25/04/2006

From April 25-30, Linz will host the third edition of the Crossing Europe festival, which highlights the often unconventional work of young European filmmakers, this time through the selection of 160 films from 27 countries.

The first ten films competing for a €10,000 prize in the European Competition line-up are: Tbilisi Tbilisi by Georgia’s Levan Zakareishvili, winner of the German GoEast Festival; 13 – Tzameti [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fanny Saadi
interview: Gela Babluani
film profile] by fellow Georgian Gela Babluani (see focus), who lives in France; French films Cold Showers [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Anthony Cordiers and Violent Days [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Lucile Chaufour; the very feminine Guernsey [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Nanouk Leopold (Netherlands); German productions Gisela by Isabelle Stever, Lucy by Henner Winckler, Molly's Way by Emily Atef and Kontakt by Sergei Stanjokovski (a co-production with Macedonia) (see making off); and Pavee Lackeen [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ireland’s Perry Ogden (read the interview).

European Panorama, the programme in the festival’s other main section, also looks promising, with films such as Gaspartum by Alexei German Jr., winner at Sofia; Gravehopping by Jan Cvitkovic; and Something Like Happiness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bohdan Slama
interview: Pavel Strnad
film profile] by Bohdan Slama (see focus), which will have its Austrian premiere along with Werner Herzog’s last film The Wild Blue Yonder, Thomas Arslan’s new film From Far Away, as well as many others.

The other sections at the festival include Local Artists and Austrian Screenings, dedicated to Austrian cinema; Working Worlds, whose theme this year is "Politics and Policies", and Tribute, which will pay homage to Finnish documentary filmmakers Susanna Helke and Virpi Suutari.

(Translated from French)