The MEDIA-supported OFF THE WALLproject, presenting a selection of films by film-makers from Eastern European countries that deal with communist past, will kick off with a screening of ALL THAT I LOVE on November 3 in Tarragona, Spain.
Films like ALL THAT I LOVE (Poland, 2009), WALKING TOO FAST (Czech Republic, 2009) and THIS AIN'T CALIFORNIA (Germany, 2012) will later screen as part of a special programme at Rouen, Mont Saint Aignan and Paris (Nov 17-23) and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 13-30).
These events, as well as other members of the network, such as Helsinki's Espo Cine IFF, Trieste's Alpe Adria Film Festival, Northern Film Festival (Leeuwarden, Netherlands) and IFF Kratkofil Plus (Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina), will also have national premieres of newer films, like VIKTORIA (Bulgaria, 2014) and VELVET TERRORISTS (Slovakia, 2013) as part of both competition programmes and OFF THE WALL selection.
"The idea is to share the human experience of living in Eastern Europe with the audiences in the West, in order to establish a better understanding and dialogue between the two sides of the continent," says Xavier Garcia Puerto, initiator and main curator of the project, and director of REC Festival in Tarragona. "OFF THE WALL gathers different films around a strong concept and appealing topics, emphasizing their qualities and value while raising interest in Eastern European films amongst new audiences. The main objective is to increase the visibility and accessibility of new and emerging European film-makers from smaller film countries for Western European audiences."
Markéta Hodouskova, head of A'Est du Nouveau in Rouen, adds that "An increased interest in this kind of content could help future projects from industries of Central and Eastern Europe get more opportunities for local funding as export items, and a better position for participation in international co-production schemes."
Background:
Over the last five years, various film-makers in Eastern Europe have made artistically significant works shaped by a common past and shared experiences. This generation of directors, born from the 1970s onwards, spent their childhoods in the last throes of the communist system. The Iron Curtain, pioneer summer camps, songs and mass rallies, and communist imagery populated their world. These were the symbolic projections of a universe that collapsed at the end of the 1980s.
Today in their films they present their personal view of growing up in a system that collapsed 25 years ago along with the main physical representation of that world: the Berlin Wall.
Within the project OFF THE WALL, a selection of these films will make a tour around seven European territories, and festivals on other continents, in 2014-2015.
Profile of the films:
The selection includes feature films, documentaries and animations.
These films address the fascination projected by idealization of the West, attractive images filtered through the cracks of the wall. But when the wall fell down, so did these illusions, and the people on the other side started facing a completely new and unexpected reality of transition to capitalistic system. Simultaneously, these films show the people on the Western side not only how their Eastern counteparts really lived, but also a mirrored image of themselves.
OFF THE WALL gathers different films around a strong concept and appealing topics, emphasizing their qualities and value while raising interest in Eastern European films amongst new audiences.
Supported by an Audience Development grant of the Creative Europe and organized by Play Accio Cultural / REC Festival Tarragona (Spain), A'Est du Nouveau (Rouen, France), Tallinn Black Nights Festival (Estonia), Espo Cine IFF (Helsinki, Finland), and Trieste Film Festival (Italy), in co-operation with Northern Film Festival (Leeuwarden, Netherlands) and IFF Kratkofil Plus (Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina), OFF THE WALL selection will further be screened at selected festivals in South America and Africa in 2015 (more information to follow).
Contacts :
Vladan Petkovic, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Xavier Garcia Puerto, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Markéta Hodouskova, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
