23rd edition November 20th to 28th, 2026
23rd edition
20 to 28 November, 2026
Karima Saïdi is a filmmaker whose work explores themes of exile and memory. She graduated from studies in film editing at INSAS and in screenwriting at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and has since built a multifaceted career. She works as a documentary editor and as a script supervisor on fiction films. As a director, she leaves a personal mark through her own films and sound installations, exploring the notion of boundaries. She teaches at the University of Liège and at ESAV in Marrakech.
Those Who Watch Over explores the ways in which the descendants of immigrants—Christian, Jewish, and Muslim—visit their dead. Through intimate encounters, the film reveals how the multifaith cemetery of Brussels becomes a place full of life, a neighborhood where different communities coexist while respecting each other’s practices. This unique site unveils a profound relationship between the living and the deceased, where the tragic and the burlesque, poetry and humor intertwine, showcasing the incredible inventiveness of the living in their bond with the departed. Beyond time, this microcosm becomes the chorus of a human polyphony and a small treatise on coexistence, addressed to the living.
Director Karima Saïdi
Producer Julie Freres
Screenwriter Karima Saïdi
Cinematographer Caroline Guimbal
Editor Karima Saïdi, Yaël Bitton, Frédéric Fichefet
Sound Quentin Jacques, Nicolas Pommier
Music Lucas Lauwers
Production Companies Dérives, Sophimages, Les Films du Fleuve, CBA (Centre de l’Audiovisuel à Bruxelles), RTBF – Unité documentaire, Les Films d’Ici
International Sales Company Dérives