3st press release
Prague, 25th March 2010
17th Days of European Film Festival
Prague: April 15 – 22 in the Světozor and Lucerna cinemas, Brno: April 23 - 29 in the B. Bakala cinema
Echoes of the Days of European Film Festival: Boskovice: April 26 - 29, Jablonec nad Nisou: April 26 - 30, Olomouc: April 26 - 28, Plzeň: April 29 - May 2, Uherské Hradiště: April 27 - 28 , and Veselí nad Moravou: April 28 - May 1
As we have informed before the screenings of current European cinematography will include this year 38 films in total. 17th Days of European Film Festival will start on 15th April 2010 in Prague in the Světozor cinema by screening the comedy made by the well known present German scriptwriter, and film director Fatih Akin called Soul Kitchen /2009/, this film is about friendship, love, and fight for home. The film received a Special Mention of the Jury at the Venice Film Festival last year. The part of the Days of European Film Festival in Prague will close on April 22 in the Světozor cinema again, by screening a black comedy A Somewhat Gentle Man / En Ganske Snill Mann, 2009/ as a Czech premiere. This film is about a seemingly gentle man - a gangster made by the well-known Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland, which was screened in the main competition at Berlinale. This film has been bought for Czech screenings by the distribution company Aerofilms.
The rich programme of this year’s festival includes an Austrian drama Kill Daddy Good Night /Das Vaterspiel, 2008, directed by M. Glawogger/, based on the novel by Josef Haslinger. The film is a story about fate of three families thanks to which a long past tragic war events are disclosed, but unflattering presence is there too. The mission of the film is clear: you cannot escape the past. The German drama directed by Emily Atef, The Stranger in Me/Das Fremde in mir, 2008/ is a story about the main character Rebecca, a new mother and her newborn baby. After the birth Rebecca is not able to find her relation to the baby and the acute situation starts to be dangerous for both sides. A more relaxed film in the programme is the French-Belgian grotesque Rumba /2007 directed by D. Abel, and F. Gordon/. This almost silent comedy is full of colours and optimism and shows that even the most tragic moments can be overcome in the end. A descret little germ in the programme might be the Italian comedy Mid-August Lunch /Pranzo di Ferragosto, 2008, directed by Gianni di Gregorio/. A bachelor Gianni lives together with his mother. He gets in financial problems and makes some extra money in an unusual way – during the Italian holiday of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary he takes care of old mothers of his friends. With a gentle humour this film depicts troubles of the main character with the vivid old women. Interestingly, this film was made in the production of Matteo Garrone, the author of the awarded drama Gomorra. The Swiss film champion is called Home, 2008, directed by Ursula Meier/. This film is a criticism of the excessive motorism, which in the form of a recently opened highway mentally disturbs a family, which led before a happy life. In the main lead you will see the French actress Isabelle Huppert. Another film in the programme with great stars is the French film Farewell /L’Affaire Farewell, 2009, directed by Christian Carion/ - a political thriller from the cold war period. The main character of the Russian agent in the West is played by Emir Kusturica.
The section National League includes 12 films, presenting those, which individual countries submitted to the Oscar competition. For instance a Dutch war drama about collaboration - Winter in Wartime /Oorlogswinter, 2008, directed by Martin Koolhoven/. This film depicts the last months during the war in a Dutch small town from the point of view of a teenage boy, for whom the war and the resistance appears to be a great adventure until the war radically affects his family. A similar story can be seen in the Luxembourg drama Draft Dodgers (Réfractaire, 2009, directed by Nicolas Steil). In this film the main character solves his dilemma whether to collaborate and to be recruited to the Eastern front, or to desert and hide until the war is over.
The section To the point focused on topical social themes is devoted to the fight against poverty and social exclusion. The choice of these films was made in cooperation with the Representation of EC in the Czech Republic. This section will include among others the awarded British film This is England! /2006, directed by Shane Meadows/. This film follows the beginning of the skinhead movement in England. The French crude drama Khamsa / 2008, directed by Karim Dridi/ shows on the other hand an eleven-year-old Roma boy Marc, who escapes from his adoptive family to the poor Roma quarter in Marseille where he tries to find his identity through thefts and shady deals.
This year will also include quality contemporary documentary films. Slovakia is represented for instance by the film Osadné Village /2009, directed by Marko Škop/. This film was awarded last year at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. It is about an attempt to rescue a dying-out village in the centre of Ruthenian culture. Another Slovakian film awarded at the International Documentary Film Festival in Jihlava is called The Border/ Hranica 2009, directed by Jaro Vojtek/. It is about a small village at the Slovakian-Ukrainian borderland, and its absurd border dividing property and families.
The Czech Republic will be represented by the new documentary by Olga Špátová The Eye Above Prague /2010/ which is about the entire case of the construction of the National Library according to the project by Jan Kaplický /from the project’s selection till the tragic end of its author/. After the film screening there will be a debate on film and architecture held on 16th April at 18:30 hrs. in the Světozor cinema. Following persons will take part in the debate: Olga Špátová, the documentarist, Bohdana Stoklasová, the representative of the National Library, the architect Eva Jiřičná, a member of the international jury of the competition for the new National Library, Vlastimil Ježek, the former director of the National Library, the architect Andrea Morgante, who is finalising at present the construction of the Ferrari museum according to the project of Jan Kaplický in the Italian city of Modena, the architect and historian of architecture Zdeněk Lukeš, the architect and singer Pavel Bobek, the architects representing Future Systems: Filippo Previtali and Georg Roetzel. The entire debate will be moderated by the musician and artist Vladimir 518, who is also engaged in a civic initiative called Democracy stands for the construction of the National Library.
Within the DEF there will be also a panel discussion on digitisation of the film heritage in Central Europe. This panel is co-organised with the MEDIA Desk Czech republic and will be held on 21st April at 10:00 hrs. in the European House. Representatives of governmental and film institutions, and experts from the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia will talk on digitisation of the film heritage in the Czech Republic and the neighbouring countries, on approaches which the particular countries took to digitisation, the way to select films and solving the problems with funding. Come to learn about the digital era of distribution and the end of the filmstrip as a distribution media for film distribution. The moderator of the discussion will be Pavel Strnad.
Film delegations to particular films are not final yet. The following guests are confirmed.
To the opening film Soul Kitchen, which will be brought by Goethe Institute, it is Anna Bederke, a young German film director and actress, described as the Muse of Fatih Akin. In his last film Soul Kitchen she plays the bartender Lucie. Incidentally, Anna works as a bartender in real life as well. After her short student films Postcard to Dreamland, and Lemniskate she plans to make a film based on her own script. Dorka Gryllus, originally a Hungarian actress established herself in German film. In 2005 she received at Berlinale the title Shooting Star. She played in the Austrian film The Bone Man/Der Knochenmann /2009, directed by Wolfgang Murnberg/ or in the coproduction drama Irina Palm /2007, directed by Sam Garbarski/.
To the Rumanian film The Happiest Girl in the World, 2009, directed by Radu Jude/ will come to Prague the scriptwriter Augustina Stanciu, whose name is credited in the film The Happiest Girl in the World, awarded at Berlinale last year. She worked earlier with the film director Jude on the short film Alexandra. For the script of the film The Happiest Girl in the World she has been nominated to Gopo, the Rumanian National Film Award.
Detailed information on the programme can be found on our web pages www.eurofilmfest.cz
The original jingle made by the film director Martin Kopp in the company DAWSON PRODUCTIONS can be watched and downloaded at our webpages. Five non-traditional film situations are set in the present Prague, and refer to works of five important film directors. Each film situation has its visual concept and music, similarly each of the five quoted film directors has its own style and poetics.
Accreditation for journalists: accreditation form will be send upon request by e-mail or it can be downloaded at our webpages /under Press/. Filled-in forms can be sent back by e-mail or delivered personally before 10th April at the reception on the ground floor of the seat of the DEF, Národní Street 28, Praha 1. Accreditation cards shall be picked-up on 14th April from 15:00 hrs. until 19:00 hrs, in the Světozor cinema.
Price of tickets: in Prague and Brno CZK 90,-
The festival is organised under patronage of the Czech Culture Minister, Václav Riedlbauch, The Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic, the Mayor of the City of Prague, Pavel Bém, and the Mayor of the Statutory City of Brno, Roman Onderka.
The festival is organised by embassies and cultural institutes of the current and future member states of the European Union, and the City of Prague with the support of the Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic, the Czech Ministry of Culture, The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cultural and Information Centre in Brno, and Eurimages.
The general partner is the film channel FILM+. The main media partner is Český rozhlas 1-Radiožurnál. (Czech Radio Station 1-Radiožurnál) The media partners are the magazine Respekt, the television station Óčko, the radio station Expresradio, Student Agency, the magazine Houser, and Kinobox.cz
Contacts:
PR DEF:
Mgr. Alice Aronová, Ph.D.
GSM: +420 603 339 144
fax: +420 221 105 303
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Maling address: Národní 28, Praha 1, 110 00
