Self-Portrait of a Dutiful Daughter (Romania, directed by Ana Lungu)
After her debut feature The Belly of the Whale (co-directed by Roxana Szel), Ana Lungu returns, all by herself, with a second film, as independently financed as the first, but way more ambitious. Extremely "French", Self-Portrait... is partially acted by non-proffesionals but benefits from the presence of one of the most sought-after Romanian actors today, Emilian Oprea. World premiere –the new „What the ?!” section of Rotterdam 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-S6RCbf_Bg
Cold in July (USA, directed by Jim Mickle)
In his first films, the American director Jim Mickle tackled rats, vampires and cannibals – now, he's hit the motherload: the forever surprising Texas. Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson are the pawns of this modern, violent and disturbing western, and where they start from and especially where they end up it's something the half amused, half disgusted viewer will have to find out at his own risk. Official selection: Quinzaine des realisateurs, Cannes 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO63ccU6ce0
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (USA, directed by Ana Lily Amirpour)
A wonderful debut film shot in black and white, in a Farsi dialect and in California, by a 34 year old girl born in London from Iranian parents (and who's now prepping her sophomore cannibal movie). Cool, seductive and terribly romantic, the film will surprise even those who would have bet that nothing new can be done with vampires in 2014 A.J. (After Jarmusch). World premiere: Sundance 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YGmTdo3vuY
Hyena (Great Britain, directed by Gerard Johnson)
„I have seen the future of crime films and it screams Hyena” (Nicolas Winding Refn). Director Gerard Johnson, accompanied by his brother Matt (of The The fame, composer of the score) and his cousin Peter Ferdinando (bigger than life in the main role), tells one of the most brutal genre stories in modern cinema while paying his respects to Michael Mann and Ben Wheatley. Best Thriller, Sitges 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgEZVdFai-M
Kebab & Horoscope (Poland, directed by Grzegorz Jaroszuk)
Kebab, former underground shawarma maker, and Horoskop, former soothsayer at a wild life magazine become, in a very minimalistic way, marketing specialists at a carpet company. Polish filmmaker Grzegorz Jaroszuk threads skillfully in the footsteps of Kaurismaki and Roy Andersson. World premiere: Karlovy Vary; Jury Prize for Best Debut Film, Raindance 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUFqRB94LlY
Far from Men (France, directed by David Oelhoffen)
Viggo Mortensen has already acted in English, Danish and Spanish – now, he's speaking remarkable French in this existentialist western, loosely based on a short story by Albert Camus and whose original score is composed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. The story takes place in 1954 Algeria – a teacher from a remote mountain village has to escort a killer to the closest garrison... Three awards, Venice 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQdfBSkY1Mk
The 11th edition of Bucharest International Film Festival, the oldest competitive feature film event in the city, will take place between April 20-26 at Cinema Studio, Cinema Elvira Popescu and Club Control. The Panorama non-competitive section titles as well as the special screenings will be announced in the following days.
