An innovative Europe at the 38th Moscow Film Festival
- Lesser-known European films will be shown in the competition of the Festival, which will be held from 23 to 30 June and opened by 37 by Danish director Puk Grasten
There’s a healthy European presence in the Competition of this year’s 38th Moscow International Film Festival, which will be held from 23 to 30 June. Kicking off proceedings is 37 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Danish director Puk Grasten, a co-production with the United States based on a true story that unfolded in 1964 in New York, where Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered. Grasten’s debut feature was developed on the basis of a short film she made under the same name, and is NYU Tisch Graduate Film Program student’s thesis film. The programme continues with The Eccentrics, The Sunny Side Of The Street [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Polish veteran Janusz Majewski, the film adaptation of a novel by Wlodzimierz Kowalewski, who wrote the screenplay together with the director. The film tells the story of a Second World War veteran and jazz enthusiast who returns to Poland to form a band.
France is also present in competition at Moscow with Marie and the Misfits [+see also:
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film profile] by Sébastien Betbeder (Le Voyage au Groenland [+see also:
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interview: Frédéric Dubreuil
film profile]), an outlandish story that unfolds in Paris and on an island in Brittany and stars Pierre Rochefort, Vimala Pons, and Eric Cantona. Then there’s German and Austrian co-production Center of My World [+see also:
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interview: Louis Hofmann
film profile], a family drama featuring Louis Hofmann (Land of Mine [+see also:
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interview: Louis Hofmann
interview: Martin Zandvliet
film profile]), which is directed by Austrian filmmaker Jakob M. Erwa. Also in competition is the international premiere of The Ploy [+see also:
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film profile]. David Grieco’s film on the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini was selected by critic Peter Shepotinnik, who is in charge of the programme for Italy.
In addition to the above, two more European films will be shown in competition. The first is Train Driver's Diary [+see also:
film review
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interview: Milos Radović
film profile] by Miloš Radovic, a Serbo-Croatian co-production based on a bloodcurdling statistic: over the course of their career, a train driver will run over an average of 15-20 people. The Singing Shoes by Bulgarian director Radoslav Spassov, on the other hand, takes place in the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when composer Edward Kazasyan discovers that his wife Lia Ivanova, a singer who survived the communist work camps, was forced to work for the secret services.
The competition line-up is completed by The Monk and the Demon by Nikolai Dostal (Russia), The Daughter by Reza Mirkarimi (Iran), The Sound of Things (El sonido de las cosas) by Ariel Escalante (Costa Rica), Oblivious Memory (Quase Memória) by Ruy Guerra (Brazil), Haze by Ralston Jover (the Philippines) and Worst Woman by Kim Jongkwan (South Korea).
Being shown out of competition, for Italy, is Pericle the Black [+see also:
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interview: Stefano Mordini
film profile] by Stefano Mordini, Assolo [+see also:
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film profile] by Laura Morante, Fire at Sea [+see also:
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interview: Gianfranco Rosi
film profile] by Gianfranco Rosi and two documentaries in the “Sex, Food, Culture, Death” section: Sexxx [+see also:
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film profile] by Davide Ferrario and Porn to be Free [+see also:
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film profile] by Carmine Amoroso. France is paid tribute to with celebrations of the upcoming 120th anniversary of Gaumont, and the Netherlands with a mini line-up of eight titles. Austria also puts in an appearance with Toni Erdmann [+see also:
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Q&A: Maren Ade
film profile], which was awarded at Cannes, as does Romania with Sieranevada [+see also:
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Q&A: Cristi Puiu
film profile] by Cristi Puiu, which also hits Moscow fresh from Cannes. Representing Belgium from the Cannes Film Festival is The Unknown Girl [+see also:
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Q&A: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
film profile] by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, along with a tribute to Chantal Akerman, who passed away last year, with her debut feature, Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. Then there’s an interesting documentary, Doomed Beauty, by Praguers Helena Třeštíková and Jakub Hejna, on Czechoslovakian film star Lída Baarová, who had an affair with Minister of Propaganda of the Third Reich Joseph Goebbels. Greece also features with Suntan [+see also:
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interview: Argyris Papadimitropoulos
film profile] by Argyris Papadimitropoulos, with the programme also including Mom and Other Loonies in the Family [+see also:
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film profile] by Hungarian director Ibolya Fekete; Latvian and Lithuanian co-production Exiled [+see also:
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film profile] by Davis Simanis Jr; two Norwegian documentaries, Magnus [+see also:
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film profile] and Brothers [+see also:
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film profile]; Spaniard Álex de la Iglesia’s film My Big Night [+see also:
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film profile]; andThe Modern Project by Anton Källrot for Sweden.
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