After a first edition (5th-11th of September 2011) which was met with high praise – over 7000 viewers and 150 guest (directors, actors, writers, film critics, distributors and other film specialists, journalists) gathered in the six screening locations in Mediaș (Traube Auditorium, Cinema Mediensis, the Synagogue, the Townhall Square), Dumbrăveni and Târnăveni, the second edition wishes both to confirm and to continue in the same vein: over 40 feature, short and documentary films from the seven participating Central-European countries (Czech republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Poland) and more.
Same as last year, the official competition of the second edition of MECEFF will include seven films, one for each Central-European country, all of them winners of their respective National Awards. Alongside the competitive section, supported by a non-competitive series of very successful films produced in the same Central-European countries, MECEFF 2012 offers many special events such as a portrait focused on writer Răsvan Popescu's career,a special program focused on the Armenian writer/director Serghei Parajanov, the festival director Radu Gabrea's personal selection, and a very special program focused on the special guest country of the 2nd edition, the US, a program about the Romanian artists (Jean Negulesco, Edward G. Robinson, etc) who made it in Hollywood.
Speaking of the competitive section, Romania is present with one of the most awarded films of 2011, Crulic – The Path to Beyond, written and directed by Anca Damian. An animation documentary, Crulic tells the story of a 33 year old Romanian who died in a Polish prison. Helped by the state of the art animation which employs a series of extremely various styles, and the both warm and ironic voice of Vlad Ivanov, Anca Damian's film premiered in Locarno, where it won the Don Quixote special mention, followed by the special mention of the Warsaw FF international competition, the special mention and the Ecumenical Jury Prize in Cottbus, the Amnesty Award in CPH:DOX, the FACE Award in Istanbul, the Grand Prix in Annecy and two 2012 GOPO awards for Best Music (Piotr Dziubek) and Best Sound (Sebastian Wlodarczyk, Piotr Witkowski).
From Poland comes Rosa, by Polish director Wojciech Smarzowski, a touching film which takes the viewers on a ride back in time, at the end of WWII, to bear witness to the chaos that marked the lives of the Poles living in former East Prussia, under Soviet rule. Screened during some of the world's leading film festivals such as Pusan,Mar del Plata, la Palm Springs, Sofia, Istanbul and Seattle, Rosa received the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award of the Warsaw FF and a special mention in Tallinn Black Nights, while the Polish Film Academy awarded the film no less than seven statues, including the ones for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
Slovenia enters the competition with a concept movie without words, written and directed by Jan Cvitkovič: Archeo, a journey of three people and one planet; a journey of one toward another, a journey to the core of things. Archeois the oldest and the most beautiful story about a human being. A story about the formation of a family. Archeo is a prayer. Quite the opposite in terms of story and execution, starting off from a very classic premise (the conflict between two simple men whose lives are turned upside down by the powers that be), the Hungarian film Children of The Green Dragon, directed by Bence Miklauzic, has already been selected in the competitive section of festivals such as Warsaw, Moscow, Palic, Sofia, Vilnius or Pusan.
Last but not least, the audience of the MECEFF 2012 competition will have the opportunity to see Die Vaterlosen, by Austrian writer/director Marie Kreutzer, an exciting journey into the past, about near and loneliness and about membership and freedom, Nicky’s Family (directed by Matej Mináč), from Slovakia, the story of one of the greatest rescue operations of all times during World War II and its impact today, or Flower Buds, written and directed by Zdeněk Jiráský, the story of the gradual breakdown of a family living in a small Czech town, a film which received the Fedora award in Karlovy Vary.
