13 debut features from all over Europe will be screened in the new competition programme European Debuts at the 23rd Vilnius International Film Festival Kino Pavasaris.
European Debuts combines previous competition programmes New Europe – New Names and Baltic Gaze. Attracting more than 100 000 filmgoers each year, Kino Pavasaris has focused on debuting filmmakers from Europe and their first features.
Films that have earned a spot in European Debuts address current as well as long-lasting societal and individual issues. The latter are depicted in a variety of genres and cinematic forms, from animated to experimental.
Selected features
Russian director Kantemir Balagov, the apprentice of Alexander Sokurov, will present his debut drama Closeness, which analyses Russian society and various prejudices within it. Filmed in a 4:3 format, the social realist film has already won a special FIPRESCI prize at Cannes.
Ana Urushadze will be competing with her feature Scary Mother. This gloomy drama depicts the duality of a woman’s life, having to choose between fitting the role of “mother” or “author”. Scary Mother was awarded at the Locarno International Film Festival as the best first feature and is Georgia’s Oscar submission for the foreign language film category.
Also competing are three films by directors from Nordic countries: Jens Assur’s (Sweden) award-winning debut Ravens and Hlynur Palmason’s (Iceland) Winter Brothers. In both features, the sound plays as important a role as the visuals do. Malene Choi Jensen‘s (Denmark) emotional drama The Return provides the audience with the hybrid form of documentary and fiction.
Being unable to fit into the traditional way of life and search for happiness are principal themes in other competing features. Director Piotr Domalewski’s Silent Night scrutinizes the underlying tensions and secrets of a rural Polish family. The lead role is played by the rising Polish actor Dawid Ogrodnik, who visited Kino Pavasaris last year with Jan P. Matuszynski’s The Last Family.
Andrej Cretulescu brings Romanian culture and cinema to Kino Pavasaris with his dark comedy Charleston. Portraying a story of two men grieving over the same woman, the film leaves viewers with many unanswered questions. Other entries include Michael Onder’s (Turkey) politically charged comedy Taksim Hold‘em and Pedro Cabeleira’s (Portugal) hedonistic drama Damned Summer.
French director Bertrand Mandico stands out with his gender-bending surrealist feature The Wild Boys. Five teenagers from rich families are sent on a repressive cruise as punishment for murdering their teacher. Mandico’s experimental film combines the aesthetics of cinema and edgy criticism of gender politics.
The documentaries in European Debuts competition programme include Gustavo Salmeron’s (Spain) crowd pleaser Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle,depicting the true and unembellished portrait of his family. Director’s debut was awarded for best documentary at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
Giovanni Totaro’s (Italy) Happy Winter might serve as light therapy for the Kino Pavasaris viewers longing for summer. Following Italians on their vacation in Palermo, Totaro successfully touches upon deeper, underlying societal issues.
Another entry is Over the Limit, the powerful portrait of rhythmic gymnast Margarita Mamun by Polish director Marta Prus. The documentary analyses how boundaries of physical and psychological struggle were transgressed on the road to Olympics gold. Film critic Guy Lodge referred to it as the Black Swan of sports documentaries.
You can read more about the European Debuts competition programme here: http://bit.ly/2Enzs4M
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The 23rd Vilnius International Film Festival “Kino Pavasaris” will take place March 15–29, 2018. Last year’s festival was visited by 114 250 filmgoers, becoming the largest cinema event in Lithuania and one of the most notable film festivals in Eastern Europe. For more information, visit: http://kinopavasaris.lt/en
