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FESTIVALS Switzerland

Freiburg: Waintrop broadens the "Southern" horizon

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Placed for three years under the artistic direction of French critic Edouard Waintrop, the Freiburg International Film Festival will hold its 22nd edition from March 1-8.

Secret Sunshine by South Korean director Lee Chang-dong – who will be honoured by a tribute – will open this edition, which is set to screen mainly Asian productions.

The event remains true to its premise – to give viewers a chance to discover something other than films made in Europe and the US – but this time offers a more eclectic line-up. Waintrop explains: "I want to broaden the selection to include films from the three continents (South America, Asia and Africa) that above all do not seek to draw attention to their specificity. This specificity is present without it needing to be overly foregrounded. I’m interested in films from all countries, that no longer resemble the films labelled ‘Southern’".

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A greater selection of popular and genre titles are thus included in the programme, in particular in the festival’s three thematic panoramas: Noir Total (dedicated to the thriller genre), Global Love and Cinema and Revolution (which explore their subjects from all angles).

Apart from the panoramas and the international competition (which includes 13 features and documentaries), the Freiburg Festival is also hosting a selection of Afghan documentaries organised by the Ateliers Varan, four classics restored by the Bologna Cinematheque, as well as various shorts and medium-length films.

Several old or recent European (co-)productions – in particular, French – have made it into the line-up. These include Chadian/French film DP75 Tartina City by Serge Issa Coelo; international co-production Recycle by Jordanian director Mahmoud al Massad which will screen in competition; Nûba d'or et de lumière (“Nûba of Gold and Light”) by Izza Génini (Morocco/France); Winky’s Horse by Mischa Kamp (Netherlands/Belgium); La Señal by Ricardo Darín and Martín Hodara (Spain/Argentina); René Vautier’s To Be Twenty in the Aures (France); Richard Hamon’s Le petit blanc à la caméra rouge (“The Little White Man with the Red Camera”, France); Ulrich Seidl’s The Last Real Men (Austria); and Pasolini’s Notes Towards an African Orestes (Italy).

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(Translated from French)

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