Film enthusiasts are in for a treat this October as the European Film Festival returns with live cinema screenings in Jozi and Cape Town.
The 9th edition runs from October 13 and the line-up includes 16 award-winning international films.
The event also offers locals an opportunity to stream the festival free of charge.
Themed “Innocence & Beyond”, the hybrid event is in partnership with the Delegation of the EU to South Africa and 14 European embassies and cultural agencies.
“This is our transitional approach of coming back to theatres gradually,” said Magdalene Reddy, the festival co-director.
“The online screenings will be free, while a ticket price will be charged for the theatre screenings. Each film will have a single screening at both Ster-Kinekor’s The Zone in Joburg and at The Labia in Cape Town,” explained Reddy.
Reddy confirmed that this year’s festival will also take place in eSwatini and Lesotho, with three-day programmes of screenings and discussions taking place at the Alliance Française in Mbabane (October 21 to 23) and the Alliance Française in Maseru (October 28 to 30).
Commenting on the festival, the EU ambassador to South Africa, Sandra Kramer, said: “This year’s European Film Festival has been inspired by innocence as a human quality.
“The festival’s theme, ‘Innocence & Beyond’, tries to capture our loss of innocence on several levels as we deal with the present and lay foundations for the future.
“I invite you to join us for the best of European cinema: award-winning films that will not only offer a temporary escape, but also a space for pause and reflection,” added Kramer.
Below are some of the shows to look out for at the forthcoming European Film Festival.
“Petite Maman” and “Playground” shine a spotlight on children’s issues.
“Petite Maman” is a tender tale of memory, friendship and family by the gifted and often unpredictable French film-maker Céline Sciamma, while in “Playground”, Belgian director Laura Wandel deploys cameras rigged to film at the level of a little one to effectively portray the emotions and experiences of school bullying.
The festival also features films that focus on the youth as they “navigate the often turbulent process of growing” into adults.
From the Netherlands, Shariff Korver’s slow-burning psychological thriller “Do Not Hesitate” depicts unprepared Dutch youths thrown into the crucible of war, a situation complicated by their naiveté when encountering other cultures.
Swiss film “Olga”, by Elie Grappe, is a tense but sensitively handled tale of exile reflecting the clash between the personal and the political in a young Ukrainian gymnast’s search for identity against the backdrop of revolution in her country.
The riveting women-centric film “Small Body” is an adventure story infused with a wonderful mythological sensibility that earned Laura Samani the best new director prize at Italy’s David di Donatello awards.
Erik Poppe’s Swedish film “The Emigrants” is an epic period drama about a poverty-stricken family who emigrated from Sweden to the US in the 1800s.
Told from a woman’s perspective, their search for a second chance in life is, like the stories of migration in our current era, a journey of hope.
For more information on the festival, film synopses, trailers and how to watch visit eurofilmfest.co.za.