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May 12, 2022 | 20:00 | By Invitation
SCHEDULE
12 MAY 2022
Mother of Apostles | Maty apostoliv
Sofia’s (Natalia Polovynka) peaceful life is disrupted when she receives news that the humanitarian plane her pilot son was flying was shot down over occupied territory, where there is war. She sets off on a perilous journey in search of her son after receiving an unsatisfactory response on his whereabouts. Through her searing portrayal while grappling with pain Sofia touches hearts and reaches out to people in places filled with despair.
13 MAY 2022
All of Us
A difficult subject handled deftly by director Willem Wallyn. In All of Us, a self-help group of terminally ill patients learn how to become immortal under the supervision of an inexperienced therapist.
14 MAY 2022
Mother knows best | A mãe é que sabe
Ana Luísa’s family meet at home to celebrate her father’s birthday. As the guests sit around the table, they share memories with a common denominator: the late Josefa, Ana Luisa’s mother. When listening to the stories, Ana Luísa realizes the impact that the deceased mother had on her life choices and imagines what would have happened had she followed other paths, taken other options and said what remained to be said. At the same time, an astrophysical event of unknown origin causes the change of space-time, allowing some people, all over the world, to access parallel universes. Ana Luisa is one of them, and will thus have the opportunity to change the past. But for this she will have to give up her present.
I'm Your Man | Ich bin dein Mensch
Alma (Maren Eggert) is a scientist coerced into participating in an extraordinary study in order to obtain research funds for her work. For three weeks, she must live with a humanoid robot tailored to her character and needs, whose artificial intelligence is designed to be the perfect life partner for her. Enter Tom (Dan Stevens), a machine in human form created solely to make her happy. A playfully romantic tale, I’m Your Man questions what love and longing really mean in the modern age.
On the Roof | Na Střeše
Professor Rypar (Alois Švehlík) is an old, cantankerous university professor who lives alone in Prague. One day he finds a young Vietnamese man Song (Duy Anh Tran) – an immigrant in search of a better future - on his roof, and decides to take him in. The co-existence of a hostile master, angry at the world that eludes him, and a young man looking for a way out of a desperate situation in an unfamiliar city creates many tragi-comic situations, throwing up surprising ideas and solutions. But can you trust a stranger and can two culturally different people share the same space?
15 MAY 2022
Freaks Out
Matilde, Cencio, Fulvio and Mario form a family in the circus where they work as ‘freaks’ in 1943 Nazi-occupied Rome. Israel, the owner and putative father, disappears in an attempt to find an escape route overseas for them all. With his departure, the four friends are set adrift. Without anyone looking after them and above all, without the circus, they lose their place in the city and feel like sideshow attractions in a city at war.
Hutsulka Ksenya
Hutsulka Ksenya is a comedy inspired by the legendary song and tango that carries the same name as one of the most recognized Ukrainian songs of the 20th century. The film includes freak-cabaret performances by the incomparable Dakh Daughters and music by the Dakhabrakha band.
Dating Amber
In Ireland in the mid-90s, Eddie and Amber decide to ‘stage’ a relationship to stop everyone speculating about their sexuality. Eddie is keen to follow his Dad into the military, while Amber dreams of moving to the liberal hub of London. Sensitively channelling their angst and awkwardness, Dating Amber takes on the teenagers’ struggles with their identity and so much more. A coming-of-age story that will stay with you long after the show is over.
16 MAY 2022
Wild Romania | România Sălbatică
From sharp ridges to deep volcanic lakes to powerful rivers cutting mountains in their path - experience the stunning beauty of Romania’s nature and wildlife in this documentary recorded over 10 years. An unforgettable journey that takes you from the Danube river to the Carpathian Mountains.
The Last Note Το τελευταίο σημείωμα
This gripping historical drama is based on true events. It portrays a key chapter of modern Greek history: the execution of 200 Greek resistance fighters by the German occupiers on May 1st, 1944 in Kaisariani, as reprisal for the Greek Resistance ambush against the Nazis. Cineuropa writes: “this is ultimately how we should be leaving screenings about the history of war and broken lives: with tears in our eyes.
The Choir | Kören
Director Amanda Pesikan, in The Choir, travels to Chicago, the birthplace of gospel music, with one of Sweden’s most popular choirs. The journey quickly transforms into a spiritual and emotional test, with questions of faith, leadership, and spirituality putting the choir’s bond to the test. The film chronicles a pivotal period in the choir’s history while confronting issues of religion, individuality, and community.
18 MAY 2022
Atlas
The long and painful fight of Allegra, the only survivor of a terrorist attack that killed three of her friends. Crushed and consumed by guilt and hatred, she is no longer herself. To regain her confidence, she must question herself. An unexpected encounter with Arad, a young refugee from the Middle East, helps her face the ghosts of her past and a trauma she is struggling to process.
19 MAY 2022
Double Happiness
Double Happiness takes the Chinese copy of Hallstatt, a small idyllic town in Austria, as the starting point to explore China’s rapid urbanization. The film depicts the background and the motivation behind a real-estate project that constructs a clone of Hallstatt in Guangdong province. Addressing the many complexities of cultural appropriation, director Ella Raidel elegantly and evocatively unfolds the parallel worlds of the original and copy, real-life and fiction, dream and reality through an interplay of visual imagery, commentary, interviews and songs.
20 MAY 2022
That was life | La vida era eso
Two Spanish women from different generations meet in a hospital room in Belgium. María (Petra Martínez) has been living there for decades after emigrating when she was young, and Verónica (Anna Castillo) has arrived recently in search of opportunities she never found in Spain. A strange friendship forged between them leads María on a return journey to the south of Spain with an unusual mission. What begins as a journey in search of Verónica’s roots in turn throws up questions about certain principles on which she had based her life.
21 MAY 2022
Psychobitch
Marius is a middle school student who is tormented by the prospect of failing. When Marius’ teacher pairs him with Frida, a class outcast, a tumultuous relationship ensues – one which will put Marius’ character and status to the test.
The Restless | Les Intranquilles
Leïla and Damien love each other deeply. Despite his bipolarity, he tries to continue life with her, knowing that he may never be able to give her what she desires. Driven by the exceptional performances of Damien Bonnard and Leïla Bekthi, ‘Les Intranquilles’ is a deeply human film, full of the wonders and pains of family life – and the many nuances that lie in between.
A Unique Life | Nadide Hayat
Nadide chooses marriage over college and a career and now she is 50. When she loses her husband, she finds herself struggling between her daughter and grandchild who visits once a week, and her son who just started his career and barely comes home. She decides to make a fresh start by enrolling in a college course and soon finds herself jumping into the deep.
22 MAY 2022
Never Gonna Snow Again
A masseur from the East enters the lives of the rich residents of a bland, walled off community. Despite their wealth, the residents bear an inner sadness. The mysterious newcomer’s hands heal and his eyes seem to penetrate their souls. To them, his Russian accent sounds like a song from the past, a memory of their seemingly safer childhood. Zhenia, for this is his name, changes their lives.
My Father is an Airplane | Mijn vader is een vliegtuig
Eva’s life is running smoothly: she has a beautiful family, a successful business, and soon the house of her dreams. When her mother unexpectedly dies, Eva’s life unravels secrets and lies. The fear of losing her mind, just like her father who has been living in a mental facility for many years, becomes more and more threatening. Determined to find out the truth, Eva starts a poignant search for pieces of her past. This tense journey back raises questions about parental boundaries, the risks and dangers of childhood as well its joys, and what it means to be loved and to be understood.
The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic
The brightest days in Jaakko’s (Petri Poikolainen) life are the ones he spends on the phone with Sirpa (Marjana Maijaala). Jaakko is blind and disabled and he has never met the love of his life in person. Sirpa is gravely ill with cancer, and the two spend as much of their days as they can on the phone, talking about everything from the severity of their illnesses to which Friends character they would be (both: Chandler). When Sirpa’s cancer takes a sudden turn for the worse, Jaako decides to embark on a three-hour solo trip to visit her, despite the many daunting obstacles he will face along the way. This intense, atypical thriller tenderly tells the story of a man willing to do all it takes to reach the one he loves.
23 MAY 2022
Mother of Apostles | Maty apostoliv
Sofia’s (Natalia Polovynka) peaceful life is disrupted when she receives news that the humanitarian plane her pilot son was flying was shot down over occupied territory, where there is war. She sets off on a perilous journey in search of her son after receiving an unsatisfactory response on his whereabouts. Through her searing portrayal while grappling with pain Sofia touches hearts and reaches out to people in places filled with despair.
Aurora Borealis
Aurora Borealis is a family story with several twists taking place on two separate timelines. It analyses the relationship between a mother and a daughter in great depth. Mária (Mari Törőcsik), the elderly mother of Olga (Ildikó Tóth), the successful attorney living in Vienna, unexpectedly falls into a coma. While Mária is hovering between life and death, Olga comes across a deliberately withheld secret. The increasingly passionate investigation takes her back to war-torn Europe of the 1950s; where, at the end of her journey she discovers herself: a woman she never knew before. The film addresses the dramatic situations originating from identity crises, the deep wounds of war and the far-reaching impact of the secrets we keep.
24 MAY 2022
Erna at War | Erna i krig
Of love, courage and sacrifice. Director Henrik Ruben Genz’s film, an adaptation of Danish author and playwright Erling Jepsen’s critically acclaimed novel, tells a compelling story of maternal love. A fifty-something mother, Erna Jansen (Trine Dyrholm), dreams of opening her own charcuterie and spending her fairly ordinary life with her son, Kalle (Sylvester Byder), who suffers from an intellectual disability. That is until the day when everything changes as the village constable Meier (Ulrich Thomsen) shows up to conscript Kalle for military service. Wanting to save her son from certain death Erna, decides to follow him and ends up rescuing a deserting soldier. The two swap clothes and identities. Now disguised as Private Julius Rasmussen, Erna heads for the front line, ready to face the cruelty of war.
Truth and Justice | Tõde ja õigus
Estonia, 1870. The young and energetic Andres (Priit Loog) together with his wife Krõõt (Maiken Schmidt) arrives at his new farm, Robber’s Rise. This is bought on a loan to establish their new life and take care of the family. Running it through needs a lot of work and consistency, in addition to battling with nature, fate, and dealing with a spiteful neighbour. When life deals Andres more sufferings than successes, he searches desperately for truth and justice sacrificing his family, friends, and eventually himself in the process. Dreams of nurturing Robber’s Rise are soon overshadowed by grim reality. Based on celebrated Estonian writer Anton Hansen Tammsaare’s early 20th-century novel, this pan-generational saga is a meditation on the complexity of the human condition.
25 MAY 2022
Lost Illusions | Illusion Perdues
An all-star cast dazzles in the multiple award-winning Lost Illusions / Illusion Perdues, an adaptation of celebrated French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac’s classic novel about a young idealist who learns painful lessons about life. Lucien is a young unknown poet in 19th-century France. He has great expectations and wants to forge a destiny. He leaves the family printing business in his native province to try his luck in Paris, on the arm of his protector. Soon left to his own devices in the fabulous city, the young man discovers the backstage of a world dedicated to the law of profit and pretence. A human comedy where everything is bought and sold, literature as well as the press, politics as well as feelings, reputations as well as souls. He will love, he will suffer, and survive his illusions.
26 MAY 2022
Lost Illusions | Illusion Perdues
An all-star cast dazzles in the multiple award-winning Lost Illusions / Illusion Perdues, an adaptation of celebrated French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac’s classic novel about a young idealist who learns painful lessons about life. Lucien is a young unknown poet in 19th-century France. He has great expectations and wants to forge a destiny. He leaves the family printing business in his native province to try his luck in Paris, on the arm of his protector. Soon left to his own devices in the fabulous city, the young man discovers the backstage of a world dedicated to the law of profit and pretence. A human comedy where everything is bought and sold, literature as well as the press, politics as well as feelings, reputations as well as souls. He will love, he will suffer, and survive his illusions.