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Europe on Screen returns with animation ' and 'Black Magic'
â20,000 Days on Earthâ: The life and times of veteran Australian rocker Nick Cave is explored in 20,000 Days on Earth
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'20,000 Days on Earth': The life and times of veteran Australian rocker Nick Cave is explored in 20,000 Days on Earth.
The Europe on Screen (EOS) film festival is back for its 15th edition, with plans to screen 62 films from 21 European countries in six cities in Indonesia from May 1 to 10.
Two recent a Oscar winners are set to make their local bow during the festival: this year's Best Foreign Language Film, Ida from Poland, and the Best Documentary Feature, Laura Poitras' Citizenfour, about the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
EOS director Orlow Seunke said that there has been a steady increase in the number of spectators at the festival, from 8,000 in 2012 to 19,000 last year. He expects upwards of 25,000 will attend this year's event.
'I have always said that I need at least five years to build all the infrastructure,' Seunke says. 'Now it is starting to get the shape that I like.'
The festival plans open-air screenings in Jakarta at the Erasmus Huis and Taman Kodok in Menteng, Central Jakarta and the Bintaro Xchange in South Jakarta.
The festival's Xtra section features critically acclaimed movies such as I'm So Excited, from Spanish auteur director Pedro Almodovar, and Pride, the LGBT-themed Golden Globes-nominated British comedy.
Meanwhile, EOS' Discovery program, which gives screen time to new talents, will feature the biopic Hannah Arendt, about the famous German philosopher who explored the Nazis and what she called 'the banality of evil', as well as Yema, by directed Djamila Sahraoui, which explores fundamentalism in Algeria.
Highlights of the Docu section include Ai WeiWei: The Fake Case; 20,000 Days On Earth, about venerable rocker Nick Cave; as well as Steak (R)evolution, about the quest for the world's best steak.
Six movies, including animated films from Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway, will screen in EOS' children's section, while its Retro program will feature old movies that have been restored by experts.
Two of the films in the Retro section were shot in Indonesia in the 1930s: Rubber and the rarely seen Black Magic (original title: Insel der Dämonen), one of the first feature films ever to be shot in Bali.
Also not to be missed in the Retro program is a revival screening of A Trip to The Moon. Originally made in 1902, the film, directed by George Méliès, one of the founders of cinema, is one of the first science-fiction movies ever made ' as well as delightfully entertaining.
As usual, Seunke wants to convince the audience that European films are not overly serious or tedious. 'I want to build up image that European films can also be entertaining.'
This explains the selection of comedies for the festival's opening and closing nights.
The festival will start with The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared, the playful hit film from Sweden about a man who escapes from an old people's home just before his birthday party, and end with Life's a Breeze, an Irish comedy about a family looking to find a missing mattress with a fortune hidden inside.
The films were selected in line with the festival's mission to promote connections between Europe and Indonesia.
'I hope that Europe on Screen 2015 continues to spread the message of intercultural understanding and to build bridges between peoples with different beliefs, ideals and values,' Colin Crooks, the acting ambassador of the European Union to Indonesia, said.
The festival will hold discussions featuring guests from the European film industry, including Gerben Schermer, the director of the Holland Animation Film Festival; and two people from movies that are making their local bow during EOS: Polish actress Anna Prochniak, the star of Warsaw' 44; and Monique Nolte, the Dutch director of Only The Best for Our Son.
Seunke also plans to hold the festival's fifth short film competition for at local filmmakers. Nine finalists have been selected from 267 entries and a winner will be announced on closing night.
Screenings, which are free, will be held in Bandung, West Java; Denpasar, Bali; Jakarta; Medan, North Sumatra; Surabaya, East Java; and Yogyakarta.
For more info, visit europescreen.org
