Eastern Europe invades Edinburgh

This year’s edition of the New Europe Film Festival takes place April 16–28 at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh. The lineup includes:

Little Moscow
Poland
Dir. Waldemar Krzystek
The wife of a Soviet pilot falls for a young Polish lieutenant Michal and must choose between loyalty and love.

The Blacks
Dir. Goran Devic, Zvonimir Juric
Croatia
As the Balkan War ends, an elite squad of soldiers have to perform a last mission and face their shameful past.

Snow White And Russian Red
Dir. Xawery Zulawski
Poland
A low-level criminal slides through Warsaw’s underbelly, finding himself in various Kafkaesque situations.

The Other Irene
Dir. Andrei Gruzsniczki
Romania
When his wife doesn’t return from a working trip to Cairo, Aurel sets out on his own journey: a search for his wife amidst dubious bureaucrats, criminal embassies and hateful in-laws.

Slovenian Girl
Dir. Damjan Kozole
Slovenia/Germany/Serbia/Croatia/Bosnia Herzegovina
Alexandra, leads a double life: student by day, call girl by night. When one of her clients dies, the police become involved and Alexandra is in danger of having to give up her secret.

Signe Baumane’s Short Films
Dir. Signe Baumane
The award-winning films of Latvian animator Signe Baumane are full of absurd and Freudian fascinations.

Zero
Dir. Pawel Borowski
Poland
Twenty-four people with twenty-four stories cross each other in twenty-four hours.

Vortex
Dir. Gytis Luksas
Lithuania
The story of the generation who lived through the entire Soviet period is told through the main character.

I Am Not Your Friend
Dir. György Pálfi
Hungary
Shot in just 20 days with non-professional actors, this improvised drama delves into the dark side of human relations.

Constantin And Elena
Dir. Andrei Dascalescu
Romania/Spain
Married for almost 55 years, Constantin and Elena know that life must end, but are happy with everything that they’ve had.

My Flesh My Blood
Dir. Marcin Wrona
Poland
A boxer meets a Vietnamese immigrant. She needs a work permit to stay in Poland. He wants to have a child. They make a deal.

Bank Robbery
Dir. Andrus Tuisk
Estonia
Ex-convict Madis takes his shy teenage nephew on a trip, but the path they take will change both their lives forever.

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Films from Jasmila Žbanic, Alexei Popogrebsky and Johnnie To to open Crossing Europe

Four films will open the Crossing Europe festival on April 20: Jasmila Žbanic’s Berlinale title On The Path, in which a traditional Islamic worldview collides with a modern lifestyle; Alexei Popogrebsky’s thriller How I Ended This Summer, which recently won two Silver Bears in Berlin; the world premiere of Christian Tod and Oliver Stangl’s music documentary Es Muss Was Geben, about the Linz music scene; and Johnnie To’s masterpiece Vengeance.

The competition selection of directors’ first or second features includes Die Liebe Der Kinder (dir. Franz Müller), 10 To 11 (dir. Pelin Esmer) and The Unloved (dir. Samantha Morton).

The European Panorama selection includes Golden Bear winner Honey (dir. Semih Kaplanoglu) and Me, Too (dir. Alvaro Pastor, Antonio Naharro).

There are also a couple related events in Vienna, both on March 25: Croatian directors Ognjen Svilicic and Dalibor Matanic will screen their films Sorry For Kung Fu and Kino Lika, 6:15 p.m. at Moviemento, while Serbian director Stefan Arsenijevic will present his Love And Other Crimes, 8 p.m. at Gartenbaukino.

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