The programme team have expanded their horizons somewhat – this year there is a film from Saudia Arabia and one from Greece in the mix – but for the most part, the focus is squarely on exciting new talents emerging in Central and Eastern Europe.
The films display a range of interests and artistic perspectives coming from the new generation of directors. Slovakia once again takes on the Romany issue, this time in the form of a hybrid film, Silent Days directed by Pavol Pekarčík, combining documentary and fiction elements as it looks at the situation of hearing-impaired children who live on the periphery of the society.
The Kosovan/Croatian/French/Albanian coproduction Aga’s House, the debut feature from Kosovan director Lendita Zeqiraj, explores female society in a remote mountain locale in a film filled with unbridled energy, storytelling, songs and ribald humour, where the only male is a nine-year-old boy. Aga’s House is the opening film in the competition.
Scandinavian Silence is the second film from Estonian director Martti Helde, following the stunning visual poetry of his first film In the Crossroads (Allfilm). The black and white film has a minimalist quality with soaring cinematography and a Rashomon-inspired perspective.
Nova Lituania directed by Karolis Kaupinis is a historical drama set in 1938, when a Lithuanian geographer designs a plan to save his country by establishing a colony overseas. The black-and-white film juxtaposes his plans to save his homeland against the disintegration of his marriage.
The section also includes a Romanian drama about totalitarianism, Arrest directed by Andrei Cohn; a Czech/Dutch/Latvian film about an au pair living in an alien environment, A Certain Kind of Silence directed by Michal Hogenauer; and a Serbian/Bosnian/Montenegrin mosaic of families and expectations, Mamonga directed by Stefan Malešević.
The complete list of films in the East of the West competition:
Aga’s House (Kosovo, Croatia, France, Albania)
Directed by Lendita Zeqiraj
Produced by N’ART Films (Kosovo)
Coproduced by WOOF Films (Croatia), Sacrebleu Productions (France), SKA-NDAL (Albania)
Arrest (Romania)
Directed by Andrei Cohn
Produced by Mandragora (Romania)
The Bull (Russia)
Directed by Boris Akopov
A Certain Kind of Silence (Czech Republic, Netherlands, Latvia)
Directed by Michal Hogenauer
Produced by Negativ (Czech Republic), Circe Films (Netherlands), Tasse Films (Latvia), i/o post (Czech Republic)
Last Visit (Saudi Arabia)
Directed by Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan
Mamonga (Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro)
Directed by Stefan Malešević
Produced by Nana 143 (Serbia), Sarajevo Film Academy (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Coproduced by Slovofilm (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Code Blue Production (Montenegro)
My Thoughts Are Silent (Ukraine)
Directed by Antonio Lukich
Nova Lituania (Lithuania)
Directed by Karolis Kaupinis
Produced by M Films (Lithuania)www.m-films.lt
Passed by Censor (Turkey, Germany, France)
Directed by Serhat Karaaslan
Scandinavian Silence (Estonia, France, Belgium)
Directed by Martti Helde
Produced by Three Brothers (Estonia)
Coproduced by ARP Selection (France), Media International (Belgium)
Silent Days (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
Directed by Pavol Pekarčík
Produced by Partizanfilm (Slovakia)
Coproduced by Slovak TV (Slovakia), Kaleidoscope (Slovakia), Skolfilm (Czech Republic)
Zirotek (Greece)
Directed by Vardis Marinakis
