The offline event will be held from July 16 to 26 in the cities of Jakarta, Bandung, Denpasar, Medan, Surabaya and Yogyakarta. Meanwhile, the online event will be available through festivalscope.com from July 20 to 30. Admission for the event is free.

“This year, the 'Europe on Screen' film festival will present the latest 69 films from 20 EU member states, along with five other European countries. There is a wide selection of impressive films that will be shown, from thrillers to comedy, romantic films to musicals, dramas as well as horror. [EoS 2022 also will feature] several award-winning films that capture current issues such as pandemics, immigration [and] war. We will also organize additional interesting events such as discussions, webinars and exhibitions,” explained Vincent Piket, the EU ambassador for Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam.

Vincent spoke at the press conference along with the festival’s codirectors, Meninaputri Wismurti and Nauval Yazid, in the auditorium of Institut Français Indonesia in Jakarta on Monday. The event was also attended by representatives from the embassies of Romania, Portugal, Armenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Ukraine. Vincent emphasized that the film festival would be a chance for countries to show the diversity of European culture in Indonesia.

“We very much hope to build back the creative industry, now that COVID has receded,” said Vincent as he credited the leadership of the Indonesian government and the discipline of the people in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic. He also added that by holding a hybrid event, he hoped that more people would be able to participate in the festival from “all parts of Indonesia, from Aceh to Papua.”

“The films that will be shown are not those that will be in cinemas,” Nauval said noting that the festival will be a more exclusive way to watch movies for film-enthusiasts. He explained the premise of each movie included, from long-form and short films to documentaries. He also informed that the festival would start with Dutch movie Do Not Hesitate and will close with French comedy The Big Hit. After a question and answer panel, members of the media were treated to a movie titled Run Uje Run, a drama from Sweden.

The festival will also hold a special event and exhibition to honor the work of Italian director Federico Fellini, where three of his movies and a documentary about him will be played. Meanwhile, the “specialties” segment of the festival will show short films in three categories; Dutch animated short films, #MusicthatMoves and three short films by Indonesian filmmakers.

The three Indonesian films were chosen as a part of the Short Film Pitching Project (SFPP) from previous EoS festivals. The annual competition, which started in 2018, invites local filmmakers to submit their pitches for a short film with the winners awarded partial funding to realize their ideas for the next EoS event.

This year, the three movies are, Bibir Merah Siapa yang Punya (Red lips, whoever has them) by Pawadi Jihad and Haris Supiandi of Pontianak, Men and Their Birds by Andrew Kose and Evi Cecilia of Jakarta and Riwayat Ceti (History of Ceti) by Azalia Muchransyah and Adhi Anugroho of Bogor. The movies will be shown both offline and online.

“The Indonesian film industry is now growing, where Indonesian films have been awarded and recognized by many international festivals. The presence of competitions like SFPP EoS 2022 is very meaningful to support the film industry in Indonesia because it is able to give birth to a new generation of film actors, especially for the production of short films,” said Gita Fara, a producer and judge for the competition.

As part of the “Road to EoS 2022”, before the opening day there will be a webinar attended by 13 European filmmakers that will showcase seven films from past events. The initial programs, featuring an Instagram live session and online script workshop, along with the webinar, started in April of this year to get the public excited for the festival. This year’s theme is titled “Establishing Safe Space for Women.”

Concluding the panel, when Vincent was asked what the message of EoS would be for the situation in Ukraine, he simply replied, “Togetherness.”

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