The Europeans are here!

The Europeans are here!

By Nandar Aung   |   Monday, 09 September 2013

The Europeans are coming —again. Nay Pyi Taw Cinema will screen this year's 22nd European Film Festival from September 12-22.

Organised this year by the French Embassy, the festival will also feature movies from the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, said Ma Wah Wah Tin, a spokesperson for the embassy.

The 11 films about friendship, forgiveness, social and environmental issues, love, sport, and music, including documentaries and animated films, will be screened over the 10-day period, giving Myanmar audiences an insight into European ways of life and thought. Subtitles will be available in English.

The opening drama, from France, tells of a socialist couple in The Snows of Kilimanjaro (107 minutes) and will screen on September 12 at 6:30pm. Another French film, The Illusionist, (80 minutes) shows a magician and a young girl setting out on her life's journey.

Barbara, a 1980 love story set in East Germany (108 minutes) is followed by the comedy Whisky mit Vodka, in which the protagonist is a renowned actor playing the part of a problematic but beloved ladies' man.

From Switzerland come a documentary and a comedy, More than Honey (90 minutes) about bees, by director Markus Imhoof; and a 95-minute docu-comedy about Schwingen, a traditional Swiss form of wrestling called Horselupf.

The UK will present two films. Quartet, described as a wickedly comic film about redefining old age and growing old with hope by director Dustin Hoffman (98 minutes) and a 100-minute documentary called You've been Trumped, which captures the cultural chasm between the glamorous, jet-setting and media-savvy Donald Trump and a deeply rooted Scottish community.

The Czech Republic offers drama mixed with comedy in Leaving, based on the theatre play written by Vaclav Havel, the country's former president.

Poland will give you A Wonderful Summer, about an 18-year-old girl who communicates with the spirit of her dead mother while leading an adventurous lifestyle. Something Sweet (Israel, 96 minutes) is a romantic drama about three sisters in an Israeli village.

Two films will show each day, at 3:30pm and 6pm. Tickets will be handed out free at Nay Pyi Taw Cinema until 15 minutes before the screenings on a first-come-first-served basis.

As an additional way of forging cultural links between Europe and Myanmar, the Wathann Film Festival (September 4-8), the first film festival of works by Myanmar filmmakers, presented a selection of short films before each screening.

http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/the-europeans-are-here/