26/03/2014 - The Great Beauty opens Bucharest's most important film festival

The tenth edition of the Bucharest International Film Festival (B-IFF), the most important film event in the Romanian capital, kicks off today with a special screening of Academy Award-winning production The Great Beauty [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile], directed by Paolo Sorrentino and scheduled for a Romanian release this weekend. The festival will end on 2 April with a screening of Blood Ties [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Guillaume Canet's English-language directorial debut.

The festival's competition showcases nine films, with five European productions and co-productions in the running for the top award: Bas Devos' Violet [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Belgium, the Netherlands), Ramon Zürcher's The Strange Little Cat [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ramon Zürcher
film profile] (Germany), Clio Barnard's The Selfish Giant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Clio Barnard
interview: Clio Barnard
film profile] (UK), Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross' In Bloom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simo…
film profile] (Germany, Georgia, France) and Jon S Baird's Filth [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] (UK). Four of the nine competing films are debut features. 

The jury is led by Cyprus film expert Elena Christodoulidou and also comprises film critic Stephen Locke, Serbian director Miroslav Momcilovic, Greek director Antonis Papadopoulos, and Romanian directors Constantin Popescu and Iulia Rugină. A critics' jury and a young jury will also give out awards.

A Panorama sidebar will showcase a selection of famous recent productions, among them Pawel Pawlikowski's Ida [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pawel Pawlikowski
interview: Pawel Pawlikowski
film profile], Arnaud des Pallieres's Michael Kohlhaas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud des Pallières
film profile] and Ben Wheatley's A Field in England [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ben Wheatley
film profile]. Some of the selected films have imminent Romanian releases, as is the case with François Ozon's Young and Beautiful [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: François Ozon
film profile] and Alex Van Warmerdam's Borgman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex van Varmerdam
interview: Reinout Scholten van Aschat
film profile].

In partnership with the Venice Days competition of the Venice International Film Festival, the B-IFF will screen films by Jean Denizot (The Good Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean Denizot
film profile]), Yuval Adler (Bethleem) and Jean-Marc Vallee (C.R.A.Z.Y.).