Film lovers can look forward to an entertaining and provocative array of new award-winning European films as the European Film Festival returns for its 11th edition in South Africa from 10-20 October.
Presenting films from 14 countries, and including two Oscar nominations, the festival is a showcase of high-quality cinema from the film industries in the respective participating countries of Belgium, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
Cinema screenings take place in Johannesburg at Sterkinekor’s The Zone in Rosebank and in Cape Town at The Labia. Eleven of the films will be available in the free programme of online streaming accessible across South Africa during the festival period of 10-20 October. For film synopses, film trailers and booking information visit www.eurofilmfest.co.za / HOW TO WATCH GUIDE
Italian director Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated IO CAPITANO recounts the epic journey of two teenage boys from Senegal who make their way across Africa in pursuit of a dream called Europe and is based on accounts of actual experiences by people who have undertaken these arduous contemporary odysseys. Amidst the multiple dangers of desert, sea and hostile racketeers along the way, it’s ultimately a journey of hope and heroism and puts a very human face on migration issues that remain a tragic challenge to the world. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
The Portuguese film BAAN directed by Leonor Teles epitomises the pensive restlessness of 21st century Youth. It’s an innate search for freedom and belonging in what is ultimately a journey of ongoing self-discovery when L. meets the elusive K. This explorative and gorgeously shot film is by one of the brightest young filmmakers emerging out of Portugal today – who wrote it, directed it and filmed it. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
The Swiss film BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY, directed by Elene Naveriani, is about a 48-year-old woman in a Georgian village who finds herself passionately falling for a man and is suddenly faced with the decision whether to pursue the relationship or continue her life of independence. The film makes a powerful statement about ageism, sexual awakening, and self-empowerment. It won the Best Film prize at the Swiss Film Awards this year. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
From Georgia, CITIZEN SAINT is an evocatively shot black-and-white classic by Tinatin Kajrishvili, which tells the story of a mining town where the disappearance of a revered statue of a saint coincides with the arrival of a mysterious stranger. A series of miracles create more chaos than good and controversial choices must be made. This satirical film was Georgia’s submission to the Academy Awards this year. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
From Germany, the often comedic DYING directed by Matthias Glasner, unpicks the dynamics and dysfunctionality between the very different members of the Lunies family; the demented father, the sickly wife, the orchestra conductor son, and the radical hedonistic daughter. Dying is one thing, but Life is the real difficulty…. It won the Best Film prize at the German Film Awards this year. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
The Ukrainian film GREY BEES, directed by Dmyto Moiseiev, is about the last two remaining inhabitants in a tiny village in the no-man’s-land between loyalist and separatist forces in the Donbas region in the days before the Russian invasion. Sergiich the beekeeper is Ukrainian, Pashka is Russian, and circumstances have brought them together in a stubborn and sometimes adversarial companionship. It is a powerful testament to human connection going beyond our differences in moments of need. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
From the UK, KNEECAP by Rich Peppiatt, presents a riotous look at a hip-hop trio in Belfast who by rapping in their native Irish language become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue. In this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic Kneecap plays themselves, laying down a global rallying cry for the defence of native cultures. The film won the coveted Audience Award at Sundance this year. SCREENINGS / TRAILER
From Belgium, LOVE ACCORDING TO DALVA directed by Emmanuelle Nicot, is a beautiful portrait of friendship, recovery and identity through a young girl’s childhood sexual abuse story.Nicot’s poignant film explores the ramifications of abuse with deep sensibility and grace, in Dalva’s journey to reconstruction and hope. The film won a remarkable 7 awards at Belgium’s Magritte Awards including Best Film. SCREENINGS / ONLINE STREAMING / TRAILER / ONLINE
From the Netherlands, SWEET DREAMS, directed by Ena Sendijarević, is an audacious tale of the delicious demise of colonialism on a remote Indonesian island. Satirical and sometimes surreal in tone, personal ambitions play out against a backdrop of workers’ uprisings, lust, and deep intrigue. Winner of the Best Film award in The Netherlands, it was also that country’s submission to the Academy Awards this year. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
In the Spanish film THE OTHER WAY AROUND directed by Jonás Trueba, a filmmaker couple have decided to separate and come up with the idea of throwing a party to celebrate the break-up. It is a very contemporary comedy-drama that teases out witty and highly believable performances from the cast with some revealing insight into how relationships work…. or don’t work. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
From Poland, THE PEASANTS, directed by Dorota Kobiela Welchman and Hugh Welchman is a comic, tragic, and reflective story of one woman’s yearning for independence in a rural Polish village in the 19th century. Full of ornamental songs and rapturous dance, the acted performances are meticulously painted frame after frame by more than 100 oil painters in a unique form of animation, reminiscent of the film LOVING VINCENT, by the same husband and wife directors. This film was Poland’s submission to the Academy Awards this year. SCREENINGS / TRAILER
In the Irish film THE QUIET GIRL, directed by Colm Bairéad, a young girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with relatives for the summer where she blossoms and discovers a new way of living. Simultaneously raw and profoundly empathetic, it is a story about childhood and the transformative power of love and human kindness. It won an Oscar nomination at the 2023 Academy Awards, the first Irish film ever to do so. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
From France, THE TASTE OF THINGS is directed by Trần Anh Hùng, and stars Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel. Set in 19th-century France, it is a touching love story that revolves around gastronomy in a way you won’t see in modern foodie films and TV series. This refined masterpiece of Cinema won the Best Director prize at Cannes and went on to be France’s submission for the 2024 Academy Awards. SCREENINGS / TRAILER / ONLINE
Women’s stories are very prominent in this year’s line-up and none more so than in the Danish film UNRULY. Here, director Malou Reyman’s unflinching and empathetic depiction of young women battling patriarchy and suppression of their rights in a 1930s women’s institution is a deeply personal example of how women’s voices will not be silenced. It is also a strong reminder that achieving emancipation remains an ongoing process today. SCREENINGS / TRAILER
