02/03/2018 - The 36th edition of the festival (10-18 March) will include the screening of over 150 films, as well as masterclasses, workshops and special events

The 36^th edition of Bergamo Film Meeting will run from 10 to 18 March 2018 with 150 films due to be screened over the course of nine days, including feature films, documentaries and shorts. The event is also due to include three master classes, three workshops and various special events.

This year's retrospective is dedicated to a pivotal figure in contemporary cinema, the Swedish actress, director and writer Liv Ullmann, the protagonist of many films by Ingmar Bergman. 

With awards voted for by the public, seven feature films that have yet to be released in Italy have been selected, with an exception to the rule that normally favours debut and second films. In fact, two films by non-debut film directors have been selected, the first being Wild Roses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Jadowska
film profile], the fifth feature by Polish director Anna Jadowska, with an excellent performance by Marta Nieradkiewicz and the second being Ice Mother [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Bohdan Sláma, also his fifth feature film, which secures his position as one of the most talented directors of contemporary Czech cinema.

The other films in competition are: Mobile Homes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a Canadian-French co-production, and the second film by Vladimir de Fontenay, due to be released in France in April, the debut French film The Sower [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anamaria Vartolomei
interview: Marine Francen
film profile] by Marine Francen (former assistant to Haneke and Assayas ), a costume drama set in the mid-nineteenth century in the French Alps, Apostasy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] starring Siobhan Finneran (Downton Abbey, The Selfish Giant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Clio Barnard
interview: Clio Barnard
film profile]) by British director Daniel Kokotajlo, a former Jehovah Witness who offers an intense and rigorous reflection on the complex nature of faith and the family, Secret Ingredient [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Blagoj Veselinov
interview: Gjorce Stavreski
film profile] by Gjorce Stavreski, set in Skopje, Macedoniaanddue be open the competition – a bittersweet comedy about the economic crisis reflected in the health system in the new Republic, and Miracle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eglė Vertelytė
film profile] by Eglė Vertelytė, set in Lithuania in 1992 in the midst of the transition from communism to capitalism.

The Europe, Now! section (also supported this year by the European Union thanks to Europa Creativa's MEDIA sub-program) will be screening films by three emerging directors: the Austrian director Barbara Albert (Mademoiselle Paradis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Barbara Albert
film profile]), the French director Stéphane Brizé (A Woman's Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Stéphane Brizé
film profile]) and the Romanian director Adrian Sitaru (The Fixer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adrian Sitaru
interview: Tudor Aaron Istodor
film profile], out on 22 March 2018 in Italian cinemas with Lab 80). The three directors, among the most representative of European production in recent years, will be guests at the festival.

15 documentary films from 20 countries have been selected for the Visti da Vicino section and will be vying for two prizes. The focus on animation is dedicated to Špela Čadež, the award-winning animator, director and Slovenian producer who has been recognised by some of most important international festivals, from Sundance to Clermont-Ferrand, favouring the puppet animation technique. Špela Čadež will also be holding a masterclass in Milan at the Luchino Visconti Civic School of Cinema. Finally, eight short films have been selected for the traditional event involving films made by students from the 180 European film schools participating in CILECT. The films have been chosen from the winners and finalists of the CILECT Prize 2017.

(Translated from Italian)