INDO CINE APPRECIATION FOUNDATION in association with the Delegation of The European Union to India, New Delhi, Goethe Institute / Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai and Alliance Francaise of Madras are organizing the 22nd EUROPEANUNION FILM FESTIVAL – Celebrating the Love for Cinema
Schedule
Synopsis
1. The Portuguese Falcon | Capitao Falcao | 2015 | 102 min | Portugal | Director – João Leitão (Kalaivanar Arangam | 22 Apr 17 | 6.15 pm)
A satire on anti-communist paranoia in the days of fascist dictatorship in Portugal. The series follows the adventures of the “Lusitanian superhero,” the ultrapatriotic Captain Falcão, a man who follows the direct orders of António de Oliveira Salazar in the fight against the “red menace”. Awards: 8 wins & 4 nominations
2.The Dreamed Ones | Die Geträumten | 2016 | Austria | 95 min | Director – Ruth Beckermann (Max Mueller Bhavan | 23 Apr 17 | 3.30 pm)
At center stage are the two poets Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan, who came to know each other in post-war Vienna. Their dramatic postal exchange creates the textual basis of the film. Two young actors meet in a recording studio to read the letters. The tumultuous emotions of proximity and distance, fascination and fear captivate them. However they also enjoy each other’s company, arguing, smoking, discussing their tattoos and favourite music. Yesterdays, todays and tomorrows love: where the lines are blurred lies the heart of the film. Awards: 4 wins & 1 nomination –Premiere: Berlin International Film Festival 2016
3. Sanctuary | Freistatt | 2015 | 104 min | Germany | Director – Marc Brummond (Max Mueller Bhavan | 23 Apr 17 | 5.30 pm)
Summer 1968: Wolfgang doesn’t get along with his stepfather. As the arguments escalate, the 14-year-old boy is sent to a welfare institution. The Christian establishment turns out to be a place of brutal oppression, lack of freedom and exploitation. They are so hopelessly isolated that the victims themselves are prone to use violence. The director of the institution, who hypocritically calls himself “house father“, prevents the occupants from communicating the truth to the outside world. Those attempting to escape are punished almost sadistically, yet Wolfgang seeks salvation in freedom. Awards: 4 wins
4. Flying Home | 2014 | 95 min | Belgium | Director – Dominique Deruddere (Max Mueller Bhavan | 23 Apr 17 | 7.30 pm)
Colin Montgomery , an up-and-coming Wall Street whiz kid, is given a week to sign up a potential client – an incredibly wealthy sheikh – or risk losing his job. To impress the Sheikh, Colin goes to Flanders to track down a world-class racing pigeon. But things get complicated when he finds himself falling for the pigeon owner’s granddaughter. Awards : 2 wins & 1 nomination
5. The Judgement | Sadilishteto | 2014 | 107 min | Bulgaria | Director – Stephan Komandarev (Max Mueller Bhavan | 24 Apr 17 | 3.30 PM )
The Judgement is a story of the inner struggles of a father, his complicated relationship with his son and the lonely mountains hiding secrets from the past. Mityo has lost everything that matters to him: his wife, his work and his hopes. And now he is losing the trust of his only son, Vasko. Out of desperation, Mityo agrees to smuggle illegal immigrants from Syria through a steep mountain pass into Bulgaria. One last trip remains. Left at the mercy of the Judgement Mountain, and in desperate need of help from his ever more distant son, Mityo will soon discover if he can be forgiven for a terrible sin committed 25 years ago. Awards – 7 wins & 1 nomination
6. Family Member | 2015 | 104 min | Cyprus | Director – MarinosKartikkis (Max Mueller Bhavan | 24 Apr 17 | 5.30 PM )
George and Sophia are trying hard to cope with their financial problems and the needs of their two children. The grandfather helps them out with his pension since the family business, a small grocery store, does not provide them with enough income. When suddenly the grandfather dies in his sleep, they decide to keep it a secret for as long as they can so as to continue collecting the money from his pension. But things become more complicated when officers from the social security department start looking for the grandfather. Awards: 1 win & 3 nominations
7. Empties | Vratnelahve | 2007 | 100 min | Czech Republic | Director – Jan Sverak (Max Mueller Bhavan | 24 Apr 17 | 7.30 PM )
Josef Tkaloun is an elderly teacher at a high school in Prague who cannot control his anger when his pupils misbehave in his poetry class. He quits his job and despite his wife urging him to retire becomes a cycle courier. After an inevitable accident, he still refuses to stay at home and takes job in the local supermarket. His own flirtations almost get him into trouble with his wife, so he resolves to reignite the passion in his marriage by celebrating his wedding anniversary with a hot air balloon ride. The scary balloon ride ending in crash has a happy-end in revitalizing relationship with his wife Eliska. Awards: 9 wins & 10 nominations
8. The Commune | Kollektivet | 2015 | 111 min | Denmark | Director – Thomas Vinterberg (Max Mueller Bhavan | 25 Apr 17 | 3.30 PM )
Erik and Anna are a professional couple with a dream. Along with their daughter Freja, they set up a commune in Erik’s huge villa in the upmarket district of Copenhagen. With the family in the center of the story, we are invited into the dream of a real commune; we participate in the house meetings, dinners and parties. It is friendship, love and togetherness under one roof until an earth-shattering love affair puts the community and the commune to its greatest test. Awards: 4 wins & 12 nominations
9. Cherry Tobacco | 2015 | 93 min | Estonia | Director – KatrinMaimik& Andres Maimik (Max Mueller Bhavan | 25 Apr 17 | 5.30 PM)
Laura is a small town girl who is bored. Mother gets on her nerves, boys are stupid and everything seems childish. One day Laura’s energetic friend Merit asks her to join a hike to a bog with nature-lover Joosep . Gradually Laura is drawn to Joosep and his rugged charm. The quest is coming to an end and Laura has to decide what to do – give in to first love or put everything behind her. A true-to-life and intelligent look at burgeoning love in a tender age. Awards: 3 nominations
Aris is a 38 year old factory worker. He’s separated from his wife, who has custody of their six year old son, and struggles to make ends meet. When Aris is fired from his job without warning, his bitterness towards his former employers burns within him, pushing him to want revenge. This gets both shackled and amplified when his ex-wife dumps their son on him. With no source of income, a landlord demanding rent and no employment opportunities around him, Aris’ descent into his self-rage and bad choices lead him and, by extension, his young son into a dark place. Awards : 3 wins & 12 nominations
11. Liza,The Fox-Fairy | Liza, a rókatündér | 2015 | 98 min | Hungary | Director – KárolyUjj-Mészáros (Max Mueller Bhavan | 27 Apr 17 | 3.30 PM )
Fox-fairies are evil demons from Japanese folklore, who rob men of their lives. Liza, a 30-year-old nurse, goes in search of love, but her ill-fated admirers all die on their first date.Liza has taken care of Marta, widow of the former Japanese ambassador, for the last 12 years. Liza’s only companion is her imaginary friend, TomyTani, the ghost of a Japanese pop singer from the 1950s. It’s her birthday, and so Liza goes to a Mekk Burger’s to find romance. While she’s away, Marta dies. Jealous relatives report Liza to the police for murdering Marta to inherit her apartment. Sergeant Zoltan is put on the case. The policeman rents a room from Liza so he can keep a closer eye on his suspect. Zoltan secretly repairs a stack of faulty fittings, very nearly gets killed in the process, and falls slowly in love with Liza. Liza gains confidence and begins to look better when she takes tips from a women’s magazine, but all her dating efforts end in fatal accidents orchestrated by TomyTani. Liza is convinced that she has become a fox-fairy, a deadly demon from Japanese folklore. The battle for Liza’s life begins between the mysterious pop singer and Sergeant Zoltan. Awards: 24 wins & 4 nominations.
12. A Lonely Hero | L’Intrepido | 2013 | 104 min | Italy | Director – Gianni Amelio (Max Mueller Bhavan | 27 Apr 17 | 5.30 PM )
Set in modern day Milan, this is a Chaplinesque odyssey through the world of work – every type of work, but primarily unskilled manual labor, seen through the eyes of a kind, middle-aged man who takes on every conceivable temporary job in order to be useful and have self respect. At its heart is a sympathetic man who, despite loneliness and personal family problems, remains defiantly optimistic even when terrible things happen to him and the people he meets. This really is a portrait of the highs and lows of modern life. Awards: 5 wins & 5 nominations
13. Mellow Mud | Es esmu šeit | 2016 | 105 min | Latvia | Director – RenarsVimba (Max Mueller Bhavan | 27 Apr 17 | 7.30 PM )
Loneliness, disillusionment and the experience of first love reveal the character of Raya, a 17-year-old living in rural Latvia with her grandmother and her little brother Robis. A staggering turn of events shakes up their lives, and the young girl must come to decisions that even a grown woman would find difficult to make. A theme of coming-of-age through the eyes of a young girl. Awards: 4 wins & 2 nominations
14. Hot Hot Hot | 2011 | 93 min | Luxembourg | Director – Beryl Koltz (Max Mueller Bhavan | 28 Apr 17 | 3.30 PM)
Ferdinand is a long-standing employee at Fish Land, the aquatic centre within the globalised leisure complex “Worlds Apart”. He’s a small, bald forty year-old, introvert, entirely devoted to his passion for fish. But his existence is turned upside down the day Fish Land closes down for renovation. He is transferred to another section of “Worlds Apart”, the Finnish-Turkish Delight spa, geared towards the pleasure of saunas and steam rooms. Ferdinand is suddenly thrown into a world of nudity, sensuality, relaxation and letting go… In short, everything he could possibly be afraid of! Awards: 2 wins
15. PubliekWerken | Pubic Works | 2015 | 115 min | Netherlands | Director – Joram Lürsen (Max Mueller Bhavan | 28 Apr 17 | 5.30 PM )
In 1888 Amsterdam, a stubborn violin maker and his pharmacist cousin face hardship and tragedy as they oppose the powerful businessmen who plan to force him from his house and erect a luxurious new hotel in its place. 1888: Vedder, a luthier, has to step aside when his home, opposite the recently completed Central Station in Amsterdam, must yield for the planned Victoria Hotel. His cousin Anijs, pharmacist in the Northern provinces of the Netherlands, has gotten into a fix after illegal medical practices, and is looking for a way out. For himself and his wife Martha, but also for a colony of poor peat cutters whom he promises a future in the United States. The two of them think up a scheme from which they will all benefit. Awards: 12 nominations.
16. The Last Family | OstatniaRodzina | 2016 | 123 min | Poland | Director – Jan P. Matuszyński (Max Mueller Bhavan | 28 Apr 17 | 7.30 PM )
Beksiński is a gentle man with arachnophobia, despite his sexual fantasies and his fondness for painting disturbing dystopian works. Beksiński is a family man who wants only the best for his loving wife Zofia, neurotic son Tomasz and the couple’s aging mothers. His daily painting to classical music eventually pays off and he makes a name for himself in contemporary art. As he tapes everything with his beloved camcorder, the 28-year Beksiński saga unfolds through paintings, near-death experiences, dance music trends and funerals…Based on the bizarre true story of the cult Polish painter ZdzisławBeksiński. Awards: 11 wins & 5 nominations
17. Three Hearts | 3 coeurs | 2014 | 106 min | France | Director – BenoîtJacquot (Alliance Francaise of Madras | 2 May 17 | 5.30 PM )
After missing a train, Marc meets and falls in love with Sylvie. They agree to meet in Paris at the Jardin des Tuileries without exchanging contact information. On the time of the rendezvous, Marc is held up in a meeting and they miss each other. Disappointed, Sylvie moves to the USA with her husband. Later, Marc meets Sylvie’s sister Sophie and they fall in love. As Marc and Sophie’s relationship becomes serious, he discovers she is Sylvie’s sister. Awards – 7 nominations
18. The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Maki | Hymyilevä mies | 2016 | 93 min | Finland | Director – JuhoKuosmanen (Alliance Francaise of Madras | 2 May 17 | 7.30 PM )
Summer 1962, Olli Mäki has a shot at the world championship title in featherweight boxing. From the Finnish countryside to the bright lights of Helsinki, everything has been prepared for his fame and fortune. All Olli has to do is lose weight and concentrate. But there is a problem – he has fallen in love with Raija. Awards: 4 wins & 19 nominations
19.Visible World | ViditelnySvet | 2011 | 104 min | Slovakia | Director – Peter Krištúfek (Alliance Francaise of Madras | 3 May 17 | 5.30 PM )
Oliver is a lonely forty-something working as an air traffic controller. He appears to be isolated and his personal life is empty. He fills his time by watching TV and observing the family living in the house across the street – he regards them as an ideal of happiness. At first he just watches the family, but gradually he wants to learn more about them. He finds that things often look different from a distance, that the borders of oneʼs private life are more fragile than one would expect. Evil is endemic and discrete; we carry violence around inside ourselves. You never know who’s watching you… Awards: 2 wins & 1 nomination
20. A Comedy Of Tears | Komedija solz | 2016 | 76 min | Slovenia | Director – Marko Sosič (Alliance Francaise of Madras | 3 May 17 | 7.30 PM )
Albert is an old man in a wheelchair, a cynical, choleric and racist person. He lives in a big apartment in Trieste and in the solitude of the fragments of his obsessive memory, which holds his troubled relationships with his now estranged family. His only touch with reality is through Ida, an educated middle-aged woman who arrives from Istria two times per week to clean, cook, and bathe him… Albert and Ida’s day begins with Albert’s niggling, growing cynicism and violent fits. Ida bears his behaviour with dignity and composure, but Albert’s malice only intensifies.
21. Hassan’s Way | El Rayo | 2014 | 86 min | Spain | Director – Fran Araújo, Ernesto de Nova (Alliance Francaise of Madras | 4 May 17 | 5.30 PM )
After thirteen years in Spain, a Moroccan man called Hassan is jobless and decides to go back home. He invests all his savings into a second-hand tractor to earn a living in his country and takes on to the road. A new life awaits him in his village and with his family. This journey is based on a true story, played by a real man who travels, from town to town while meeting unforgettable characters. He must face and overcome multiple obstacles, turning his story into a real odyssey. Awards: 2 wins & 2 nominations
22. Nice People | Filip och Fredrik presenterar Trevligt folk | 2015 | 96 min | Docu | Sweden | Director – Anders Helgeson, Karin af Klintberg (Alliance Francaise of Madras | 4 May 17 | 7.30 PM )
A group of young men who fled the war in Somalia have ended up in a rural town in Sweden where integration is tough. Something needs to be done. Local entrepreneur PatrikAndersson gets an idea, who not use sport as a bridge to get people closer to each other? The goal: to create the first ever Somali national team in bandy and make it to the World Championship in Siberia. This is a story about racism and fear, but it’s also about bravery and doing something that hasn’t been done before.
Venue : Kalaivanar Arangam | Max Mueller Bhavan | Alliance Francaise of Madras Date : 22nd April – 04th May 2017
