New Europe Film Festival

Bringing films from the New Europe to the UK!

New Europe Film Festival 2011

 

Edinburgh - 1st-12th April 2011

 

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (Autobiografi a lui Nicolae Ceausescu)

Fri 1 Apr only

Andrei Ujica, Romania 2010, 3h, Romanian with English subtitles, 15, Documentary

 

Nicolae Ceausescu’s megalomania and selfaggrandisement are legendary. This documentary, made from one thousand hours of archival footage, unfolds as if from the nostalgic, solipsistic memory of Ceausescu himself.

 

 

Eastern Plays

Kamen Kalev, Bulgaria 2009, 1h23min,35mm, cast: Christo Christov, Ovanes Torosian

 

Two brothers who've lost all contact are suddenly brought together when they have opposite roles in a racist beating : while Georgi who's recently joined a neonazi group participates in the violence, Itzo witnesses and rescues the Turkish family.
Georgi, now being asked to participate in larger events, starts to question his implication in the movement and Itzo wonders if the beautiful Turkish girl he saved could be his ticket out from his sad life in Sofia. Only by reuniting will the two brothers be able to assess what they really want from life.

 

Puskas Hungary

Tamás Almási, Hungary 2009, 1h46m, digibeta, documentary

 

A fascinating documentary about a legend of Hungarian football. Ferenc Puskás, a midfielder, was the captain and star of the legendary Hungarian Golden Team from the early 50s. Because of the Hungarian Uprising, Puskás left Hungary in 1956. He emmigrated to Spain where he played for Real Madrid and won three times the European Champion Clubs’ Cup. In his entire club career Puskás scored 511 goals, which puts him in third place after Pelé and Josef Bican.

 

Cooking History

Peter Kerekes, Slovakia 2009, 1h28m, digibeta, documentary

 

Military cooks: While never mentioned in textbooks, they have shaped the course of

history. Based on recollections and personal stories, the film takes a look behind “great

moments in time” and introduces a new angle on 20th century European history.

 

Made in Poland

Przemysław Wojcieszek, Poland 2010, 1h 30m, 35mm, cast: Przemysław Bluszcz, Janusz Chabior, Piotr Wawer

16-year old Boguś, a former altar boy, acts out on his disappointment with God. He tattoos obscenities on his forehead, arms himself with a metal rod and sets out to start a revolution on his block and look for new spiritual guidance. Initially conceived as a film project, Wojcieszek decided not to wait for funding and first created the story for the theater in 2004. The play, a spectacular success strongly praised by critics, is considered as one of the most significant plays in Poland in of the last decade. Wojcieszek is rightly regarded as one of the formative directors of his generation.

 

Christening (Chrzest)

Marcin Wrona, Poland 2010, 1h 26m, cast: Tomasz Schuchardt, Wojciech Zieliński, Adam Woronowicz

Michal has everything he’s always dreamed of: a beautiful wife Magda, a newborn son, his own firm. He chooses an old friend, Janek, to be the godfather of his child. This is just the beginning of Michal's plan, who goes on to asks his friend to take an interest in his wife... Initially the plan seems to works out, but it becomes increasingly difficult for Michał to come to terms with it. Michal knows his deeply hidden past will inevitably come back to haunt him, meaning and Janek will have to make a decision, one which he will never be able to forget the consequences of. An exceptionally tense, taut edge-of-your seat thriller.

 

Erratum

Marek Lechki, Poland 2010, 1h 35m, cast: Tomasz Kot, Ryszard Kotys, Tomasz Radawiec

Michal must travel to his hometown, Szczecin, to pick up his boss' car. The trip reminds him of all the reasons why he left Szczecin and escaped from his father many years ago, after his mother's death. A car accident, in which he kills a homeless man, forces Michal to extend his stay. Out of guilt he starts searching for the homeless man's family. This simple task quickly transforms into an emotional journey into his past. The harder he tries to move on and leave, the deeper he sinks into a world of unfulfilled dreams and ambitions, and unresolved conflicts.

 

Dark House (Dom Zly)

Wojciech Smarzowski, Poland 2009, 1h 46m, cast: Arkadiusz Jakubik, Marian Dziędziel, Kinga Preis

A dark crime thriller, mixing rural murder with local political corruption, the film switches between the events leading up to the murder, and the later police investigation, gradually revealing the grim truth of what happened. Combining the emotional depth and complex plotting of the popular Swedish Wallander novels and TVseries with the sharp characterisation, satiric humour and ice snowbound small-town setting of the Coen Bros’ classic Fargo, the film was a multi-award-winner in its native Poland, and has been a big hit at festivals across Europe.

 

Protektor

  

Marek Najbrt, Czech Republic 2009, 100 min, Czech with subtitles, cast: Marek Daniel, Jana Plodkova, Klara Meliskova, Tomas Mechacek

In 1938 Prague, reporter Emil and his actress wife Hana are both young and successful. However, the occupation and war deprive Hana, a Jew, of work and any sort of normal life. Emil tries to save her by entering the German propaganda machine, but in a twist of roles and fate, in order to protect his beloved, he betrays love itself.

 

The Karamazovs

Petr Zelenka, Czech Rep/ Poland 2008, 100 min, Czech with subtitles, Cast: Ivan Trojan, Igor Chmela, Martin Mysicka, David Novotny

A Prague theatre company arrives in Poland to present an adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov at an alternative drama festival, staged in a steelworks factory. With rehearsals getting underway, we follow not only the play’s emotional story dealing with faith, immortality and the salvation of the human soul, but also the relationships within the acting troupe, which begin to reflect Dostoevsky’s greatest themes. In both his chosen subject and form, Zelenka has created an exceptional piece, oscillating between fiction and documentary and centred on the production mounted by Prague’s Dejvice Theatre.

 

Twosome

 

Jaroslav Fuit, Czech Republic 2009, 89‘, Czech with subtitles, Cast: (Kristyna Fuitova-Novaková, Jakub Wagner, David Maj)

   

In this intimate and honest road movie, shot in its own version of the Dogma manifesto, the titular twosome, Michal and Veronika, go through the uncertainty of any relationship at its first crossroads. The trip brings unexpected situations and of course confronts our protagonists with their own attitudes to life, making them either conform or resist, improvise or take action. The tension of the pair’s constant bickering leads them to realise just how much their personalities and interests differ. The road movie is a natural format in which this develops and, as in life, simply continues.

 

Katka

 

Helena Trestikova, Czech Republic, 2009, 90´, Czech with subtitles  

We meet Katka in 1996 as a 19 year old in therapy, a young woman dreaming of normality, that one day she will have a boyfriend, live like her peers, and maybe even start a family. After a hiatus, Třeštíková returns and discovers that the 30-year-old Katka is still on drugs and now pregnant. From here, the unexpected pregnancy and the desperate struggle for the child’s future become the focal point. It is Třeštíková’s commitment to her subjects and the strength of hope that make her documentaries unique, unintrusive and respectful.

 

 

9:06

Thu 7 Apr only

Igor Sterk, Slovenia/Germany 2009, 1h15m, Slovenian with English subtitles, 15

Cast: Gregor Bakovic, Silva Cusin, Labina Mitevska

A coolly elegant one-man police procedural which slowly develops into a beguiling psychological mystery. A police inspector investigating a suicide becomes obsessed with the dead man’s life, and gradually assumes his identity

2011 Programme