Hyderabad: 26th edition of the European Union Film Festival is available in its virtual avatar from November 1st onwards– featuring outstanding, award-winning European cinema that bring forth inspiring stories, all from the comfort and safety of our homes. It celebrates the diversity and depth of European cinema and culture. The festival’s main attraction would Austria’s English movie Little Joe and Belgique movie Lola.
Little Joe follows Alice (Emily Beecham), a single mother and dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a special crimson flower, remarkable not only for its beauty but also for its therapeutic value; if kept at the ideal temperature, fed properly, and spoken to regularly, this plant makes its owner happy. Against the company policy, Alice takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe. They christen it ‘Little Joe.’ But as their plant grows, so too does Alice’s suspicion that her new creation may not be as harmless as its nickname suggests.
Lola is about an 18-year-old transgender, learns that she can finally have surgery, her mother, who is her only financial support, passes away. Abiding by her mother’s last wishes, Lola and her father, who are permanently in conflict and have not seen each other for two years, undertake a journey all the way to the Belgian coast. They realize the outcome of the journey may not be the one they were both expecting!
Through November 2021, viewers and movie buffs can enjoy 60 outstanding movies in 37 languages across 8 genres that explore unique stories, experiences, and histories with artistic storytelling from across 27 Member States and associate countries, celebrating the most recent cinematic triumphs at Cannes, Locarno, San Sebastian, Karlovy Vary, and Venice, amongst others.
The festival will also pay homage to legendary Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, on his 100th birth anniversary, with the projection of the seminal Pather Panchali. A special contemporary Indian section, curated by the Dharamshala International Film Festival, includes six films in four Indian official languages namely Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Bengali.
Access to the Film Festival
Tickets for the Film Festival and related side events will be free for audiences. Audiences can register through the Delegation’s website and social media channels. The Film Festival will run till 30th November. Once registered, viewers can log in at their convenience. Register here: https://www.festivalscope.com/page/euff-india-a-window-to-europe/
EURORAMA: EUROPEAN CINEMA TODAY
| Country | Film Title | Production Details | Genre |
| Austria | Little Joe | dir. Jessica Hausner, Austria, United Kingdom, Germany, 2019, 105′ | Sci-fi |
| Belgium | Lola | dir. Laurent Micheli, Belgium, France, 2019, 87′ | Drama |
| Bulgaria | The Father | dir. Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Bulgaria, Greece, 2019, 87′ | Drama |
| Croatia | The Staffroom | dir. Sonja Tarokic, Croatia, 2021 | Drama |
| Cyprus | Patchwork | dir. Petros Charalambous, Cyprus, Israel, Slovenia, 2021, 88′ | Drama |
| Czechia | Bird Atlas | dir. Olmo Omerzu, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, 2021, 92′ | Drama |
| Denmark | Shorta | dir. Frederik Louis Hviid, Anders Ølholm, Denmark, 2020, 108′ | Drama |
| Estonia | Goodbye Soviet Union | dir. Lauri Randla, Estonia, 2020, 91′ | Comedy |
| Finland | Ladies of Steel | dir. Pamela Tola, Finland, 2020, 91′ | Comedy |
| France | Red Soil | dir. Farid Bentoumi, France, 2020, 86′ | Drama |
| Germany | The Audition | dir. Ina Weisse, Germany, France, 2019, 99′ | Drama |
| Greece | Her Job | dir. Nikos Labôt, Greece, France, Serbia, 2018, 90′ | Drama |
| Hungary | Bad Poems | dir. Gábor Reisz, Hungary, France, 2018, 97′ | Drama/Comedy |
| Ireland | Dating Amber | dir. David Freyne, Ireland, United Kingdom, 2020, 92′ | Comedy |
| Italy | Small Body | dir. Laura Samani, Italy, France, Slovenia, 2021, 89′ | Drama |
| Latvia | Oleg | dir. Juris Kursietis, Latvia, Belgium, Lithuania, France, 2019, 108′ | Drama |
| Lithuania | Runner | dir. Andrius Blazevicius, Lithuania, Czech Republic, 2021, 87′ | Drama |
| Luxembourg | Hytte | dir. Jean-Louis Schuller, Luxembourg, Belgium, 2019, 76′ | Drama |
| Malta | Perpetual Child | dir.Stephanie Sant, Malta, 2020, 10’41 | Drama |
| Malta | Mister Teddy is Angry | Fabrizio Ellul, Malta, 2021, 4’03 | Animation |
| Malta | Hallini Hanini | Samira Damato, Malta, 1964, 14’10 | Drama |
| Netherlands | Gold | dir. Rogier Hesp, Netherlands, 2020, 90′ | Drama |
| Poland | 25 Years of Innocence. The Case of Tomek Komenda | dir. Jan Holoubek, Poland, 2020, 112′ | Drama |
| Portugal | The Domain | dir. Tiago Guedes, Portugal, France, 2019, 166′ | Drama |
| Romania | Marona’s Fantastic Tale | dir. Anca Damian, Romania, France, Belgium, 2019, 92′ | Animation |
| Slovakia | The Man with Hare Ears | dir. Martin Šulík, Slovakia, Czech Republic, 2020, 104′ | Comedy |
| Slovenia | Inventory | dir. Darko Sinko, Slovenia, 2021, 106′ | Drama |
| Spain | Schoolgirls | dir. Pilar Palomero, Spain, 2020, 97′ | Drama |
| Sweden | Charter | dir. Amanda Kernell, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, 2020, 94′ | Drama |
| Switzerland | Spagat | dir. Christian Johannes Koch, Switzerland, 2020, 110′ | Drama |
| Contemporary Indian Cinema | |||
| India | Yeh Freedom Life | dir. Priya Sen, India, 2018, 70′ | Documentary |
| India | About Love | dir. Archana Atul Phadke, India, 91′ | Documentary |
| India, United Kingdom | When Hari Got Married | dir. Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam, India, United Kingdom, 2012 | Drama |
| India | Chuskit | dir. Priya Ramasubban, India, 2018, 89′ | Drama |
| India | Ee. Ma. Yau. | dir. Lijo Jose Pellissery, India, 2018, 120’ | Drama |
| India | Mukti Bhawan | dir. Shubhashish Bhutiani, India, 2016, 99′ | Drama/Comedy |
| Poetry on Screen: Masterpieces of Indian Cinema | |||
| India | Pather Panchali | dir. Satyajit Ray, India, | Drama |
| India | Kalpana | dir. Uday Shankar, India, 1948, 155′ | Dance/Musical |
| Environment and Climate Change | |||
| Switzerland | Fifty Steps | dir. Niccolò Aiazzi, Switzerland, 2020, 54′ | Documentary |
| Denmark | Journey to Utopia | dir. Erlend E. Mo, Denmark, 2020, 89′ | Documentary |
| Finland, France, Morocco | School of Hope | dir. Mohamed El Aboudi, Finland, France, Morocco, 2020, 78′ | Documentary |
| Cinema Together: Co-production in and out of Europe | |||
| France, Canada, Ivory Coast, Senegal | Night of the Kings | dir. Philippe Lacôte, France, Canada, Ivory Coast, Senegal, 2020, 90′ | Drama/Fantasy |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Germany, France, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey | Quo Vadis, Aida? | dir. Jasmila Žbanić, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Germany, France, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey, 2020, 102′ | Drama |
| Masterpieces of European Cinema: In collaboration with the Cinema Ritrovato Festival | |||
| Spain | That Happy Couple | dir. Juan Antonio Bardem, Luis García Berlanga, Spain, 1951, 82′ | Comedy |
| Hungary | The Girl | dir. Márta Mészáros, Hungary, 1968, 80 | Drama |
| Poland | The Last Stage | dir. Wanda Jakubowska, Poland, 1948, 109′ | Drama |
| Bulgaria | We Were Young | dir. Binka Zhelyazkova, Bulgaria, 1961, 110′ | Drama |
| Italy | Rome, Open City | dir. Roberto Rossellini, Italy, 1945, 103′ | Drama |
| Czechoslovakia | Closely Watched Trains | dir. Jiří Menzel, Czechoslovakia, 1966, 88′ | Drama/Romance |
| France | Madame Bovary | dir. Claude Chabrol, France, 1991, 143′ | Drama/Romance |
| Film Education: Growing Up With Cinema | |||
| Italy | My Brother Chases Dinosaurs | dir. Stefano Cipani, Italy, 2019, 101’ | Drama/Comedy |
| Romania, France, Belgium | Marona’s Fantastic Tale | dir. Anca Damian, Romania, France, Belgium, 2019, 92′ | Animation |
| Germany | Too Far Away | dir. Sarah Winkenstette, Germany, 2020, 89′ | Drama |
| Spain | Avalanche | Children’s Age- 16-17 years old, (Cinema en curs/A Bao A Qu) , 2018,16‘ | Drama |
| France | I have a Cabin | Children’s Age- 6-10 years old, (La Cinémathèque françaiseCinéma, cent ans de jeunesse), 2018, 6:35 | Adventure |
| Spain | Through the Museo del Prado. Glances and Portraits of a Museum | Children’s Age- 6-17 years old, (Cinema en curs/A Bao A Qu) ,2018-19, 23‘ | Drama |
| India | The Letter | Children’s Age- 10-17 years old, (La Cinémathèque françaiseCinéma, cent ans de jeunesse), 2018, 7:51 | Documentary |
| In A Few Words: A Short Film Selection | |||
| Canada | Kokota: The Islet of Hope | dir. Craig Norris, Canada, 2016, 29′ | Documentary |
| Germany | Geo-Engineering | dir. Yannick Stark, Germany, 2020, 2′ | Animation |
| France | Thermostat 6 | dir. Mylène Cominotti, Sixtine Dano, Marion Coudert, Maya Av-ron, France, 2018, 4:48′ | Animation |
| Belgium | A Sister | dir. Delphine Girard, Belgium, 2018, 17′ | Drama |