27/02/2014 - On 8-16 March 2014, the event will be running in its 32nd edition: seven films in competition as yet unseen in Italy by young European directors and one selection dedicated to Sólveig Anspach, Antonietta De Lillo and Jessica Hausner

The great thing about festivals such as the Bergamo Film Meeting is that they draw the public’s attention towards European pieces of art, which have not benefitted from great visibility – often not even in their native countries. Running in its 32^nd edition (8-16 March 2014) the event is directed by Angelo Signorelli with Fiammetta Girola and Chiara Boffelli, who believes “Europe is still able to get out of the lethargy and hopes of missed opportunities.” This look on the present, beyond being an event focused on European directors, is made more profound through sections like Visti da Vicino, for research documentary films, and the competition’s exhibit section, with seven as yet unseen in Italy films by young directors in the running for a €5,000 prize, which has been donated by the Banca Popolare di Bergamo to go towards production costs.

French Israeli production La Dune [+see also:
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interview: Yossi Aviram
film profile] will be opening on Sunday, March 9. The film is documentary filmmaker of Deux vieux garcons fame Yossi Aviram’s first feature.  The cast includes Niels Arestrup (César 2010 for best supporting actor in A Prophet [+see also:
film review
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interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard and Tahar R…
film profile]), Lior Ashkenazi and Mathieu Almaric.

Finnish Jan Forsström’s debut The Princess of Egypt [+see also:
film review
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interview: Jan Forsström
film profile] tells the story of a young single mother, whose harmony is turned upside down by an encounter with Kamaran, a Kurdish immigrant and brilliant business man. Forsström has worked for many years as a screenwriter and received an award for Last Cowboy Standing [+see also:
trailer
film profile] at the Jussi Film Awards in 2010. Yam dam by Vivian Goffette, a Belgian low-cost production, tells the story of a countryside vet and a 26-year-old woman from Burkina Faso, looking for a better life.

Romanian drama Roxanne [+see also:
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film profile] by Valentin Hotea explores the consequences of the country’s tormented past. A new voice in Romanian cinema, Hotea has directed a number of shorts as well as a television series for national television. The film’s title is inspired by the famous Police song. Diana Dumbrava (Pardo d’Argento in Locarno in 2003 for Maria) plays the main role. 

Leave to Remain by Bruce Goodison (UK), another low-cost production, is about a teacher and head of household who welcomes underage asylum seekers into his home. The film is a result of three-year-long project aimed at tying the arts world closer to young refugees. The award for best director at the Slovenian Award last September went to Seduce Me [+see also:
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interview: Marko Santic
film profile] by Marko Šantić, also presented in Bergamo. The film is about hidden secrets and a bitter love story.  

Finally, Wolf [+see also:
trailer
interview: Marwan Kenzari
film profile] is a piece of work by Dutch Jim Taihuttu. The filmmaker’s debut, in the directing seat next to Victor Ponten, was road movie Rabat [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which was a surprise candidate and winner of best actor at the 2011 Golden Calves – a Dutch film festival. The film is a black and white crime movie about a talented kickboxer growing up in an anonymous Dutch suburb.   

"Europa: femminile singolare" (Europe: female singularity) has been dedicated to three female directors this year: Sólveig Anspach who will host the festival and is the woman behind Queen of Montreuil [+see also:
film review
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interview: Solveig Anspach
film profile], presented in Venice in 2012. Lulu femme nue [+see also:
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film profile] is her latest piece of work, based on Étienne Davodeau’s graphic novel. Antonietta De Lillo, known especially for Il resto di niente, for which she won three David di Donatello awards and a Flaiano award for the screenplay, will also be played in Bergamo.  All pieces of work by Jessica Hausner, in competition in Venice in 2009 with Lourdes [+see also:
film review
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interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile] (Fipresci award), will be screened during the festival. Producer, writer and director Antonin Svoboda, from production company Coop99 in Vienna, who produced Lovely Rita [+see also:
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film profile], Hotel [+see also:
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film profile] and Lourdes by Jessica Hausner will also be a guest. Svoboda is currently producing the director’s latest film, Amour Fou.

(Translated from Italian)