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BERGAMO 2023

Bergamo to become the capital of European cinema in March

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- The 41st Bergamo Film Meeting (11 – 19 March) will offer up two competitions for new authors of European feature films and documentaries, as well as the two-day-long Film Industry Meetings

Bergamo to become the capital of European cinema in March
The Properties of Metals by Antonio Bigini

Preceded on Friday 10 March by a live rendering of the soundtrack from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 masterpiece Psycho, the 41st edition of Bergamo Film Meeting is scheduled to run 11 – 19 March. Over the course of nine days, BFM will propose upwards of 150 films, whether feature films, documentaries or shorts. The BFM team insist they wanted “to be part of a wider movement, of a human chain which breathes fresh life into certain values which - we hope – might catch on once again: we’re talking about respect for diversity, attention for environmental and social complexities, the defence of pluralism, the revival of a European consciousness which gets us back to the fundamental democratic principles of acknowledgement and co-existence”.

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The Festival Competition, dedicated to new authors of fiction feature films on topical themes, will consist of 7 titles set to be weighed up by an international jury presided over by Nerina Kocjančič (of the Slovenian Film Centre) and further composed of Simone Bachini (Apapaja Produzioni Cinematografiche) and Iva Hejlíčková (Uherské Hradiště Summer Film School). The selection includes The Properties of Metals [+see also:
film review
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]
by Antonio Bigini (Italy), based on the 1970s phenomenon of “minigellers” - children with presumed psychokinetic powers; Le Prix du passage [+see also:
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by Thierry Binisti, (France/Belgium), about “creative” trafficking of illegal immigrants; Amore mio [+see also:
film review
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by Guillaume Gouix (France), a family-focused road movie exploring grief; Minsk by Boris Guts (Estonia/Russia), about the people’s uprising against the presidential elections of August 2020; The Good Driver [+see also:
film review
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by Tonislav Hristov (Bulgaria/Finland/Sweden), revolving around a Finish taxi driver in the Turkish-Bulgarian tourist destination of Golden Sands who wants to go home; A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On [+see also:
film review
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interview: Gentian Koçi
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by Gentian Koçi (Albania/Portugal/Greece/Kosovo), about two deaf-mute identical twins who are forced to make a difficult decision; and Backwards [+see also:
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by Jacek Lusiński (Poland), telling the story of an autistic boy’s young mother who battles against bureaucracy and the insensitivity of humankind.

Visti da Vicino [Seen Up-Close], a competition for documentary films, will offer up 12 interesting independent productions from the international landscape. Stealing focus among them is No Place Like Home by Emilie Beck (Norway); The Visit and A Secret Garden [+see also:
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by Irene M. Borrego (Spain/Portugal); Ombre a Mezzogiorno by Enrico Carnuccio (Italy); Machines in Flames by Andrew Culp and Thomas Dekeyser (UK/France); I'm People, I Am Nobody by Svetislav Dragomirović (Serbia/Germany); Past Futures by Johannes Gierlinger (Austria); Pongo Calling by Tomáš Kratochvíl (Czech Republic/Slovakia/UK); Dear Memories – A Journey with Magnum Photographer Thomas Hoepker by Nahuel Lopez (Germany/Switzerland); Shabu [+see also:
film review
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interview: Shamira Raphaëla
film profile
]
by Shamira Raphaela (Holland); The Missing Tale by Klára Trencsényi (Hungary); and No Place for You in Our Town [+see also:
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by Nikolay Stefanov (Bulgaria).

Set to be presented out of competition, in the presence of its director, we find Stefano Savona’s The Walls of Bergamo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefano Savona
film profile
]
, which was presented last week in the Berlinale’s Encounters section and which explores the tragic time when the city become the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic. The event’s homage to contemporary European film will this year focus on Ursula Meier and Jaco Van Dormael, showcasing the two directors’ entire filmography (read our news). Last but not least, the Europe, Now! Film Industry Meetings is once again dedicating two days to sector professionals, spanning 13-14 March.

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