03/11/2009

To celebrate Vilnius – European capital of Culture, the annual film event Scanorama, held in the Lithuanian capital as well as in the cities of Kaunas and Klaipeda, will welcome top European actors and filmmakers from November 5-19. The event that was founded as a Nordic Film Forum today celebrates cinema from around the globe.

Headed by Gražina Artickaite, the festival will present 14 new Nordic titles in the main section Scanorama News, including Antichrist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars von Trier
film profile], Applause [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martin Pieter Zandvliet
film profile], North [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rune Denstad Langlo
film profile] and White Night Wedding [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The Finnish film Forbidden Fruit [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] will be introduced by two of its lead actors, Jarkko Niemi and Amanda Pilke.

Three young European Shooting Stars part of the European Film Promotion initiative will also be on hand: Denmark’s Cyron Melville (Love and Rage), Hungary’s Orsi Tóth (My One and Onlies) and Switzerland’s Celine Bolomey (The Noise in My Head [+see also:
trailer
interview: Céline Bolomey
film profile]).

Special tributes will honour German director Andreas Dresen (Whisky With Vodka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andreas Dresen
film profile]), and Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie (Max Manus [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

In New Baltic Cinema, Lithuanian filmmaker Ramunė Čekuolytė who studies film in Vilnius and at Russia’s VGIK film school, will introduce her debut feature Jam Jar. Estonian filmmaker Liina Paakspuu, lecturer at the Baltic Film and Media School and director of several shorts and documentaries, will unveil her feature debut, A Wish Tree.

The traditional masterclass Go Young Generation will be conducted by UK producer and head of the National Film & Television School Nik Powell. Other guests who will discuss the creative and production process include Polish writer Wociech Kuczok (Drowsiness [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Lithuanian documentary filmmaker Arunas Matelis.