Bigger and better Cine Europa unreels on its 20th edition
The 20th Cine Europa Film Festival unreels from September 16 to 26 at the Shang Cineplex in Shangri-La Plaza Mall in Mandaluyong City.
Now on its 20th year, the film festival offers bigger and better line up as it brings 24 films from 16 EU member countries.
Among the ‘must-see’ movies this year is the 1988 Academy award winning film for Best Foreign Language film, Babettes gæstebud (Babette’s Feast) about the story of a Parisian refugee from the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 who serves as a servant to the village pastor’s daughters.
Sult (Hunger), the second Danish film, features a young, penniless poet who scrambles to survive in Oslo in 1890.
Spain’s El ángel exterminador (The Exterminating Angel) is a 1962 surrealist film written and directed by Luis Buñuel about the guests at an upper-class dinner party who find themselves unable to leave.
Germany’s thriller Lola rennt (Run Lola Run)is an edge of the seat thriller about the lover of a petty criminal who races against time to come up with 100,000 Deutschmarks to save him after a botched operation.
Another German entry Terror – Ihr Urteil (The Verdict) deals with the aftermath of a terror attack in Germany during which a passenger plane was hijacked and aimed at a packed football stadium.
Swedish film Flickan Mamman och Demonerna (The Girl, The Mother and the Demons), is the harrowing tale of Ti, whose mother claims that demons have taken over the apartment where they live.
Italian drama 20 Sigarette (20 Cigarettes) follows a young filmmaker who gets caught in a terrorist attack while shooting on location in Iraq.
Inspired by a legend from the 12th century, Norwegian film Veiviseren (Pathfinder) tells the story of a young boy who sees his family slaughtered by a feared tribe of Tsujudes, taken prisoner by the party, and must act as their pathfinder.
Also from Norway is Bølgen (The Wave), a tsunami-peril thriller directed by Roar Uthaug.
Austrian film Deine Schönheit ist nichts wert (Your Beauty is Worth Nothing) is about a twelve-year-old migrant Veysel and his family who have a hard time integrating into Austrian life.
France’s Souvenir is about a forgotten European singer, fading away in a pâté factory who falls in love with a young aspiring boxer. It stars acclaimed actress Isabelle Huppert.
French classic Jules et Jim (Jules and Jim) tells the story of two close friends who become entangled in an offbeat love triangle.
Bulgaria’s coming of age movie Monkey is about two adolescent half-sisters Iva and Maya who discover life as they grow up.
Spain’s Truman is about a tale of extraordinary friendship about a terminally ill actor and his childhood friend Tomas.
From the United Kingdom comes A Moving Image, a film about Nina, a young stifled artist who returns to her community after a long absence.
Drawing inspiration from paperback crime novels, Slovakia’s Wilsonov (Wilson City) follows an unlikely pair of detectives as they search for a mysterious murderer in a German town that would eventually be known as Bratislava.
Hungary’s Utóélet (Afterlife)is a comedy about a paranoid man who starts seeing the ghost of his recently deceased father.
Romanian film Aniversarea (The Anniversary) is a family drama about Radu Maligan and his relatives and friends who come together to celebrate his 94th birthday.
Another film from Romania is Doua lozuri (Two Lottery Tickets), where the tables keep turning on Dinel as he catches a break from his unhappy life by winning the lottery.
Belgium’s Les Barons (The Barons) is a comedy about a handful of twenty-something guys of Moroccan heritage living in the Molenbeek section of Brussels.
Crime meets comedy in 50s Italian masterpiece I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street), where a group of small-time thieves attempt to burgle a state-run pawnshop in Rome.
Czech Republic’s Anděl Páně 2 (An Angel of the Lord) follows the adventures of Angel Petronel in his quest to retrieve fruit of the Tree of Knowledge that has fallen down to earth.
Perinbaba (The Feather Fairy) is a charming Slovakian adaptation of a short story by the Brothers Grimm. It is a fairy tale about a grandmother who cares for snow and a boy who isn’t afraid of death.
Netherlands’ De He van ’63 (The Hell of ’63) based on a true story will appeal to sports enthusiasts. It is about the 1963 edition of the Elfstedentocht, a long distance ice skating tour in the Netherlands.
After its opening leg, Cine Europa will also go regional as it tours to the key cities of Naga, Baguio, Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban, Baybay and Puerto Princesa.
Admission is free to the public on a first-come, first served basis.
