ENFF 2019 catalogue

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CONTENT OPENING FILM 7 CLOSING FILM – CLASSIC 8 CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

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OLD GOLD 20 FAMILY FILMS 22

DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES 24 SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

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FOCUS – EUROPE, 30 YEARS AFTER THE BERLIN WALL

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FOCUS – CINEMA BY MIGRANTS/CINEMA ON MIGRANTS

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FOCUS – BULGARIAN NEW VOICES

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GRAND LOVE AFFAIRS - OLD GOLD

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CHILDREN’S PROGRAM 64 SIDE PROGRAM 66 PARTNERS AND SPONSORS 78 FILM INDEX 80 2

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During the Festival, it will be exactly 30 years since the East German government announced – on 9 November 1989 – that from that moment on, all GDR citizens were free to travel to West Germany and West Berlin. The whole of Europe celebrated.

Today, 30 years later, Europe builds new walls and becomes increasingly divided. Our Focus program Europe, 30 Years After The Berlin Wall brings some older films reflecting on Europe during and after the Berlin Wall, but also new and alarming films that mirror strongly the current situation and the re-establishment of divisions in cities, countries and among people.

A WORD BY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR RADA SESIC MIRRORING TODAY’S EUROPE One of the ambitions of the Eastern Neighbours Film Festival has always been to show the best and most relevant art-house films made in East and South-East Europe that otherwise don’t reach the Netherlands. With our selection we aim to grasp the reality we live in and get in touch with the spirit of the time in today’s Europe.

The main sections Current, Relevant Cinema and Documentaries Open Debates as well as Short Films, Big Stories are bringing to the Dutch and international audience in the Netherlands films that have a critical eye on our social reality. These films often deal with urgencies, and convey compelling human stories that reflect East and South-East Europe still burdened by the transitional period between communism and democracy, economic turbulence, unemployment and a massive brain drain. At the same time, they are confronted with the logistical and social challenges of mass immigration.

OPENING FILM Since the stories from divided Mostar, Mitrovica and other places in Europe are part of our Focus program Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall, we have chosen the opening film accordingly.

An alarming human story from Ukraine about an 80-year-old charming lady living in totally new circumstances.

“My Granny from Mars”, a BelarusUkrainian-Estonian coproduction and the debut of Alexander Mihalkovich, is an intimate, yet very political tale of the filmmaker’s grandmother who lives in Crimea and due to known circumstances ends up being totally cut off from her family.

CLOSING FILM While the opening film deals with divided Europe today, we close the festival by going 30 years back in time, when regimes, rulers and norms changed overnight. In his brilliant film “Sweet Emma, Dear Bobe” (1992) that was recently restored, Istvan Szabo deals with the destinies of Russian language teachers in Hungary whose knowledge and services are no longer required. The film is also memorable for the remarkable performance of the Dutch actress Johanna ter Steege who will be our special guest.

CINEMA BY MIGRANTS/ CINEMA ON MIGRANTS Not seldom have migrants made tremendous contributions to their new homelands, either in politics, art, culture or science. In our Focus program we show works by people who contributed considerably to the film world of Western-Europe where they live, while originally coming from East and South East Europe. At the same time, the program aims to show how revitalized contemporary European cinema is, how an eclectic mix of non-Western traditions, cultural connotations and sensibilities are creating the new identity of European cinema. We also present a few films made by Western filmmakers that look at the lives of migrants in their homelands.

FOCUS PROGRAM For many years ENFF has featured the section Old Gold, dedicated to the films that survived political and social changes in the countries where they were made and prove to be still relevant, being watched and loved by new generations. This year, the program is called Grand Love Affairs and brings two beautiful love films.

One from Poland: “A Year of the Quiet Sun” (1984), by one of the masters of European cinema, Krzysztof Zanussi.

And the Bosnian film “Kuduz” (1989) by director Ademir Kenovic, made just in the eve of the ex-Yugoslav tragedy.

at big festivals like Berlin, Cannes, Rotterdam, Venice and IDFA. However, distribution of their films in the West is rare. That’s why we put in the limelight Bulgarian New Voices, several compelling, exciting films from Bulgaria that reflect the spirit of today’s society.

For the first time this year, ENFF will be launching a program for the whole family – parents and children.

In our small Children’s Program, we have chosen two exciting films from Slovenia and Croatia, that have become a huge hit at home and travelled internationally with success.

BRAINSTORM WITH ENFF And last but not least – we are giving the stage to upcoming directors to present their projects in New Pro Formula section. We’ve decided to try out something “out of the box”.

Namely to pitch projects not to decision makers, but to the audience and brainstorm with them. Filmmakers and producers will debate with the cinema goers aiming to understand of how a certain project can be improved and lifted to a higher level.

Come and brainstorm with us!

We screen 45 films, mostly Dutch premieres, host 26 filmmakers, debate about relevant, exciting cinema, taste South-East European wine, watch upcoming, not yet finished projects and have fun together.

Gifted new voices, among whom are several strong female directors, have already being spotted and presented

WE LC OME TO TH E 11th EASTERN N EI GH BO U RS F ILM F ESTI VAL!

OPENING FILM

MY GRANNY FROM MARS

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

DIRECTOR: ALEXANDER MIHALKOVICH When politics and nationalism turn Crimea into an unfriendly environment, can it still be a safe place for a grandma and her big family? A humorous and charming film awarded with the Docu Talent Prize by Ji.hlava Academy.

Zina is a native Ukrainian who lived peacefully all her life in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. After retirement she moved to Crimea and true to her Eastern heritage, she has always tried to unite her big family. But after the Ukrainian revolution and the annexation of Crimea by Russia, visiting her became an endless hassle. The same old place, now with a new culture, symbols of state, music and propaganda. Isolated from the rest of her family, she lives in a coastal town forgotten by the world, unable to decide whether to leave or stay. What a time to be an old lady! The family has been separated, Crimea turned into ‘a distant planet’, and its environment is now unfriendly towards the grandmother.

MOYA BABUSHKA S MARSA

FILM PROGRAM

Belarus/Ukraine/Estonia | 2018 | 72 min PRODUCTION: Volia Chajkouskaya – Volia Films; Directory Films CINEMATOGRAPHY: Siarhei Kanaplianik, Alexander Mihalkovich EDITING: Petro Tsymbal SOUND: Serz Avdey, Artem Mostoviy PROGRAM SECTION: Focus – Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall

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CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

CLOSING FILM

SWEET EMMA, DEAR BOBE

BAD POEMS

DIRECTOR: ISTVAN SZABO

DIRECTOR: GABOR REISZ

A must-see classic that was awarded the Silver Bear at the 1992 Berlinale, with a remarkable performance by the Dutch actress Johanna ter Steege. Probably the most improvised film ever made by Istvan Szabo, it was the first to depict the hard changes in the Hungarian society started in 1989.

An amusing, full of fantasy and utterly unpredictable comedy, awarded at several festivals with jury and audience awards!

Emma and Bobe came to Budapest from the countryside to teach Russian. The only problem is that Russian is no longer wanted. Russian schoolbooks are burnt, teachers are mocked. Schools now ask for compulsory English, which the two young women never learned. The two girlfriends fall on hard times - Emma becomes a maid while Bobe ends up in prison for illegal money changing and prostitution. Only one will survive.

EDES EMMA, DRAGA BOB – VAZLATOK, AKTOK Hungary | 1992 | 90 min

PRODUCTION: Gabriella Grosz – Objektiv Filmstudio; Manfred Durniok CAST: Johanna Ter Steege, Eniko Borcsok, Peter Andorai, Eva Kerekes SCREENPLAY: Istvan Szabo CINEMATOGRAPHY: Lajos Koltai EDITING: Eszter Kovacs

33-year-old Tamas is heartbroken after his girlfriend Anna, who is on a scholarship in Paris, breaks up with him. While wallowing in self-pity, Tamas takes a trip down memory lane to figure out if love only exists when it’s practically gone. As he’s trying to pick up the pieces, he begins to realize what makes this current society so confused. An unique, charming and highly subjective view of Hungary’s present times.

ROSSZ VERSEK

Hungary/France | 2018 | 97 min PRODUCTION: Julia Berkes – Proton Cinema; Les Films du Balibari CAST: Gabor Reisz, Katica Nagy, Zsolt Kovacs, Lili Monori, Katalin Takacs SCREENPLAY: Gabor Reisz CINEMATOGRAPHY: Daniel Balint, Kristof Becsey EDITING: Zsofia Talas

PROGRAM SECTION: Focus – Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall

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CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

COLD NOVEMBER

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

ERASED

DIRECTOR: ISMET SIJARINA

DIRECTORS: MIHA MAZZINI/DUSAN JOKSIMOVIC

An Albanian archivist faces a moral dilemma when the Serbian regime demands loyalty from state employees. This compelling Kosovar film had its premiere at the prestigious San Sebastian IFF and later won numerous awards.

Inspired by true events, this amazing and compelling story of a new mother erased from all state documents, is certainly one of the most memorable films from recent Slovenian production.

In the early ’90s, the Yugoslavian Government cancelled the autonomy of Kosovo, dissolved its Parliament and closed down the National Television. With the implementation of the extraordinary measures by Serbian authorities, the Albanian citizens who were working at that time were forced to sign a declaration by which they officially accepted Serbia as their own country. If they refused, they would lose all their privileges, jobs, health insurance, children’s funds, as well as the real estate which was given to them for use by institution they worked for. Fadil, an archivist, has to choose between two options, knowing that both of them are wrong. He therefore involuntarily and unwillingly swallows the shame, endures the stigma, and the pressure coming from all sides.

After giving birth to a healthy baby girl, Ana finds her own name cannot be found in the system. At first this does not worry her, computer mistakes happen and they can be fixed. However, what ensues is a bureaucratic nightmare of monumental proportions. She is forced to leave the hospital and her baby until everything is sorted. But since Ana doesn’t legally exist, her baby doesn’t have official mother and as such is to be put up for adoption. Ana begins the fight of her life to get her identity and her child back. This first feature film by Slovenian award-winning writer Miha Mazzini is based on true events. After declaring independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, Slovenia erased 25,671 of its own citizens due to bureaucratic complexities. The majority of those are still unable to regain their legal status.

IZBRISANA

NENTOR I FTOHTE

Kosovo/Albania/North Macedonia | 2018 | 93 min PRODUCTION: Fatmir Spahiu – Thumbs Up & Buka; AlbaSky Film, Audiohaus Sound Solutions, Ikone Studio CAST: Kushtim Hoxha, Adriana Matoshi, Fatmir Spahiu, Emir Hadzihafizbegovic SCREENPLAY: Arian Krasniqi, Ismet Sijarina CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sevdije Kastrati EDITING: Vladimir Pavlovski

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Slovenia/Croatia/Serbia | 2018 | 86 min PRODUCTION: Frenk Celarc - Gustav Film; Kinorama, Delirium, Pakt Media CAST: Judita Frankovic, Sebastijan Cavazza, Jernej Kogovsek, Izudin Bajrovic SCREENPLAY: Miha Mazzini, Sebastian Cavazza CINEMATOGRAPHY: Dusan Joksimovic EDITING: Tomislav Pavlic

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CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA

IRINA

DIRECTOR: TEONA STRUGAR MITEVSKA

DIRECTOR: NADEJDA KOSEVA

A thought-provoking satire, awarded at this year’s Berlinale, that questions patriarchy and gender equality in Macedonian society.

A moving award-winning social drama about different faces of motherhood, female strength and the power of forgiveness, directed by one of the most exiting female new voices of European cinema.

Based on true events, the film takes place in Stip, a small town in North Macedonia, where every January a local priest throws a wooden cross into the river and hundreds of men dive after it. This ritual is common in many Christian Orthodox countries of the Eastern Europe. Good fortune and prosperity are guaranteed to the man who retrieves it. This time, Petrunya dives into the water on a whim and manages to grab the cross before the others. Her competitors are furious - how dare a woman take part in their ritual? As hell breaks loose, Petrunya stands tall, challenging the church, judiciary and media. She won her cross and will not give it up. “God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya” is among the three finalists for the European Parliament’s LUX Film Prize 2019. More info on page 70.

GOSPOD POSTOI, IMETO I’ E PETRUNIJA

North Macedonia/Belgium/Slovenia/Croatia/France | 2018 | 100 min PRODUCTION: Labina Mitevska — Sisters and Brother Mitevski; Entre Chien et Loup, Vertigo, Spiritus Movens, Deuxieme Ligne Films, EZ Films CAST: Zorica Nusheva, Labina Mitevska, Simeon Moni Damevski, Stefan Vujisic SCREENPLAY: Elma Tataragic, Teona Strugar Mitevska CINEMATOGRAPHY: Virginie Saint Martin EDITING: Marie-Helene Dozo

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Irina lives in a small Bulgarian town and is the only financial support for her family. On the very same day that she gets fired, her husband experiences a serious accident which leaves him in a wheelchair. Irina’s family is threatened by poverty. To make ends meet, she decides to become a surrogate mother. Fights, despair, and the seed of life growing in her belly are shaking even further the rough and hopeless life she seems to be entitled to. Slowly, she discovers what it means to love and forgive.

With her Madonna-like face, the young discovery of the film - actress Martina Apostolova - delivers an exceptional performance in the main role.

IRINA

Bulgaria | 2018 | 96 min PRODUCTION: Stefan Kitanov – Art Fest; Front Film, Doli Media Studio, Right Solutions CAST: Martina Apostolova, Hristo Ushev, Irini Jambonas SCREENPLAY: Svetoslav Ovcharov, Bojan Vuletic, Nadejda Koseva CINEMATOGRAPHY: Kiril Prodanov EDITING: Nina Altaparmakova PROGRAM SECTION: Focus – Bulgarian New Voices

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CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

LET THERE BE LIGHT

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

NEIGHBORS

DIRECTOR: MARKO SKOP

DIRECTOR: GIGISHA ABASHIDZE

A deeply moving, award-winning drama of a Slovak father who discovers that his son joined neo-Nazi group.

Beautiful Old Tbilisi where neighbours still live together. One day a big investor appears. A touching story about transition and how money can affect even the strongest friendships and closest families.

Milan (40) has three children and does construction work in Germany in order to provide for his family in Slovakia. While visiting home over Christmas, he realises that his eldest son Adam is a member of a paramilitary youth group. When the boy is involved in bullying and the death of a classmate, his father has to decide what to do.

In this process, along with his wife, he discovers the real truth about their son, their family, themselves and the community around them. A multi-layered drama which deals with religious hypocrisy and rise of right extremism in Eastern Europe. The film had its world premiere at Karlovy Vary IFF where it won the Best Actor Award and Special Jury Mention.

Lifelong friends and neighbours, who live in one of the yards of Old Tbilisi, turn into enemies when an investor shows up to buy their houses. He wants to buy everything and build office buildings – but for this plan to succeed, everyone has to agree. This compelling, well-acted and precisely directed film ponders whether the illusion of getting rich quickly can influence people and destroy friendships and family ties.

MEZOBLEBI

Georgia/North Macedonia | 2018 | 90 min

NECH JE SVETLO

Slovakia/Czech Republic | 2019 | 93 min PRODUCTION: Marko Skop, Jan Melis – Artileria; Negativ, Rozhlas a televizia Slovenska, Ceska televize CAST: Milan Ondrik, Frantisek Beles, Zuzana Konecna, Lubomir Paulovic SCREENPLAY: Marko Skop CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jan Melis, ASK EDITING: Frantisek Krahenbiel

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PRODUCTION: Lasha Khalvashi – Artizm, Tinatin Kajrishvili – Gemini; Small Moves Films CAST: Tornike Gogrichiani, Ia Sukhitashvili, Temur Chichinadze SCREENPLAY: Gigisha Abashidze, Ioseb ‘Soso’ Bliadze CINEMATOGRAPHY: Dejan Dimeski EDITING: Nodar Nozadze

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CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

STITCHES

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

THE DELEGATION

DIRECTOR: MIROSLAV TERZIC

DIRECTOR: BUJAR ALIMANI

A powerful film inspired by the true case of a Serbian seamstress who had been searching for her “dead son” for almost two decades. Best European Film at this year’s Berlinale.

An Albanian government official is sent on a mission to a faraway prison in order to bring an important dissident back to the capital. But nothing goes as planned. Winner of the Grand Prix at the Warsaw IFF and Trieste FF.

Based on true events, the film takes place in contemporary Belgrade, 18 years after a young seamstress was coldly informed of her newborn’s sudden death. She still believes the infant was stolen from her in hospital. Dismissed by others as paranoid and with a mother’s determination, she summons the strength for one last battle against the police, the hospital bureaucracy and even her own family to uncover the truth. An emotional story of one of a hundred families who have suffered the same fate in Serbia, featuring Snezana Bogdanovic, one of the most prominent actresses from former Yugoslavia. The film had its world premiere in the Panorama section at Berlinale and won the Europa Cinemas Label for great direction, cinematography, script, editing and superior performances.

October 1990, the communist regime in Albania is trying to hold on to power. A European delegation comes to Tirana to monitor the government’s implementation of reforms. In a remote area of the country, a political prisoner is transferred overnight without knowing where or why. The car transporting him breaks down deep in the mountains. The prisoner gets acquainted with his two guards, officials devoted to the Albanian Communist Party. Their personal stories intertwine and tensions burst, just like the history of a country in turmoil.

SAVOVI

Serbia/Slovenia/Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2019 | 97 min PRODUCTION: West End Productions; Nora Production Group, Spiritus Movens, SCCA/pro.ba CAST: Snezana Bogdanovic, Marko Bacovic, Jovana Stojiljkovic SCREENPLAY: Elma Tataragic CINEMATOGRAPHY: Damjan Radovanovic EDITING: Milena Z. Petrovic

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DELEGACIONI

Albania/France/Greece/Kosovo | 2018 | 77 min PRODUCTION: Emir Turkeshi Gramo - Art Film; Zorba Production, Graal Films, Bleri Production CAST: Viktor Zhusti, Ndricim Xhepa, Xhevdet Feri, Richard Sammel SCREENPLAY: Artan Minarolli CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ilias Adamis EDITING: Bonita Papastadhi PROGRAM SECTION: Focus – Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall

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CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

CURRENT RELEVANT CINEMA

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

THE PIG

VOLCANO

DIRECTOR: DRAGOMIR SHOLEV

DIRECTOR: ROMAN BONDARCHUK

After making remarkable debut, Sholev is back with compelling, atmospheric and hyper realistic teenage drama about school violence and adolescent loneliness, masterfully directed with non-professional actors.

The new voice of Ukrainian cinema, after winning awards with “Ukrainian Sheriffs”, comes back with this amazing surreal narrative: “In deserted land of South Ukraine, in this dramatic moment of history in my country, I found a wild and forgotten place of anarchy; a new provincial order, where people live their own lives, some of them even without any documents or connection to the state”.

A shy, chubby, 13-year-old boy is bullied by his classmates every day. Living with just his grandmother while his parents work abroad, he is a lonely and introverted outsider who never responds to the insults and the mockery. Until one day, pushed to his limits, he instinctively hits back with a single, but probably fatal strike which finally puts him into self-initiation. The film premiered at the Sofia International Film Festival 2019, where it won the Special Jury Award, the Best Bulgarian Feature Film Award and the FIPRESCI Prize.

PRASETO

Bulgaria/Romania | 2018 | 96 min PRODUCTION: Elena Mosholova, Dragomir Sholev - Gorilla Films; Nu Boyana, B2Y, Screening Emotions, Papillon Film CAST: Rumen Georgiev, Andrea Zahariev, Filip Pavlov SCREENPLAY: Dragomir Sholev, Martin Iliev CINEMATOGRAPHY: Georgi Andreev EDITING: Vesela Vidolova, Dragomir Sholev PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Bulgarian New Voices

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A series of odd coincidences has left Lukas, an interpreter for an OSCE military checkpoint inspection tour, stranded near a small southern Ukrainian steppe town.

With nowhere to turn, this city boy finds shelter at the home of a colourful local named Vova. With Vova as his guide, Lukas is confronted by a universe beyond his imagination, one in which life seems utterly detached from any identifiable structure.

Fascinated by his host and his host’s daughter Marushka, with whom he is rapidly falling in love, Lukas’s contempt for provincial life slowly melts away and sets him on a quest for a happiness he had never known could exist. An amusing, weird road trip, beautifully shot, that ponders over self-recognition and happiness. More than a film, an experience!

VULKAN

Ukraine/Germany/Monaco | 2018 | 106 min PRODUCTION: Olena Yershova – Tato Film; Elemag Pictures, KNM, South CAST: Serhiy Stepansky, Viktor Zhdanov, Khrystyna Deilyk SCREENPLAY: Alla Tyutyunnik, Roman Bondarchuk, Dar’ya Averchenko CINEMATOGRAPHY: Vadym Ilkov EDITING: Mykola Bazarkin, Heike Parplies

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GRAND LOVE AFFAIRS - OLD GOLD

GRAND LOVE AFFAIRS - OLD GOLD

A YEAR OF THE QUIET SUN

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

KUDUZ

DIRECTOR: KRZYSZTOF ZANUSSI

DIRECTOR: ADEMIR KENOVIC

A sensual romantic drama in which love doesn’t need many words in order to be expressed. One of the most moving love stories in East European cinema. Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

30 years after it was made, Kuduz remains a cult film that has survived the test of time and is still being loved by generations of ex-Yugoslavs. Inspired by a real person, who after returning from prison, chooses a quiet family life with stunningly beautiful woman. However, her behaviour triggers a chain of events that destroy their love. This compelling love story won dozens of awards, including Golden Arena for Best Actress and Audience Award in Pula.

In a devastated Polish territory, shortly after World War II, a middle-aged American soldier falls deeply in love with a poor widow. She lives with her ill elderly mother, while her only joy in life is painting and discovering beauty in the surrounding sad landscape. His desire is to take her to the United States and start a new life together.

However, life has made other plans for them. The plot’s simplicity of this tenderly tragic and beautifully shot film strengthens the power of suggestion, while silently inspiring performances by leading actors bring it to the level of a masterpiece.

ROK SPOKOJNEGO SLONCA

Poland/Germany/USA | 1984 | 110 min PRODUCTION: Michael Bohme, Hartwig Schmidt, Michal Szczerbic, Regina Ziegler CAST: Maja Komorowska, Scott Wilson, Hanna Skarzanka SCREENPLAY: Krzysztof Zanussi CINEMATOGRAPHY: Slawomir Idziak EDITING: Marek Denys

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Set in 1985, in a grim city periphery, the story follows Becir Kuduz, a convicted criminal, who returns home after serving time in prison for assaulting a policeman.

Soon after, he meets Badema, an attractive, flirty young woman who has a child from a previous marriage. To everyone’s excitement, they fall in love and get married.

Kuduz is a loving husband and a father to his wife’s daughter. However, Badema’s refusal to be what is expected of her, as a wife and a mother in traditional Bosnian environment, triggers fits of rage and jealousy in Kuduz. The initial happiness of the newlyweds turns into a series of quarrels and fights, pleadings and reconciliations, culminating in a tragic end.

KUDUZ

Yugoslavia | 1989 | 105 min PRODUCTION: FRZ Bosna, Avala Film, RTV Sarajevo, Radomir Maric Raka CAST: Slobodan Custic, Snezana Bogdanovic, Ivana Legin, Branko Djuric, Mustafa Nadarevic SCREENPLAY: Abdulah Sidran, Ademir Kenovic CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mustafa Mustafic Sponsor: EDITING: Christel Tanovic

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FAMILY FILMS

FAMILY FILMS

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

GAJA’S WORLD

MY GRANDPA IS AN ALIEN

DIRECTOR: PETER BRATUSA

DIRECTORS: MARINA ANDREE SKOP / DRAZEN ZARKOVIC

Entertaining Slovenian family comedy with a little crime story! A huge hit in domestic cinemas as well as the Best Film in Children’s Programme at the Sarajevo Film Festival and Motovun Buzz@teen.

An extraordinary adventure of a girl and a robot on a mission to save her partly alien family. An inventive sci-fi children’s film that parents will enjoy too. Winner of the Golden Arenas for Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography at the Pula Film festival.

As her mother joins Doctors without Borders in Africa, Gaja now lives (together with her father and sister, Tea) in a recently dissolved family that strives to get on its feet again. She plays the saxophone, helps her father in everyday family routine and hangs out with her best friend Matic, a computer freak and eternal victim of school bullies. But nothing can keep Gaja from standing by him at every step. Together they will face a perilous situation and have to help Tea and her friend, who gets entangled in the dangerous world of online threats because of their teenage naivety. The film addresses teenagers as well as their parents with dynamic, humour, emotion, and suspense.

In a single moment, Una’s entire life is turned upside down; the girl’s grandpa is kidnapped by aliens and her mum collapses and ends up in a hospital. Left alone in the house, Una discovers that her grandpa is an alien himself. His spaceship hit the planet some time ago, and its pilot, a little grumpy robot, still remains! Una and the robot have less than 24 hours to find and rescue her grandpa. Their mission leads to a new friendship. The rational robotic logic gets replaced by emotions, and Una’s selfless love ultimately saves her partly alien family.

MOJ DIDA JE PAO S MARSA

GAJIN SVET

Slovenia | 2018 | 88 min | English subtitles PRODUCTION: Peter Bratusa, Tilen Ravnikar - Felina Films; RTV Slovenija CAST: Tara Milharcic, Sebastian Cavazza, Neza Smolinsky, Anze Gorenc SCREENPLAY: Peter Bratusa, Spela Levicnik Oblak CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mirko Pivcevic EDITING: Tomislav Pavlic

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Croatia/Luxembourg/Norway/Czech Republic/Slovakia/Slovenia/ Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2019 | 79 min | Dutch subtitles PRODUCTION: Darija Kulenovic Gudan, Marina Andree Skop – Studio dim; Wady Films, Filmbin, MasterFilm, Artileria, Senca Studio, Fabrika Sarajevo, Croatian Radiotelevision, Magiclab, Art Rebel 9 CAST: Lana Hranjec, Ozren Grabaric (voice), Alex Rakos SCREENPLAY: Branko Ruzic, Pavlica Bajsic CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sven Pepeonik EDITING: Marina Andree Skop

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DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

ARAF

BEFORE FATHER GETS BACK

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

DIRECTOR: DIDEM PEKUN

DIRECTOR: MARI GULBIANI

A poetic and haunting elegy of displacement shot in Bosnia by the Turkish director and film scholar. The film premiered at Berlinale and won the Human Rights Award at Sarajevo Film Festival.

A compelling story of two lovely teenage girls from a small Georgian village where many fathers went abroad and joined ISIS. Their dream of going to school, having fun by making amateur movies, and having normal life as before, begins to fall apart when the fathers come back.

A’raf - a Turkish word for limbo or purgatory – symbolises the borderland between heaven and hell for those who are, from incapacity, neither morally bad nor good, according to Qur’an. In this very special essayistic road movie, we follow a diary of Nayia, a ghostly character who travels between Srebrenica, Sarajevo and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has been in exile since the war and returns for the memorial of the Srebrenica genocide. Her diary notes merge with the myth of Daedalus and Icarus – Icarus being the name given to the winner of a bridge-diving competition in her home country. This years-old tradition in Mostar appears as a central motif of the film. The carefully chosen visual style with black and white photography remarkably emphasises the emotional state and grief of people at the Srebrenica Memorial.

Iman and Eva live in Pankisi, a small, remote region in Georgia, traditionally inhabited by moderate Muslims. Most of them originate from neighbouring Chechnya.

Against the will of the older generation, a growing number of young Pankisians have converted to Wahhabism, a conservative and strict form of Islam. As a result of their radicalization, many young men joined the war in Syria, leaving their families behind.

Most of village people are living in a constant fear of their relatives sacrificing their lives in the name of God. What will happen when the ones who survived the war return home? Talented director Mari Gulbiani achieved remarkable closeness with her characters and made relevant, moving film that makes us think about the world we live in.

ARAF

SANAM MAMA DABRUNDEBA

PRODUCTION: Maria Thalia Carras, Olga Hatzidaki – Locus Athens; Didem Pekun CAST: Dino Bajric as Icarus SCREENPLAY: Didem Pekun CINEMATOGRAPHY: Petros Nousias EDITING: Didem Pekun

PRODUCTION: Tekla Machavariani – Nushi Film, LuFilms, TV78, Filmpunkt CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mari Gulbiani, Nik Voigt, Toto Kotetishvili EDITING: Nina Graafland SOUND: Matthias Weber MUSIC: Levan Mizandari

Greece/Turkey/Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2018 | 45 min

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Georgia/France/Germany | 2018 | 75 min

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DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

I SEE RED PEOPLE

EASY LESSONS DIRECTOR: DOROTTYA ZURBO

DIRECTOR: BOJINA PANAYOTOVA

On the brink of adulthood, beautiful Somalian Kafia breaks free from everything she grew up with. A poetic and captivating journey of a refugee in today’s Hungary, learning to adapt to her new life.

A brave and thrilling documentary investigation about the filmmaker’s own family participation in state espionage during communism in Bulgaria.

Kafia is 17 years old. Two years ago she fled to Europe, escaping from a child marriage in Somalia. She has been living in a state children’s home in Budapest ever since. She learns the Hungarian language, goes to high school, prepares for the graduation exam, and dreams about a modeling career. On the surface, everything seems fine. However, behind that beautiful and confident appearance lies a heavy heart. Her repetitive daily routine revolves around constant dilemmas and self-doubt about leaving behind her Muslim culture and everything else she grew up with. As she lets the camera get closer to her, the film slowly becomes an intimate confession. What does it mean to break with your past and fully give yourself up to a new life in Europe?

KONNYU LECKEK

Hungary | 2018 | 78 min PRODUCTION: Julianna Ugrin – Eclipse Film CAST: Kafiya Said Mahdi CINEMATOGRAPHY: Natasha Pavlovskaya EDITING: Peter Sass SOUND: Rudolf Varhegyi H.A.S.E. PROGRAM SECTION: Focus – Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants

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After twenty-five years spent in France, due to the emigration of her family from communist Bulgaria, Bojina return to her home country, torn out by street protests against the never changing status quo. She carries a camera and a vertiginous suspicion: what if her family had collaborated back then with the political police of the communist regime? And what if they belong to the so called “red trash” that the protestors want to see disappearing? She decides to investigate her own family while filming constantly and being ready for anything. Her adventure turns into a tragic-comic odyssey, a mix of a spy thriller and a family portrait.

JE VOIS ROUGE

France | 2018 | 84 min PRODUCTION: Roy Arida – Stank, Arnaud Dommerc – Andolfi SCREENPLAY: Bojina Panayotova CINEMATOGRAPHY: Bojina Panayotova EDITING: Lea Chatauret, Elsa Jonquet, Bojina Panayotova SOUND: Pablo Salaun, Xavier Sirven PROGRAM SECTION: Focus – Bulgarian New Voices Focus – Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants Focus – Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall

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DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

KINDERS

IN TOUCH DIRECTOR: PAWEL ZIEMILSKI

DIRECTORS: ARASH & ARMAN T. RIAHI

A moving story of immigration, the hopes of those left behind and the desires of others who chose to live their country. Winner of the Special Jury Award for Mid-Length Documentary at IDFA 2018!

A touching film about hidden potential, creativity, integration, the power of music and the possible future of our society. It shows new ways of inspiring adolescent creativity and is a push for a new education policy. The film won the Audience Award at Diagonale in Graz and the Jury Award in Sarajevo.

The village Stare Juchy, which means in Polish Old Blood, is located in Masuria, area often referred as “The Land of Thousand Lakes”. Most of the inhabitants have emigrated to Iceland since the 80s and nobody has returned. Those who stayed behind, most of them elderly, hope to see them back. Now, their children and grandchildren have a different destiny away from Poland, and the only way to keep a relationship is... Skype.

IN TOUCH

Kinders shows a musical world that is more open and richer than the world the children came from, a world where they learn to trust themselves. It gives them access to a day-to-day life in which they are heard and seen and their needs are respected.

Through a music project, we learn from Arash and Arman T. Riahi what really goes on in our children’s lives - their worries, joys and desires. A mature film about children empathetic, merciless, and inspiring.

KINDERS

Poland/Iceland | 2018 | 60 min PRODUCTION: Lukasz Dlugolecki, Haukur M. Hrafnsson — NUR; Join Motion Pictures, TVP, MX35, Oxymoron, Widok CINEMATOGRAPHY: Filip Drozdz, Asta Julia Gudjonsdottir EDITING: Dorota Wardeszkiewicz SOUND: Pawel Szygendowski MUSIC: Arni Valur Kristinsson, Martina Bertoni PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants

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Austria | 2016 | 95 min PRODUCTION: Golden Girls Filmproduktion — Arash T. Riahi & Karin C. Berger, Sabine Grube SCREENPLAY: Riahi Brothers CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mario Minichmayr, Riahi Brothers EDITING: David Arno Schwaiger SOUND: Claus Benischke, Hjalti Bager-Jonathansson PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants

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DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

ON THE WATER

MOSTAR UNITED DIRECTOR: CLAUDIA TOSI

DIRECTOR: GORAN DEVIC

Historically important and attractive for tourists, after the war in the 1990s the beautiful city of Mostar has lived its peace as a divided city, separated on two sides by the Neretva River. The film is part of our Focus program which emphasizes some of the aberrations of “united” Europe that at several vulnerable spots, even 30 years after the Berlin Wall fell, is still divided.

In this touching documentary, Goran Devic captures poetic visuals of his hometown in Croatia that was once a thriving multinational community. Critics proclaim “On the Water” as one of his best achievements and the jury of the DOK Leipzig honoured him because it ‘’beautifully shows that despite the trauma and the scars of war, humanity and survival transcend’’.

For four years Italian director followed a football enthusiast and Bosnian war veteran in his struggle against nationalism. While his fighting in the war ended in the mid-nineties, the fight he didn’t anticipate at the time is still ongoing. Using football as his tool, Mensud Durakovic spends his days trying to coach boys from Croatian and Bosnian part of the city of Mostar. Football techniques are just part of his training, as the true focus of Mensud’s effort is to develop feelings of unity and mutual respect for kids from different communities. Football trainings are rare moments of overcoming divisions for kids who attend ethnically separated schools and live on different parts of the city, split by a magnificent river.

A human story of the former industrial city of Sisak told through the rivers that pass through its centre. Today, the rivers are places of relaxation and leisure. However, when we meet people who appear on the water or riverside, the social conflicts of a country in transition arise in all directions. Sometimes the river reveals the remains of past that left traces in the water. Even though Yugoslavian civil war was more than two decades ago, this historic period seems like a parallel reality which throws its shadows over the protagonists. What will remain behind us?

NA VODI

Croatia | 2018 | 79 min

MOSTAR UNITED

Italy/Slovenia | 2008 | 73 min PRODUCTION: Edoardo Fracchia — Stefilm International; Petra Pan Film Production SCREENPLAY: Claudia Tosi CINEMATOGRAPHY: Brand Ferro EDITING: Rasmus Hogdall Molgaard SOUND: Vladimir Rakic

PRODUCTION: Hrvoje Osvadic — Petnaesta umjetnost SCREENPLAY: Goran Devic CINEMATOGRAPHY: Damian Nenadic EDITING: Jan Klemsche, Vanja Sirucek SOUND: Martin Semencic

PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall

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DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

PALACE FOR THE PEOPLE

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ME AND ME

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

DIRECTORS: BORIS MISSIRKOV/GEORGI BOGDANOV

DIRECTORS: MONA NICOARA/DANA BUNESCU

An exciting cinematic tour through five impressive palaces from socialist times in Eastern Europe.

The renowned Romanian poet, Nina Cassian, is a fascinating artist whose life is a unique fight between ethics and aesthetics. She saves herself in fairy tales through times of fascism, communism, and an unwanted exile into capitalism.

Until the 20th century, ordinary people didn’t have access to palaces. This was given to them with the arrival of communist ideology when collective good was the major state policy, to remind people there was an ultimate power and brighter future. Here are the stories of the most emblematic buildings that witnessed historical turbulences in Eastern Europe in the 2nd half of the century. The National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Moscow State University, Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Palace of Serbia in Belgrade, Palace of the Republic in Berlin are unique architectural creatures constructed with a lot of courage, as well as a bit of lunacy by the local authorities. Each one is the tallest, the largest, has the biggest clock on Earth, or the most advanced technology of its time. Now that socialism is over, it’s time to go back and reveal their hidden secrets. A snapshot of the palaces today seen through the eyes of their architects, former and current directors, and people who took care of them.

Bulgaria/Germany/Romania | 2018 | 76 min PRODUCTION: Martichka Bozhilova – Agitprop; Filmtank, ICON Production SCREENPLAY: Boris Missirkov, Georgi Bogdanov CINEMATOGRAPHY: Boris Missirkov, Georgi Bogdanov EDITING: Ema Konstantinova SOUND: Momchil Bozhkov PROGRAM SECTION: Focus – Bulgarian New Voices Focus – Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall

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We all wrestle with our past. Some more than others. Romanian Jewish avant-garde poet, musician, visual artist, femme fatale, prodigious drinker and terminal smoker Nina Cassian had more than most to wrestle with. Her refuge in the Communist underground during the Fascist 1940s put her first in complicit proximity to the Stalinist regime of the 1950s. This then propelled her on a collision course with the Ceausescu regime in the 1970s and eventually sent her into an unwanted New York exile in 1985, when her poems led to a secret police murder. An intensely personal film about art, belief and politics based on a rich archive of films, music, poems, official television appearances, never-before-seen private recordings and secret police surveillance materials.

DISTANTA DINTRE MINE SI MINE Romania/USA | 2018 | 89 min

PRODUCTION: Ada Solomon/Alexandru Solomon - Hi Film Productions, Mona Nicoara — Sat Mic Film, Diana Paroiu - Romanian Public Television CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ovidiu Marginean, Rudolf Costin EDITING: Dana Bunescu SOUND: Dana Bunescu PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall

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DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

THE STONE SPEAKERS

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

THE WINTER GARDEN’S TALE

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

DIRECTOR: IGOR DRLJACA

DIRECTOR: SIMON MOZGOVYI

This visually superb, poetic, and thought-provoking documentary examines the cross points between tourism and ideology in four post-war Bosnia and Herzegovinian towns. This film by Sarajevo born director who now lives in Canada, was screened at Berlinale 2019.

“The super-task is to show how palm trees and ficuses feel everything that happens with them and in general, what is the most important: people or plants. It is tragicomic film about life: not easy, but still life, with a bit of self-irony and allegory to routine”, points out Ukrainian director who meticulously filmed this exquisite place throughout the seasons.

Present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country still affected by the civil war in the early 90s. The Bosnian economy never recovered, and the country remains divided.

In order to cope, many towns have transformed themselves into unique tourist destinations that bring together history, religion, politics and folklore. The tourist sites promoted are not only a reflection of peopleʼs attempts to make a livelihood, but are also a means to promote and establish contradicting versions about the countryʼs past, present and future. ‘’The Stone Speakers’’ explores the cities of Medjugorje, Tuzla, Visoko and Visegrad through their tourism, slowly unravelling these competing narratives.

The Floriculture Pavilion, one of the last soviet symbols, is about to end its existence.

Its fate is decided when the elderly employee Valentyna Voronina is asked to retire.

But Voronina does not agree with that. She thinks that all the plants will die without her, after investing her whole life into them. Meanwhile, a group of mysterious radioesthesists find a channel of positive energy right in front of the entrance of pavilion…

The Winter Garden’s Tale is a vivid testimony of changing epochs process and human unwillingness to change.

ISTORIYA ZYMOVOHO SADU

KAMENI GOVORNICI

Canada/Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2018 | 92 min PRODUCTION: Igor Drljaca, Albert Shin — Timelapse Pictures SCREENPLAY: Igor Drljaca CINEMATOGRAPHY: Amel Djikoli EDITING: Igor Drljaca SOUND: Aaron Mirkin

Ukraine/Czech Republic | 2018 | 75 min PRODUCTION: Alex Chepiga, Artem Koliubaiev, Taras Bosak — Mainstream Pictures LLC SCREENPLAY: Simon Mozgovyi CINEMATOGRAPHY: Denys Melnyk EDITING: Mykola Bazarkin, Simon Mozgovyi SOUND: Natalya Avramenko, Andrii Nidzelskyi, Michal Pajdiak

PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants

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DOCUMENTARIES OPEN DEBATES

SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

90 SECONDS IN NORTH KOREA

DIRECTOR: RAFAL LYSAK

DIRECTOR: RANKO PAUKOVIC

A grandma and her gay grandson trying to find the way towards mutual acceptance and unconditional love in this very honest, personal story full of emotions and humour.

The Croatian-Dutch director has created poetic snippets of North Korean everyday life, showing the side of the country never present in the news.

Is understanding between a deeply religious 80-year-old woman and her gay grandson possible? Are they able to overcome their beliefs in the name of love? A compelling documentary and intimate journey of the director Rafal, who was raised by his grandmother Teresa and treated her as a second mother. She has invested all her love and hope in him until he told her about his homosexuality. The news broke her heart. She sees no other way of life for the young man than marrying a woman.

The best film in the Polish competition at the 58th Krakow Film Festival, premiered internationally at IDFA.

Every frame of this 15-minute journey through the streets and fields of North Korea transports the viewer into the shoes of an ordinary person living in the country. The director lets you glide along without imposing any moral judgements nor value statements. You can immerse in your own experience of people fixing a broken tractor by the road, while others are manually watering green public fields and adults dance and relax in nature. The slow-motion view greatly corresponds with the pace of life in a country far from the hectic western world.

90 SECONDS IN NORTH KOREA

Croatia/The Netherlands | 2018 | 15 min

MILOSC BEZWARUNKOWA Poland | 2018 | 40 min

PRODUCTION: Produkcja Filmow Jacek Blawut SCREENPLAY: Rafal Lysak CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michal Luka, Zofia Dabrowska, Rafal Lysak EDITING: Piotr Wojcik SOUND: Rafal Lysak, Piotr Pliszka

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PRODUCTION: Ranko Paukovic — Editson CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ranko Paukovic EDITING: Ranko Paukovic SOUND: Ranko Paukovic

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SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

BASHKIMI UNITED

CLOUD FOREST

DIRECTOR: LASSE LINDER

DIRECTOR: ELIANE ESTHER BOTS

An award-winning short documentary of a seemingly small player and a larger than life story.

A fairytale-like film in which five Dutch girls take the viewer on an imaginative journey through the memories and images they have of their parents’ experiences of the war in the former Yugoslavia. A war which the girls haven’t physically experienced themselves.

In his barbershop, Bashkim from Pristina tinkers with hair and hearts. He shares his philosophy of life with his customers, whom he treats like guests and talks about his latest project – shooting a film. Bashkim is the director of his own story. He is transfigured from being a marginal figure to having the key role in an aesthetic exploration of the big concepts in life.

BASHKIMI UNITED

Switzerland | 2018 | 10 min PRODUCTION: Edith Fluckiger — Studienrichtung Video Hochschule Luzern / Design & Kunst SCREENPLAY: Lasse Linder CINEMATOGRAPHY: Dejan Barac EDITING: Lasse Linder SOUND: Kathleen Moser PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants

In Cloud Forest, the narratives are a combination of facts and imaginations, vague memories and detailed impressions, transferred from the parents to their daughters through conversations, listening in, silence and finding information on YouTube. Resulting in a scattered image of a conflict present on the horizon of one’s life. It is in the darkness, in the shadows, lit by mobile phones, where these narratives can unfold. While the girls listen back to their own stories, a mechanism similar to listening to a narrative shared by a parent, the viewer is invited to listen along and become part of the intimate spheres of their family.

CLOUD FOREST

The Netherlands | 2019 | 18 min PRODUCTION: Manon Bovenkerk — Near/by Filmmakers CAST: Elma, Amira, Alma, Amela, Matea CINEMATOGRAPHY: Daniel Donato, Herman van den Bosch SOUND: Sergio Gonzalez Cuervo PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants

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SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

GREAT WALL OF CHINA

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

HOPE

DIRECTOR: ALEKSANDRA ODIC

DIRECTORS: BERNARD BRKIC/LUKA RADOVIC

A compelling story from today’s Bosnia where the temptation to migrate is omnipresent among the young generation.

A modern drama that deals with buried emotions and relationship gone cold. A story of a man trying to win his ex-wife back, full of comic moments.

A family gathering in the Bosnian countryside brings joy and pleasure to almost everyone. Maja, an 8-year-old girl is the single family member that is noticing change is happening, while all the grownups are blind to it. Through a mix of dreamy sequences and bright daylight, Maja’s realisation of her rebellious aunt Ljilja’s next steps are revealed. Ljilja, an arty teen, is simply not cut for the post-conflict reality in the Bosnian countryside. She regards individuality and self-expression, the values that are not highly appreciated in her surroundings. While she’s getting ready to change that forever, Maja stands as the only witness of those intentions.

Reviving a relationship is a very delicate task, which inevitably brings back bad memories and calls for caution. As she assumes a distrustful and defensive attitude, he becomes more and more insecure until the moment when he spots in her bedroom an old photo of the two of them as a happy couple.

That gives him courage, but his hope is not meant to last long. Bosnian actor turned director Bernard Brkic co-directed with young Luka Radovic their debut film Hope.

HOPE

Germany/The Netherlands | 2019 | 15 min

KINESKI ZID

Germany | 2017 | 36 min PRODUCTION: Aleksandra Odic — Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB) CAST: Elena Matic, Tina Keserovic, Faketa Salihbegovic-Avdagic SCREENPLAY: Aleksandra Odic CINEMATOGRAPHY: Katharina Diessner EDITING: Branka Pavlovic

PRODUCTION: Studio 104A, Garden Productions CAST: Katarina Justic, Bernard Brkic, David Brkic, Ronja Seyfried SCREENPLAY: Bernard Brkic CINEMATOGRAPHY: Luka Radovic EDITING: Luka Radovic

PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants

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SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

I CAN BARELY REMEMBER THE DAY

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

IN BETWEEN

DIRECTOR: LEON LUCEV

DIRECTOR: SAMIR KARAHODA

Renowned Croatian actor Leon Lucev has visited our festival several times and was always received with a huge appreciation for his acting performances. Now we’ll see him in another role - as a director. His debut premiered at the Locarno Film Festival.

It won the Best Film Award at GoEast in Wiesbaden, and deals with family, pain and conflicting loyalties.

Emigration is about to tear families apart, but the feeling of belonging determines an awkward form of expressing their unity. A moving short, premiered at this year’s Berlinale.

Goran’s youngest daughter, Zoe, is celebrating her tenth birthday. While family and friends are gathering and the party is kicking off, Goran receives a phone call with unwelcome news. Knowing that it would ruin the planned celebration, he hides the truth from everyone. He tries, with success, to play the perfect host - but one person senses the powerful emotions that are on the verge of tearing him apart. The director shows the feelings that protagonist cannot pronounce through cinematography, the choice of his stylistic devices and the excellent acting performances, emphasized the GoEast jury.

MALO SE SJECAM TOG DANA Croatia | 2018 | 21 min

PRODUCTION: Ivana Ivisic — Everything works CAST: Goran Bogdan, Nina Violic, Daria Lorenci Flatz, Sandro Miljus SCREENPLAY: Leon Lucev CINEMATOGRAPHY: Radislav Jovanov Gonzo EDITING: Ivana Fumic

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Striving for a better life, many people from Kosovo emigrate. Meanwhile, their parents still hope that the family stays unified. More than just a gesture and as powerful as a statement can be, brothers and sons who work and live abroad build identical houses to express the equality and unity in the family. An empathetic portrait of the families that, by economic necessity, need to live much of their lives separated and away from their own cultures.

NE MES

Kosovo | 2019 | 14 min PRODUCTION: Eroll Bilibani — SK Pictures SCREENPLAY: Samir Karahoda CINEMATOGRAPHY: Samir Karahoda EDITING: Enis Saraci SOUND: Memli Kelmendi, Gezim Rama PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants

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SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHANGHAI

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

DIRECTOR: LEYLI GAFAROVA

DIRECTOR: ONDREJ ERBAN

The renowned German director Veit Helmer is shooting a fiction film in a poor area of the capital Baku in Azerbaijan. The area is called Shanghai and its inhabitants are part of the film. The director’s assistant, Lejli Gafarova, makes a documentary parallel to shooting of the fiction and the famous actor, Miki Manojlovic, arrives too.

A hilarious and thought-provoking documentary.

An award-winning Czech short on debt and its impact on people’s daily lives, screened this year in Cannes.

Intercepting the footage of the German film crew trying to film around the railroad going through Shanghai with scenes of the slum’s daily life, the director takes us on a journey through the last days of a slum in Azerbaijan’s capital. Men talk with a sense of nostalgia and pride over the petty crimes they’ve committed as youngsters from Shanghai. Elders instruct children to express their love for Shanghai, while children talk about the fear they feel when a train interrupts their play at the railroads and friends end up in the hospital.

Right now, almost one in ten Czechs over the age of 15 faces the prospect of having their property seized because of the money they owe. Every day, more and more people fall into the debt trap, but Karel is on the opposite side of the dilemma - his job is collecting debts. The young director Ondrej Erban tackles one of the biggest social issues of the country, and points out: “I wanted to give the audience as authentic experience as possible of what it is like to have your property seized; to give them a feeling that would stay with them even after the film was over, so maybe they would have a little bit more empathy for the people who get caught in a debt trap”.

STO DVACET OSM TISIC ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHANGHAI Azerbaijan/Germany | 2018 | 35 min

PRODUCTION: Veit Helmer CINEMATOGRAPHY: Leyli Gafarova EDITING: Leyli Gafarova SOUND: Michiel De Malsche, Leyli Gafarova MUSIC: Emin Sabitoglu

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Czech Republic | 2018 | 16 min PRODUCTION: Laura Figurova, FAMU, Filmtalent Zlin Foundation Fund CAST: Ctirad Gotz, Elizaveta Maximova, Jiri Konvalinka SCREENPLAY: Ondrej Erban CINEMATOGRAPHY: David Hofmann EDITING: Simona Donovalova

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SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

SEPARATION, VIVID DREAMS

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

THE BRIDGE

DIRECTOR: BOJANA RADULOVIC

DIRECTOR: VALMIRA HYSENI

Upon return to a dilapidated home, an artist feels caught between the war-torn past and a bleak future.

Kosovo today. The city of Mitrovica is divided in two parts – the northern with Serbian population and the southern where Albanians reside. Visiting family members’ graves can be a real struggle.

After seventeen years, artist Bojana Radulovic returns to her childhood home in Montenegro. The house is small, made of stone, and in a state of disrepair. Looking into the past through the plastic sheets with which Radulovic wrapped the house, she sees the interior. The family pictures hanging on the wall, memories and snippets of a life long gone. Once a family home, the house is now at mercy of developers and political changes. Being caught between the past and uncertain future, the artist feels rootless despite having a physical home.

SEPARATION, VIVID DREAMS

After the conflict of 1998-1999 in Kosovo, the city of Mitrovica (previously called Kosovska and also Titova Mitrovica) was divided into a Serbian and Albanian part.

The Northern part of the city and the Southern part are separated by a fortified bridge. The graveyards of ethnic Serbs from Kosovo living in the North side are on the South side, while the graveyard of the Albanians are on the North side. A visit to the cemetery can be a very dangerous endeavour in the hostile city, although the dead are free and they can move freely on both sides of the city.

Montenegro/Belgium | 2018 | 19 min

URA

PRODUCTION: Bojana Radulovic — Code Blue Production, Michel Dutry — Nameless Production SCREENPLAY: Bojana Radulovic CINEMATOGRAPHY: Thierry Detaille, Bojana Radulovic EDITING: Marie-Helene Mora SOUND: Thierry Detaille, Bojana Radulovic

PRODUCTION: Valmira Hyseni — Shqip Film LLC SCREENPLAY: Valmira Hyseni CINEMATOGRAPHY: Boubkar Benzabat EDITING: Arber Dinarama, Blerdi Malushi SOUND: Gazmend Zhubi

PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants

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Kosovo | 2018 | 17 min

PROGRAM SECTION: Focus — Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall

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SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

THE END OF DARKNESS

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

THE LOVER

DIRECTOR: RANKO PAUKOVIC

DIRECTOR: IGOR IVANOV

Croatian-Dutch filmmaker observes female miners in Bosnia and explores how it feels to spend a whole life working in what is, for women, a rare profession.

Love, the most powerful and enigmatic of all life experiences makes the impossible possible. But what about regained love? A delicate short silent movie to make belief in love possible again!

For multiple generations from a small Bosnian mining town, the dark coal mine Breza is the fulfillment of professional dreams and a symbol of progress, as well as the cause of the biggest tragedy. Sakiba, an enthusiastic woman with strong opinions, stands tall among the majority male miners. She can’t get her head around division of jobs to ‘female’ and ‘male’, an opinion she has fought since she landed a miner’s job at the age of nineteen. Walking down the dark tunnels with loose safety regulations, she talks about appreciation for natural light and retirement, when she hopes to try some new mindfulness techniques her colleague reads about online. Sakiba was never welcome to drink along a male colleagues in a local bar when payday comes, but she ends up dancing to the beats of well-known Yugoslav rock band celebrating her hero.

NA KRAJU TAME

A failed circus artist managed to regain his beloved and to pull her from the embrace of her new lover, using the acrobatic skills she once fell in love with him for.

LJUBOVNIKOT

North Macedonia | 2018 | 8 min PRODUCTION: Tomi Salkovski — Skopje Film Studio CAST: Igor Angelov, Natalija Teodosieva, Sasho Petrovski SCREENPLAY: Igor Ivanov CINEMATOGRAPHY: Dragan Salkovski, Dejan Dimeski, Tomi Salkovski EDITING: Vladimir Pavlovski

Croatia | 2018 | 27 min PRODUCTION: Zdenka Gold — Spiritus Movens SCREENPLAY: Ranko Paukovic CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jacqueline van Vugt EDITING: Ursa Vlahusic SOUND: Ranko Paukovic

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SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

SHORT FILMS, BIG STORIES

WAITING FOR A MIRACLE

DUTCH PREMIÉRE

WOULD YOU LOOK AT HER

DIRECTOR: ALJONA SURZIKOVA

DIRECTOR: GORAN STOLEVSKI

A woman’s biggest joy is giving the gift of life to a new human being. The biggest pain – the loss of a child – helps to see the beauty in life. A film about life and how miraculous it is that we are alive.

A stubborn girl finds the unlikely solution to all her problems in an all-male religious ritual.

Aljona is waiting for a baby birth. Happiness is in the air, but a huge problem causes change. The filmmaker turns the camera upon herself and her family to capture the excitement and mayhem of the arrival of a new-born. When events take an unexpected turn, the viewer is drawn into the turmoil and we see the most taboo topic in the film, birth and death.

OODATES IMET

Estonia | 2018 | 14 min PRODUCTION: Ulo Pikkov — Silmviburlane; Diafilm CAST: Aljona Surzikova, Sergei Trofimov SCREENPLAY: Aljona Surzikova CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sergei Trofimov EDITING: Aljona Surzikova, Sergei Trofimov, Heilika Pikkov

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A misfit, 18-year-old Aneta, is bullied at school for her feelings towards female friend and for her tomboy attitude. As any teenager, her life revolves around her mobile phone. In one of the incidents, her phone was tossed off the bus and crashed. In order to get a new one and solve a problem of a broken TV at home, Aneta decides to confront the local priest to let her participate in a centuries-old all-male church ritual of retrieving a cross from the river. The winner of the ritual will receive a brand new mobile phone and a TV set. If allowed, she will have to compete against the same bullies that harass her.

VIDI JA TI NEA

North Macedonia | 2017 | 19 min PRODUCTION: Tomi Salkovski, Dimitar Minov, Kristijan Burovski — Black Cat Production; Skopje Film Studio CAST: Sara Klimoska, Igor Angelov, Pirunika Kiselicki SCREENPLAY: Goran Stolevski CINEMATOGRAPHY: Naum Doksevski EDITING: Goran Stolevski

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EUROPE, 30 YEARS AFTER THE BERLIN WALL  I SEE RED PEOPLE  MOSTAR UNITED  MY GRANNY FROM MARS  PALACE FOR THE PEOPLE  SWEET EMMA, DEAR BOBE  THE BRIDGE  THE DELEGATION  THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ME AND ME

BREAKING AND BUILDING WALLS IN EUROPE During our festival, it will be exactly 30 years since the East German Government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens were free to travel to West Germany and West Berlin from that moment on. The whole of Europe celebrated.

People chipped away parts of the Berlin Wall and the government used professional equipment to remove the infamous barrier of Europe, which – together with the mass protests that were already going on – signified the beginning of the end of the communist regime of East Germany and the transition towards a free, democratic and unified Germany.

Today, 30 years later, Europe is building new walls and becoming increasingly divided. Boundaries along borders that keep out those fleeing from conflicted or poverty-stricken areas in the Middle East and Africa, are the subject of heated debates.

Shockingly, there are even several cities in Europe that are still or again divided between East and West, as a result of conflict. For instance, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo or parts of countries like Moldova and Ukraine.

Therefore, ENFF wants to reflect the seriousness of the political and human crises because of which different types of walls, borders, hurdles and regulations were and are constructed. Our Focus program deals not only with the films reflecting on Europe during and after the Berlin Wall, but also very much with the current situation and re-establishment of divisions among people.

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I SEE RED PEOPLE

MY GRANNY FROM MARS

SWEET EMMA, DEAR BOBE

THE DELEGATION

Bojina Panayotova | France | 2018 | 84 min | Synopsis on page 27.

Alexander Mihalkovich | Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia | 2018 | 72 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 7.

Istvan Szabo | Hungary | 1992 | 90 min | Synopsis on page 8.

Bujar Alimani | Albania, France, Greece, Kosovo | 2018 | 77 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 17.

A brave and thrilling documentary investigation about the filmmaker’s own family participation in state espionage during communism in Bulgaria.

When politics and nationalism turn Crimea into an unfriendly environment, can it still be a safe place for a grandma and her big family? A humorous and charming film awarded with the Docu Talent Prize by Ji.hlava Academy.

MOSTAR UNITED

PALACE FOR THE PEOPLE

Claudia Tosi | Italy, Slovenia | 2008 | 73 min | Synopsis on page 30.

Boris Missirkov/Georgi Bogdanov | Bulgaria, Germany, Romania | 2018 | 76 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 32.

Historically important and attractive for tourists, after the war in the 1990s the beautiful city of Mostar has lived its peace as a divided city, separated on two sides by the Neretva River.

An exciting cinematic tour through five impressive palaces from socialist times in Eastern Europe.

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A must-see classic that was awarded the Silver Bear at the 1992 Berlinale, with a remarkable performance by the Dutch actress Johanna ter Steege.

Probably the most improvised film ever made by Istvan Szabo, it was the first to depict the hard changes of the Hungarian society started in 1989.

THE BRIDGE Valmira Hyseni | Kosovo | 2018 | 17 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 47.

Kosovo today. The city of Mitrovica is divided in two parts – the northern with Serbian population and the southern where Albanians reside. Visiting family members’ graves can be a real struggle.

The film reflects the 1990s in Albania and addresses the destiny of a prisoner and free minded professor, whose friend from France comes to visit him. The Frenchman is so important in this transitional period in Albania, that they fake the freedom of the professor to keep up appearances.

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ME AND ME Mona Nicoara/Dana Bunescu | Romania, USA | 2018 | 89 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 33.

A portrait of the mesmerizing artist Nina Cassian. From Ceaușescu’s Romania to her final years in America, forever a troublesome intellectual.

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CINEMA BY MIGRANTS/ CINEMA ON MIGRANTS  BASHKIMI UNITED  CLOUD FOREST  EASY LESSONS  GREAT WALL OF CHINA  I SEE RED PEOPLE  IN BETWEEN  IN TOUCH  KINDERS  SEPARATION, VIVID DREAMS  THE STONE SPEAKERS

History is teaching us that migrants should not be seen as parasites who come to profit from the benefits of society. Not seldom do they make tremendous contributions to their new homelands, either in politics, art, culture or science. From Nikola Tesla to Jonas Mekas, from Marina Abramovic to Milos Forman, to name a few.

In this program section we show work by people who contributed considerably to the film world of western Europe where they live, while originally coming from East and South East Europe. At the same time, the program aims to show how revitalized contemporary European cinema is, how an eclectic mix of non-western traditions, cultural connotations and sensibilities are creating the new identity of European contemporary cinema.

Let’s recall makers like Jasmin Dizdar who made Beautiful People (1999) in the UK, a satirical comedy that won Un Certain Regard Award in Cannes; or Fraulein (2006), made in Switzerland by Andrea Staka, that was awarded in Locarno. Here in the Netherlands, Ena Sendijarevic with Take Me Somewhere Nice (2019), that was awarded at IFFR and won the Heart of Sarajevo this year.

This section also presents films made by local filmmakers that look at the life of migrants; either in dealing with job opportunities, the way they adapt to the new social establishment, or their emotional charge of homesickness.

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BASHKIMI UNITED

EASY LESSONS

IN BETWEEN

SEPARATION, VIVID DREAMS

Lasse Linder | Switzerland | 2018 | 10 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 38.

Dorottya Zurbo | Hungary | 2018 | 78 min | Synopsis on page 26.

Samir Karahoda | Kosovo | 2019 | 14 min | Synopsis on page 43.

On the brink of adulthood, beautiful Somalian Kafia breaks free from everything she grew up with. A poetic and captivating journey of a refugee in today’s Hungary, learning to adapt to her new life.

Emigration is about to tear families apart, but the feeling of belonging determines an awkward form of expressing their unity. A moving short, premiered at this year’s Berlinale.

Bojana Radulovic | Montenegro/ Belgium | 2018 | 19 min | Synopsis on page 46.

An award-winning short documentary about a seemingly small player from Kosovo and a larger than life story.

GREAT WALL OF CHINA CLOUD FOREST Eliane Esther Bots | The Netherlands | 2019 | 18 min | Synopsis on page 39.

A fairytale-like film in which five Dutch girls take the viewer on an imaginative journey through the memories and images they have of their parents’ experiences of the war in the former Yugoslavia.

Aleksandra Odic | Germany | 2017 | 36 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 40.

A compelling story from today’s Bosnia where the temptation to migrate is omnipresent among the young generation.

I SEE RED PEOPLE Bojina Panayotova | France | 2018 | 84 min | Synopsis on page 27.

A brave and thrilling documentary investigation about the filmmaker’s own family participation in state espionage during communism in Bulgaria.

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Upon return to a dilapidated home, an artist feels caught between the war-torn past and a bleak future.

IN TOUCH Pawel Ziemilski | Poland/Iceland | 2018 | 60 min | Synopsis on page 28.

A moving story of immigration, the hopes of those left behind and the desires of others who chose to leave their country. Winner of the Special Jury Award for Mid-Length Documentary at IDFA 2018.

THE STONE SPEAKERS Igor Drljaca | Canada/Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2018 | 92 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 34.

This visually superb, poetic, and thought-provoking documentary examines the cross points between tourism and ideology in four post-war Bosnia and Herzegovinian towns. The film was screened at Berlinale 2019.

KINDERS Arash & Arman T. Riahi | Austria | 2016 | 95 min | Synopsis on page 29.

A touching film about hidden potential, creativity, integration, the power of music and the possible future of our society. It shows new ways of inspiring adolescent creativity and is a push for a new education policy.

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Gifted new voices, among whom are several strong female directors, have already being spotted and presented at big festivals like Berlin, Cannes, Rotterdam, Venice and IDFA. However, distribution of their films in the West is rare. That’s why we put in the limelight several compelling, exciting films from Bulgaria that reflect the spirit of today’s society.

Female director Nadejda Koseva was already noticed as a talent with her first film story, part of the omnibus Lost and Found (2005). There, as well as in her last film Irina, she focuses on a young woman who has to invent a way to save her family from the economic malaise that severely affects a large part of society.

Another fiction film, The Pig by Dragomir Sholev, mirrors the country in which 25 percent of the population today works abroad. The story deals with the drama of a bullied child that, in the absence of his parents, lives with his granny.

BULGARIAN NEW VOICES  I SEE RED PEOPLE  IRINA  PALACE FOR THE PEOPLE  THE PIG

Two documentaries in our program are also part of the sections Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall and Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants. In Palace for the People, the directors Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov are looking at the meaning of the socialist heritage - ridiculously huge palaces that were built as life monuments to the communist rulers at the time. In intimate documentary I See Red People, the female director Bojina Panayotova, herself migrant in France, tries to reveal her family secrets, examining the family’s position within the communist ruling strata.

I SEE RED PEOPLE

PALACE FOR THE PEOPLE

Bojina Panayotova | France | 2018 | 84 min | Synopsis on page 27.

Boris Missirkov/Georgi Bogdanov | Bulgaria/Germany/Romania | 2018 | 76 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 32.

IRINA Nadejda Koseva | Bulgaria | 2018 | 96 min | Synopsis on page 13.

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THE PIG Dragomir Sholev | Bulgaria/Romania | 2018 | 96 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 18.

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OLD GOLD GRAND GRAND LOVE LOVE AFFAIRS AFFAIRS  A YEAR OF THE QUIET SUN  KUDUZ

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For many years the ENFF has featured the section OLD GOLD. This category is dedicated to films that survived the political and social changes in the countries where they were made and prove to still be relevant, as well as being watched and loved by new generations. We as a festival provide this ‘blast to the past’ because we believe that it is important to bring to Dutch viewers the context in which their neighbours grew up and use to live.

In order not to keep the whole program as heavy and tragic, as Eastern European films often are, we give our audience the opportunity to revel in epic LOVE stories. Although these films have a rather accessible and light cinematic theme, they often feature more serious political and social circumstances that are crucial to unfolding the destiny of a loving couple.

One of the classic masters of European film, Krzysztof Zanussi from Poland, directed A year of the quiet sun that won the Golden Lion in Venice in 1984. With remarkable performances by the famous Polish actress Maja Komorowska and the American actor Scott Wilson. We hope that this film will bring a breeze from home and cheer up many Polish expats living in the Hague.

Furthermore, the Festival brings cult Bosnian film Kuduz by veteran director Ademir Kenovic. The film was made just in the eve of the ex-Yugoslav tragedy and it is based on a true story. The script was written by Abdulah Sidran, well-known Bosnian poet and early Kusturica scriptwriter. The main actress Snezana Bogdanovic won several prizes with this film. Music was composed by famous Goran Bregovic and the traditional song Zute Dunje became a great hit afterwards.

A YEAR OF THE QUIET SUN

KUDUZ

Krzysztof Zanussi | Poland/Germany/ USA | 1984 | 110 min | Synopsis on page 20.

Ademir Kenovic | Yugoslavia | 1989 | 105 min | Dutch Premiere | Synopsis on page 21.

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CHILDREN’s PROGRAM FAMILY FILMS  GAJA’S WORLD  MY GRANDPA IS AN ALIEN

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This year the Eastern Neighbours Film Festival will be launching a children’s program for the first time! We have chosen two exciting films from Slovenia and Croatia that have become a huge hit at home box office and have travelled internationally with success.

Our young audience will have an opportunity to watch the Dutch premiere of Gaja’s World by Peter Bratusa. A Slovenian family comedy with a little crime story. The Best Film in Children’s Program at the Sarajevo Film Festival and Motovun Buzz@teen.

Another film that we are bringing to the Netherlands is My Grandpa Is An Alien by Marina Andree Skop and Drazen Zarkovic. An extraordinary adventure of a girl and the robot on a mission to save her partly alien family. This inventive sci-fi children’s film that parents will enjoy too, won awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography at the Pula Film festival.

GAJA’S WORLD

MY GRANDPA IS AN ALIEN

Peter Bratusa | Slovenia | 2018 | 89 min | Dutch Premiere | English subtitles | Synopsis on page 22.

Marina Andree Skop/Drazen Zarkovic | Croatia, Luxembourg, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2019 | 79 min | Dutch subtitles | Synopsis on page 23.

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SIDE PROGRAM  NEW PRO FORMULA  DEBATE  MASTERCLASS  LUX FILM PRIZE  AUDIENCE PRIZE  WINE TASTING

NEW PRO FORMULA

PITCH YOUR PROJECT AND BRAINSTORM WITH THE ENFF! FRIDAY 8 NOVEMBER 14:00 hours | Filmhuis Den Haag | free admission Most film festivals’ industry events present work in progress to film professionals and decision makers. We want to diversify these pitch sessions and provide the possibility for filmmakers to directly collaborate with their potential audience. After all, films are intended for viewers. During this unique event filmmakers will be able to take advantage of direct feedback from future audience in a lively and constructive dialogue. We’re inviting filmmakers to pitch their current projects, still in the production stage, to the audience of ENFF. We bring to the spotlight five new and exciting film projects in the production stage, directed by filmmakers of the Eastern and South-Eastern European origin living in the Netherlands, as well as one Dutch filmmaker dealing with a topic closely related to the SEE region.

Lidija Zelović, Bosnian/Dutch filmmaker, delves into a personal story in her new tragi comical film essay HOME ABROAD. The Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian and yet Dutch film director Zelović tries to reveal/investigate what makes a migrant life so unique while exploring this universal struggle of identity and community: is true integration possible or even something we should strive for?

Stefan Pavlović, a recent graduate from the Master of Film program in Amsterdam and born in the Netherlands but of Bosnian parents, examines in a personal documentary (and his graduation

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film LOOKING FOR THE HORSES) his relationship to the culture and language of his parents, that is unfamiliar to him, and exploring other ways of communication, beyond words.

THE CHANNEL, by Eliane Esther Bots, a filmmaker from the Hague, explores the experiences of three interpreters from the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia in The Hague and their position as a channel between speakers and listeners, witnesses and defendants, judges and attendees, and the confrontation of their own memories and emotions with the stories of opposing parties in the conflict.

During her four years living in Amsterdam, Kristina Daurova, a Russian filmmaker decides to approach her Moroccan neighbours to get to know the community. In her THE MOROCCAN TEA (working title) she tries to connect with the women in her neighbourhood over tea and conversation.

Andreea Dumitriu, Rotterdam based filmmaker from Romania, explores in BEYOND RITUALS how waiting becomes a religious experience on the streets of the Romanian city Iasi. Once a year, during the Saint Parascheva Pilgrimage, few hundred thousand pilgrims queue for up to 20 hours to pray at her shrine. It is believed the Saint makes miracles happen. A film reflecting on the desire for miracles in our lives and in Romanian society.

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DEBATE

MASTERCLASS

SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER

THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER

12:00 hours | Filmhuis Den Haag | Studio A | free admission

14:30 hours | Filmhuis Den Haag

NEW IDENTITY OF EUROPEAN CONTEMPORARY CINEMA

In our program Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants, we screen some ten films made by directors from Eastern or Southeastern origin living in the West or by local filmmakers whose films deal with the life of migrants. Next to the film screenings, we will have a debate about the new identity of European contemporary cinema. What kind of new themes, different, refreshed aesthetics the filmmakers bring in their work. We will talk about this topic with ENFF guests from Austria, Germany,

Hungary and France, whose films are part of the program. We also invite a group of the filmmakers based in the Netherlands, but originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Russia, Poland, Ukraine and Romania. We want to examine how they chose their topic and whether they feel obliged, doomed or inclined, to deliver content about migrants in the films they make in their new homelands. Read more about the program Cinema by Migrants/Cinema on Migrants on page 56.

FILMING ARCHITECTURAL GIANTS IN EAST EUROPE

Palace for the People tells the stories of the most emblematic five buildings of socialist times - highly representative for the epoch and witnessing the historical turbulence in Eastern Europe in the second half of the XX century. This documentary made

by Bulgarian new voices Boris Missirkov/ Georgi Bogdanov will have its Dutch premiere at the ENFF and it’s part of Focus program - Europe, 30 Years After the Berlin Wall. After the screening, director Boris Missirkov will give a masterclass (duration 45 minutes). Synopsis on page 32.

Boris Missirkov is internationally acclaimed Bulgarian cinematographer, director, visual artist and photographer. The author of visual campaigns, full-length documentaries, videos and short films. Together with Georgi Bogdanov, he founded Bulgarian Photographic Association and AGITPROP Production Company. DOP of the most successful AGITPROP’s films, among which: “Georgi and the Butterflies” (Silver Wolf, IDFA 2004), “The Mosquito Problem and other stories” (Cannes 2007, Grierson Award for Best Documentary, BFI London FF), “Corridor #8” (Berlinale 2008 – Independent Ecumenical Jury Award), “The Boy, Who Was a King” (Toronto IFF 2011). DOP of the first original Bulgarian productions for HBO, documentaries “Concrete Pharaohs”, “Paradise Hotel” (Golden Magnolia for Best Doc; Thessaloniki 2010 - Best Doc) and “Dad Made Dirty Movies” (Visions du Reel).

He was also the author of the first original Bulgarian content for National Geographic Channel, “Explore Bulgaria” (2014-2019), the coproducer of “15”, the first Bulgarian omnibus film and author of The Ladino Ladies’ Club (Bulgaria/USA, 2015), screened at IDFA and Warsaw FF. A renowned visual artist and photographer who had solo shows as well as major photography and contemporary art exhibitions in Europe and the USA.

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LUX FILM PRIZE GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA THURSDAY 7 NOVEMBER 17.00 hours | Filmhuis Den Haag | free admission Teona Strugar Mitevska, North Macedonia/ Belgium/Slovenia/Croatia/ France | 2018 | 100 min Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska made a powerful cinematic work that tells the story of a woman who finds herself in a position that only men have access to at a religious ceremony. A significant contribution to the feminist struggle, the most acute social issue of our times, which has yet to gain momentum in the Balkans. Full synopsis on page 12.

“God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya” is one of the finalists for the European Parliament’s Lux Prize 2019. Join this free screening and get a chance to talk to the actor Stefan Vujisikj during the elaborate Q&A. After the film the European Parliament offers you the opportunity to reflect on the film with a complimentary drink.

About Lux Prize The Lux Prize was set up by the European Parliament in 2007 and is intended to promote the European film industry and express shared European values. The European film industry encounters more difficulties than the American, especially due to the existence of many different language areas in Europe. Adapting movies in other languages is a costly process. The winning film is therefore, as a prize, subtitled in all official European Union working languages and screened in all EU Member States.

On November 27, the winning film of the 2019 competition will be announced and awarded in Strasbourg. Currently the following films are still included in the competition: “Cold Case Hammarskjöld”, “God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya” and “The Realm”. Read more about the Lux Prize here: www.luxprize.eu Made possible by the European Parliament.

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AUDIENCE PRIZE Win a trip to Montenegro!

By attending a film at ENFF! Our audience will have a chance to win an award and enter into a random draw to win a trip to Montenegro with airfare for one and accommodations for up to two persons generously provided by BovenCA. At the closing ceremony on Sunday 10 November in Filmhuis Den Haag, the lucky winner will be randomly picked and will have the chance to have an authentic experience around the Western Balkans!

The venue You will stay in a spacious and comfortable mountain villa, the Celebic-BovenKuca. It is beautifully located, 100 m above the tiny village of Crhalj, in the unspoiled mountain area of Northeastern Montenegro. Crhalj belongs to the municipality Bijelo Polje; co-ordinates: 42.58.675 N; 19.55.271 E; 1050m above sea level.

Sevda will guide you for 2 days (4-8 hours per day), take you to visit traditional tourist attractions or hidden villages only Sevda knows about. Hiking, cycling and horse-riding enable you to visit places outside the beaten path, but if you want to you can rent the resort’s jeep. Upon arrival, you will also discover the stories and beauty of Tara River and Tara canyon, the deepest and longest canyon in Europe protected as UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will encounter and appreciate the famous Balkan hospitality and Balkan culture and breathe the cleanest air there is. More info: www.enff.nl

What to do in Crhalj During your 7-day stay you will be provided with all the information about what you can do and where you can go. Your host

WINE TASTING

Filmhuis Den Haag | Studio A | free admission This year we take a wine tour through Central and Eastern Europe. Come and taste eight different quality wines from countries that are also part of the film festival. Not only the cinema of our Eastern neighbours is becoming more popular every year, but also the centuries-old wine culture is flourishing. During this wine tasting you will get an impression of what the region has to offer today. In addition, you will learn more about several indigenous grape varieties, still unfamiliar in rest of Europe.

The wine tasting is brought to you by AndereWijn – a wine webshop stocked with many wines from the neighbouring Eastern European countries. Every year they taste hundreds of wines, out of which they choose the best.

Visit their website: www.anderewijn.nl

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ON TOUR PROGRAM

ON TOUR IN AMSTERDAM 26 OCTOBER 2019 IN DE BALIE, AMSTERDAM

ON TOUR IN

UTRECHT

3 NOVEMBER 2019 IN METAAL KATHEDRAAL, UTRECHT

19:30 hours | GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA by Teona Strugar Mitevska, North Macedonia/Belgium/ Slovenia/Croatia/France, 2018. Synopsis on page 12 | Tickets: www.debalie.nl

16:30 hours | THE WINTER GARDEN’S TALE by Simon Mozgovyi, Ukraine, 2018. Synopsis on page 35 | Tickets: www.metaalkathedraal.nl

2 NOVEMBER 2019 IN RIALTO, AMSTERDAM

5 NOVEMBER 2019 IN LOUIS HARTLOOPER COMPLEX, UTRECHT

15:00 hours | THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ME AND ME by Dana Bunescu/Mona Nicoara, Romania, 2018.

Synopsis on page 33 | Tickets: www. rialtofilm.nl

19:00 hours | BAD POEMS by Gabor Reisz, Hungary/France, 2018. Synopsis on page 9 | Tickets: www.hartlooper.nl

ON TOUR IN AMSTERDAM  AMERSFOORT  ROTTERDAM  UTRECHT

ON TOUR IN AMERSFOORT

ON TOUR IN ROTTERDAM

12 SEPTEMBER 2019 IN DE LIEVE VROUW, AMERSFOORT

22 SEPTEMBER 2019 IN KINO ROTTERDAM

From 18:30 hours | SCREAM FOR ME SARAJEVO by Tarik Hodzic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2016. Synopsis on www. enff.nl | STITCHES by Miroslav Terzic, Serbia/Slovenia/Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2019. Synopsis on page 16 | Tickets: www.lievevrouw.nl

19:30 hours | LET THERE BE LIGHT

by Marco Skop, Slovak Republic/Czech Republic, 2019 | Synopsis on page 14.

Tickets: www.kinorotterdam.nl

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SIDE EVENTS

9 NOVEMBER 2019 IN THEATER DAKOTA, THE HAGUE 14:30 hours

16:30 hours

WOULD YOU LOOK AT HER by Goran Stolevski, North Macedonia, 2017.

Synopsis on page 51.

GREAT WALL OF CHINA by Aleksandra Odic, Germany, 2017. Synopsis on page 40.

IN TOUCH by Pawel Ziemilski, Poland/ Iceland, 2018. Synopsis on page 28.

Tickets: www.theaterdakota.nl

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE by Rafal Lysak, Poland, 2018. Synopsis on page 36. Tickets: www.theaterdakota.nl

 WOULD YOU LOOK AT HER  IN TOUCH  IN GREAT WALL OF CHINA  UNCONDITIONAL LOVE  HIDE AND SEEK  ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND  ONE TWO ZERO  EASY LESSONS  POLONAISE  MASTERCLASS  MUSIC AT ENFF

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28 SEPTEMBER 2019 IN DE NIEUWE REGENTES, THE HAGUE

4 OCTOBER 2019 IN LAAKTHEATER, THE HAGUE

17:00 hours

19:30 hours

HIDE AND SEEK by Beno Gabor Baranyi, Hungary, 2016.

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND by Ondrej Erban, Czech Republic, 2018.

ONE TWO ZERO by Anna Pawluczuk, Poland, 2017 Synopsis: www.enff.nl | Tickets: www.denieuweregentes.nl

EASY LESSONS by Dorottya Zurbo, Hungary, 2018. Synopsis on page 26.

POLONAISE by Agnieszka Elbanowska, Poland, 2016. Synopsis on www.enff.nl Tickets: www.laaktheater.nl

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MASTERCLASS ARAF BY DIDEM PEKUN

ENFF On Tour in Utrecht brings a special screening of ARAF (‘araf’ - the Turkish word for limbo, or purgatory), an essayistic road movie and diary of a ghostly character, Nayia, who travels between Srebrenica and Sarajevo to Mostar in Bosnia. She has been in exile since the war and returns for the memorial of the Srebrenica genocide.

The film is guided by her diary notes of the journey which merges with the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. Icarus being the name given to the winner of a bridge diving competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina, her home country.

Synopsis on page 24.

Didem Pekun is a filmmaker and scholar from Turkey who did her artistic research in different parts of Europe: Berlin, Budapest, Vienna. In her masterclass she will reflect on her process of making this visually superb essay film where image and sound are being transposed from the level of reality to mythical, balancing between particular and universal. Carefully composed images and minimalist approach in director’s cinematic choices build in this work successful dramatic tension and multilayered meaning.

MUSIC AT ENFF One of our special guests this year is ALEKSANDRA POPOVSKA, Macedonian-Dutch musician who is challenging the way we listen to the voice. The Hague-based singer, composer, choir leader and researcher, is renowned for adventurous approach to live performance and her creative projects fusing traditional music with contemporary/classical, live electronics.

Furthermore, special musical performance by BALKAN VROUWENKOOR AMSTERDAM. These passionate singers led by Julia Scepanovic have been performing songs from the Balkans and East Europe since 2010. The choir was founded in Amsterdam and it consists of women of all ages, from those in their early twenties to sixty plus.

Info: www.aleksandrapopovska.com

More info: www.balkanvrouwenkoor.nl

Vocal ensemble CHERVONI KORALI (red choral - typical Ukrainian necklace) unites amateur singers who live in The Netherlands, love to sing Ukrainian songs and promote Ukrainian traditions and culture abroad.

Jazz guitarist, composer and educator LUDMIL KRUMOV will perform at the opening of ENFF with THE SMALL BULGARIAN FOLK JAZZ ORCHESTRA. A collective of Bulgarian instrumentalists who cross the boundaries of stylistic conventions, blending their diverse musical and life experience in amalgam of talent, characters, composition and spontaneous improvisations.

More info: www.enff.nl In her work Didem Pekun combines research and practice. Her essay films are addressing how violence and displacement define and destroy life. Her documentaries and video installations have been shown internationally and have received various awards. She is a founding member of the Centre for Spatial Justice (MAD). She holds a BA in Music from SOAS, an MA in Documentary from Goldsmiths, and a practice-based PhD in Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths, University of London.

After being a faculty member at Koç University, a Research Fellow at Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, a Joint Fellow at Institute for Advanced Studies & Visual Studies Platform at CEU, Budapest, she is currently a fellow at Graduate School / Berlin Center for the Advanced Studies in Arts and Sciences. Filmography: The Tree that Smiles at Me (2007) | Tülay German; Years of Fire and Cinders (2010) | Of Dice and Men (2016) | Araf (2018).

More info: www.chervonikorali.nl

More info: www.ludmilkrumov.com

More info: www.didempekun.com

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PARTN ERS A N D SP O N SO R S

AND A GREAT THANK YOU TO ALL THE EMBASSIES AND OTHER PARTNERS WHO GENEROUSLY CONTRIBUTE TO ENFF AND HELP MAKE THIS FESTIVAL A SUCCESS!

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ON THE WATER .......................................................

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A YEAR OF THE QUIET SUN ....................................

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ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHANGHAI .........................

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ARAF ........................................................................

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ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND...

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BAD POEMS ............................................................

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PALACE FOR THE PEOPLE ......................................

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BASHKIMI UNITED ...................................................

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SEPARATION, VIVID DREAMS ..................................

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BEFORE FATHER GETS BACK .................................

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STITCHES ................................................................

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CLOUD FOREST ......................................................

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SWEET EMMA, DEAR BOBE .................................... 8

COLD NOVEMBER ...................................................

10

THE BRIDGE ............................................................ 47

EASY LESSONS .......................................................

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THE DELEGATION ....................................................

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ERASED ...................................................................

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THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ME AND ME ...................

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GAJA’S WORLD........................................................

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THE END OF DARKNESS .........................................

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GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNYA ..................

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THE LOVER ..............................................................

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GREAT WALL OF CHINA ..........................................

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THE PIG ...................................................................

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HOPE .......................................................................

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THE STONE SPEAKERS ...........................................

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I CAN BARELY REMEMBER THE DAY ......................

42

THE WINTER GARDEN’S TALE .................................

35

I SEE RED PEOPLE ..................................................

27

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE ...........................................

36

IN BETWEEN ............................................................

43

VOLCANO ................................................................

19

IN TOUCH ................................................................

28

WAITING FOR A MIRACLE .......................................

50

IRINA ........................................................................ 13 KINDERS ..................................................................

29

KUDUZ .....................................................................

21

LET THERE BE LIGHT ..............................................

14

MOSTAR UNITED .....................................................

30

WOULD YOU LOOK AT HER ..................................... 51

MY GRANDPA IS AN ALIEN ...................................... 23 MY GRANNY FROM MARS ....................................... 7 NEIGHBORS ............................................................

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FIL M IN D E X

FILM I N D EX

90 SECONDS IN NORTH KOREA .............................

ENFF TEAM

Social Media Mariana Hristova Sophie Tiedemann

Festival Director Rada Sesic

Managing Director Kostana Banovic

Website Igor Lesic Zeljka Ferencic Arjen Tienkamp Stefan Pavlovic

Production Gaby Brinkman Kristina Daurova

Production Support Corina Burlacu Maarten Savelkoel John Bosters Goran Medvedev

Design Anna Trofimenko

Interior Design Nena Sesic-Fiser

Technical Department Igor Lesic

Photography Mladen Pikulic

Volunteer Coordination Alma Kofrc

Trailer Igor Lesic

PR Anna Lillioja

Eastern Neighbours Film Festival is a project of Stichting artTrace Oude Houtensepad 34 3582CX Utrecht, The Netherlands

Videography Alma Imamovic-Ivanov

Film Coordination Oana Stupariu

Hospitality Milica Milic

CO L O F O N

Catalogue Rada Sesic Zeljka Ferencic Mariana Hristova Oana Stupariu Alma Imamovic-Ivanov Kristina Daurova Tanja Matic Elsa Court

ALL FILMS AT ENFF HAVE ENGLISH SUBTITLES TICKETS: WWW.ENFF.NL

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