In its 25th year in India, the European Union Film Festival has gone fully digital. Now a big, meaty slice of Europe can be savoured from the comfort of homes as viewers can look forward to a sumptuous platter of 42 critically acclaimed films from 26 member states and partner countries. Compelling, award-winning stories, experiences, and histories, including cinematic triumphs from Cannes, Locarno, Venice, Berlin and San Sebastian will be screened at the festival on view till November 30.
Divided into four sections this time, there's contemporary European cinema, European masterpieces, shorts on climate change, and a tribute to Indian cinema (Aparajito by Satyajit Ray and Court by Chaitanya Tamanhe), apart from a series of workshops, masterclasses, artist talks, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions with the directors, actors, and cinematographers. The Festival is a joint event hosted by the Delegation of the European Union to India, its Member States and Partner Countries, as part of EU-India cultural partnership. Here are the ones to bookmark.
1. The Ground Beneath My Feet by Marie Kreutzer (Austria, 2019, 108’)
Lola, a jet-setting business consultant, manages her personal life with the same ruthless efficiency she uses to optimize profit margins. Approaching 30, Lola is beautiful, works out, and her career seems on a fast track to success. She keeps her relationship with her boss Elise secret, as well as the existence of her older sister Conny, who has a long history of mental illness. But when she receives the news that Conny has attempted suicide, Lola's secrets threaten to explode into the open. As she tries to do what's best for her sister without jeopardizing the life she has worked so hard to build, Lola slowly finds her own grip on reality slipping away.
2. Alone at My Wedding by Marta Bergman (Belgium, France, Romania, 2018, 121')
Pamela is insolent, spontaneous and funny. A young Roma, she is different from other women in her community. A single mother, she lives with her grandmother and her little girl in a small hut where the three of them share a bed. Unable to reconcile the needs of her two-year old daughter and her dreams of freedom, Pamela embarks on a journey into the unknown, breaking away from the traditions that suffocate her. “Lapin, pizza, amour”. All she has are three words in French and the hope that marriage will change her and her daughter’s destiny
3. Forman vs. Forman by Jakub Hejna, Helena Trestikova
Miloš Forman is a much decorated filmmaker with Oscars for Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. At the same time, he's a charismatic adventurer with the courage to question himself. The Forman vs. Forman documentary summarises the life of the most famous Czech film director whose protagonists have always fought against institutions for freedom. The film is a collage of rare archive footage and autobiographical memories narrated by the director’s son Petr Forman.
4. Arab Blues by Manele Labidi (France, 2019, 88’)
Selma, a psychoanalyst, deals with a cast of colorful new patients after returning home to Tunisia to open a practice. In this sophisticated comedy, Manele Labidi opens a fascinating window into modern Tunisia at a crossroads, with a story of contrasts, contradictions and culture clashes, full of vitality and humour.
5. Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles by Salvador Simó (Spain, Netherlands, 2019, 80')
Paris, 1930. Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel are already the main figures of the Surrealist movement. Unexpectedly, Buñuel is left moneyless after the scandal surrounding his film 'The Golden Age'. In this difficult situation, he cannot even tackle his next project, a documentary about one of the poorest Spanish regions, Las Hurdes. However, his good friend, sculptor Ramón Acín, buys a lottery ticket with the promise that, if he wins, he will pay for the film. Incredibly, luck is on their side.
6. The Exterminating Angel by Luis Buñuel (Mexico, 1962, 93’)
A group of high-society friends are invited to a mansion for dinner and find themselves inexplicably unable to leave, in Luis Buñuel’s daring masterpiece The Exterminating Angel (El ángel exterminador). Made just one year after the director’s international sensation Viridiana, this film, full of eerie comic absurdity, continues Buñuel’s wicked takedown of the rituals and dependencies of the frivolous upper classes.
