Cinema Novo Film Festival is a ten-day event, which is annually held in March in Bruges, Belgium. It shows 65 to 70 films from Asia, Africa and Latin America to some 20,000 spectators. The overall idea of the festival hasn't been altered since its inception. The main purpose is still to confront western audiences with southern and oriental cultural expressions and thus to enhance the understanding and the appreciation of these cultures.

In its own modest way, the festival wants to contribute to the introduction and the promotion of films from Africa, Asia and Latin America in Belgian film distribution. That is why a competition section has been added to the festival: an independent jury awards a prize to one of a selection of nine films that have not been released in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. The prize consists of a grant awarded to the Belgian distributor who purchases the winning film and releases it in Belgium.

The festival emphasises on what that is called “Focus on” a certain aspect ( a country, a theme, a director etc...) and there are a range of fringe activities such as exhibitions, concerts, lectures, debates and workshops organised. Education is an important part of the festival. Each year around 4,000 pupils (from 5 to 18 ) watch a film from one of the three continents.