Europe groans under the weight of the human tsunami coming from the Middle East. Refugees - what kind of changes will they bring to the old continent? How much will they influence politics, the economy and European mentality? Will they weaken our continent or strengthen it? What will they awaken in us – angels, or demons? There is probably no clear answer to any of these questions, if only because already unsteady moods and opinions can swing abruptly overnight. Even the most trivial occurrences have the power to provoke feelings of anger, or of compassion within society. We lose ourselves in our emotions. How do we properly prepare to assess the masses of people arriving? They need help, and we need help too, namely with our self-awareness, someone to tell us what is bad and what is good about ourselves. What is worth insisting on and what must we alter at the earliest opportunity? The films running in the Feature Film Competition of this year’s LET’S CEE Film Festival might help us through this difficult process. The Croatian film The High Sun and the Azerbaijani documentary Nabat not only remind us of war’s deadly work, but especially of the mental destruction inflicted on human beings. On the other hand Aferim! and Box from Romania, demonstrate how racial discrimination combined with bad luck can completely ruin someone’s chances of success, even in peaceful times. In our personal struggles we must sometimes overcome obstacles, which seemed beyond our abilities. A task or a problem might seem unsolvable at first, but that does not make our efforts useless, or leave us without any possibilities. If the entire world compromised itself before our eyes, we should still maintain a sense of decency, or human instinct. The Fool from Russia, Drawers from Turkey, You Carry Me from Croatia and No One’s Child from Serbia are films that remind us of exactly this. Finally, an important point: Whatever happens to us, we should not forget to smile, to distance ourselves, and recognize that we cannot in fact cope with all of life’s crises on our own. Sometimes we have to accept what is irreparable or inevitable. Hence we should act honorably, draw strength from some situations, and not despair. How to do that is demonstrated in the Polish film Body, the Hungarian Liza, The Fox-Fairy and the Czech The Snake Brothers. Different worldviews, with the same concerns about the human condition. Films from Central and Eastern Europe rarely disappoint.

LET'S CEE Feature Film Competition - all films & tickets:
www.letsceefilmfestival.com/programme-overview-2015/category/spielfilm-wettbewerb.html