Bookings have
opened for the third annual European Film Festival, which is poised to bring
the cream of Europe’s cinematic fare to Cinema Nouveau theatres in Durban as
well as in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town from May 6 to 15.
This is a unique
opportunity for South African audiences to see 11 top-drawer films that have
been lauded at recent international festivals and awards ceremonies across the
world.
Says Festival
Director Katarina Hedrén: “This year’s selection of films does not represent a
theme, but rather an ambition to portray a diverse Europe, as well as provoke
thought and entertain. It tells the stories of ordinary people, superstars,
struggling people and happy ones, too. Of events and moments that seem
insignificant but are defining and meaningful to those experiencing them, and
of immense catastrophes happening alongside ordinary life, though no one seems
to notice. Of love, loneliness and alienation.
“What they have in
common is that all 11 are well-crafted films by talented, empathetic and
inquisitive filmmakers that we hope will reach and please a diverse audience
here in South Africa”, she adds.
Norbert Spitz,
Regional Director of the Goethe-Institut: “Hedrén has put together a selection
that allows us to discover unconventional, surprising and moving portraits of
life in the multifaceted place that Europe is. As Europe is busy rethinking
itself and its place in the world, there is one thing that we can continue to
be sure of: more than ever, artists and thinkers are needed to share their
voices, to challenge and question Europe, and to show us new facets of what it
means to arrive in Europe, to live in Europe – or to leave it and look at it
from the outside.”
Among the awards
won by the films featured on the 2016 European Film Festival programme are:
Macondo (Austria): Director Sudabeh Morezai: The award for Best Emerging
Filmmaker at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Fire at Sea (Italy): The Golden Bear for Best Film at
the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.
Body (Poland): The Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International
Film Festival and the European Film Award for Best Editing in 2015.
Amy (United Kingdom): The 2016 Academy Award as well as the British Academy
Film Award for Best Documentary, among many other accolades.
Other acclaimed
films that will be screened during the festival are Montanha (Portugal), Flowers (Spain), Something Must Break (Sweden), Labyrinth
of Lies (Germany), Belgian Rhapsody
(Belgium), Chocolat (France) and A Family Affair (the Netherlands).
These dramas,
comedies and documentaries, representing the apex of European filmmaking, will
be screened at in Durban at Ster-Kinekor Cinema Nouveau Gateway.
Says Lola Gallant,
Brand Manager of Cinema Nouveau: “Eleven films over 10 days in four cities is
quite a scheduling undertaking. As such, we do encourage festival-goers to
pre-book their tickets – and it’s so easy via our various booking platforms”.
Bookings are now
open, with tickets priced at R55. To book, visit www.cinemanouveau.co.za or www.sterkinekor.mobi, or call 0861 668 437. For more
information, visit www.eurofilmfest.co.za or join the conversation on Twitter and
Facebook: #EuroFilmFestSA
The European Film Festival is coordinated by
the Goethe-Institut South Africa, hosted by Ster-Kinekor Cinema Nouveau, and
organised in partnership with the European Union and 11 other European cultural
agencies or embassies in South Africa: Wallonie-Bruxelles International, the
French Institute, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Camões Institute, the
British Council, and the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Poland, Spain and Sweden.