It’s “Europe Without the Jetlag!” Pacific Cinémathèque and the Embassies, Consulates, and Cultural Institutes of the EU Member States in Vancouver present the 14th Annual European Union Film Festival. Hosted this year by the Polish Presidency, this annual finger-on-the-pulse showcase of acclaimed new and recent films from across greater Europe includes award-winning films, festival circuit faves, official Oscar submissions and 20 Vancouver Premieres.
This year’s festival features entries from 24 of the European Union’s 27 member states. Each country has carte blanche to choose the film that will represent them. Together, their exciting selections make for a lively, provocative, stimulating, and entertaining state-of-the-Union celebration of contemporary European filmmaking.
Highlights include:
The Artist
France 2011. Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Jean Dujardin won Best Actor honours at Cannes for his performance in Michel Hazanavicius’s crowd-pleasing charmer, a surprise sensation on the 2011 film festival circuit — a surprise because this love letter to silent cinema is itself a silent movie, right down to its B&W images, intertitles, 1:1.33 aspect ratio, and rousing orchestral accompaniment! B&W, 35mm, silent with English intertitles and musical score. 100 mins.
The Maiden Danced to Death
Hungary/Canada/Slovenia 2011. Director: Endre Hules
VANCOUVER PREMIERE — A successful dancer returns to his native Hungary after years in Canada and resumes a rivalry with his brother in this music-and-dance-filled drama directed by actor Endre Hules and shot by celebrated cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. Colour, 35mm, in English and Hungarian with English subtitles. 107 mins.
Tilt
Bulgaria/Germany 2010. Director: Viktor Chouchkov
VANCOUVER PREMIERE — Bulgaria’s official submission to the upcoming Oscars is a lively, entertaining Romeo-and-Juliet saga in which a rebellious skater-punk falls for a policeman’s daughter during Bulgaria’s turbulent transition from communism. Colour, 35mm, in Bulgarian with English subtitles. 97 mins.
The Runway
Ireland/Luxembourg 2010. Director: Ian Power
VANCOUVER PREMIERE • ALL AGES WELCOME — Spielbergian whimsy infuses writer-director Ian Power’s debut feature, the kid-friendly tale of a mysterious Latino pilot who makes an emergency landing in a small Irish village and the spunky 9-year-old who befriends him. Colour, Blu-ray Disc, in English. 90 mins.
The Man who Jumped over Cars
Germany 2010. Director: Nick Baker-Monteys
VANCOUVER PREMIERE — An escaped psychiatric patient is joined by a doctor and a housewife as he tries to walk across Germany in this stylish, eccentric mix of modern-day fairytale and road movie. Colour, 35mm, in German with English subtitles. 105 mins.
$10.50 Adult Single Bill
$9 Senior/Student Single Bill
$12.50 Adult Double Bill
$11 Senior/Student Double Bill
$3 annual membership required
All ages screening of The Runway on Saturday, December 3: $9 admission for persons under 18 years of age.
Complete festival screenings listed below. For a more information on festival programming, visit: http://eufilmfestival.com.
