The European Union Film Festival showcased the best of contemporary European cinema. P.K. Ajith Kumar
For the past one month, four Indian cities were treated to an exhibition of the best of contemporary European cinema. The European Union Film Festival which opened in New Delhi on April 27, moved to Pune and Kozhikode, before concluding in Kolkata on May 24.
The festival was a big hit in Kozhikode. Most shows attracted packed houses at Tagore Centenary Hall. The festival was organised in Kerala in association with Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Films like ‘Four Minutes’ (Germany), ‘Iberia’ (Spain), ‘Mother of Mine’ (Finland), ‘The Lives of Others’ (Germany) and ‘As It Is in Heaven’ (Sweden) made the festival organised by the Delegation of European Commission to India, Bhutan and Nepal, an unforgettable experience for film buffs.
‘Four Minutes’ was screened as the opening film in Pune, and a few hours later in Berlin, the film won the award for the best picture at the Lola Awards – the German Oscars.
Directed by Chris Kraus, ‘Four Minutes’ is about an elderly woman, who gives piano lessons at a women’s prison, and a music prodigy who is convicted of murder.
‘Iberia’ too is very musical. The master director Carlos Saura, shows that you do not need a story to cast a spell on the audience as he brings on to the screen some of the greatest musicians and dancers of Spain.
Forgotten tragedies
‘Mother of Mine’ by Klaus Haro, deals with one of the forgotten tragedies of the second World War: over 70,000 Finnish children were forced to leave their parents and live in Sweden. Nine-year-old Eero is one such child and his arrival at a Swedish home is not welcomed initially by his foster mother Signe.
Films like ‘The Rain Falls on Our Souls’ (Slovakia, directed by Vlado Balco), ‘Persona Non Grata’ (Poland, Krzysztof Zanussi), ‘A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda’ (Hungary, Karloy Makk) and ‘Honey and Wine’ (Cyprus, Marinos Kartikkis) were enjoyable too. Twenty films were screened at the festival.
“We are encouraged by the response from film buffs and are hoping to take the festival to more centres,” says Meghna Singh, Media and Public Affairs officer, European Commission, New Delhi.
Printer friendly
page Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
