cooperation in delivering the Partner Country programme. Thanks to this collaboration, this year’s RAFF brought Belgian cinema, its filmmakers and stories that use film to explore important social issues closer to the audience.
