Belgium stands out at DocLisboa 2025!
This year, DocLisboa puts the spotlight on the Benelux as part of the Nebulae!
Every autumn, Lisbon becomes the capital of documentary cinema with Doclisboa. Considered one of the most important festivals in the country, the event does not limit itself to showcasing the latest international productions: it also questions the role of documentary in our understanding of the world. Led by Apordoc, the Portuguese documentary association, the festival combines premieres, ambitious retrospectives, and encounters with major filmmakers, offering audiences a true map of contemporary documentary creation.
This year, Nebulae, Doclisboa’s professional and networking space, will put the spotlight on the Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg). Nebulae consists of a series of activities, meetings, opportunities, and people dedicated to the development of independent film creation, production, and distribution.
From Wallonia-Brussels, among the projects in development are two titles: White Veins by Maxime Coton, produced by RUBIS Productions, and Janyl by Charlotte de Gottal, produced by Rayuela Productions. In the post-production section, Marie Mc Court’s new film A Man’s Word, produced by Kwassa Films, will also be presented.
Belgium’s presence at Doclisboa continues, as several films have also made it to the festival’s program. In the “Riscos” section, filmmaker Nicolas Graux will join Vietnamese director Trương Minh Quý to present Hair, Paper, Water…
Ever since it won the Pardo d’Oro for Best Film at the Locarno Festival, Hair, Paper, Water…has continued to gain recognition at international festivals. The film is produced by Dérives and internationally represented by Lights On.
In a cave, more than sixty years ago, she was born. Now she lives in a village, with many children and grandchildren to look after. Sometimes, she dreams of her dead mother calling her home—to the cave. The film captures fleeting moments of her daily life and the transmission of her fragile language, the Rục, to her grandchildren.
Their short film Porcupine will also be presented in the “Riscos” section. The film is produced by Dérives and internationally represented by Kino Rebelde.
In an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Brussels, strangers come and go while ghosts linger. Among the shards of glass, a young streamer performs a live sex show for an online subscriber. Under the same dilapidated roof, an old woman lights a fire and drinks her sorrows away in the room where her husband stayed until he died. A chance encounter between these two lonely beings will unleash a flood of memories and virtual data. But real-life connections are scarce, and mutual consolation seems a distant dream.
The short film We Had Fun Yesterday by Marion Guillard will be presented in the “Da Terra À Lua” program. The film was produced by the Centre Vidéo de Bruxelles.
When I was younger, I hated my body as much as I was obsessed by images of "Nature". On the one hand, I told myself they were sublime, and that's why they existed, and on the other, I felt that as a woman, if people didn't look at me, I'd disappear. The film runs around my character's experience. Initially fascinated by images, then by their bulimic production, my gaze changes, questioning myself and asking : why I made images of nature?
Also worth noting is the selection of Sarah Vanagt’s film Wishful Filming, supported by the Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel. The short film is co-produced by Michigan Films and will be presented in the “Da Terra À Lua” section.
The DocLisboa Festival will take place from October 16 to 26, 2025 in Lisbon!
films
