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European Film Festival in Sydney and Canberra

(This article expired 16.10.2017 / 03:01.)

Date: 17 November 2014 6:30 PM - 30 November 2014, Venue: Dendy Opera Quays, Dendy Canberra

A Czech film Fair Play opens on the 17th November 2014 the festival Windows on Europe and marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the communism in Czechoslovakia. Consulate of the Czech Republic is partner of the opening screening and of the festival.

The 9th Windows On Europe Film Festival will showcase 16 brilliant new films from the member states of the European Union. Presented by the European Union Delegation to Australia, supported by EU member states and programmed by non-profit company The Festivalists, many of these films are being shown in Australia for the very first time.


FAIR PLAY, a film by Andrea Sedlackova, will open the festival in Sydney on 17 November. Set in the 1980s, the Czech drama charts one young woman's efforts to train for the Olympics as a sprinter, as a way to escape from behind the Iron Curtain. The screening will mark the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the non-violent movement which saw the end of communist rule in Czechoslovakia.


The opening night will be hosted by H.E. Mr Sem Fabrizi, Ambassador of the European Union to Australia. "Windows on Europe gives us a fascinating glimpse into the complex realities of European societies today," the Ambassador said.
"The program's central theme this year is youth and many films address the experience of growing up in Europe today, with characters asserting their identity in the face of tradition, change and modernity."


Highlights of the festival include Cannes winner White God and gay drama Land of Storms from Hungary, In The Courtyard starring French screen legend Catherine Deneuve, Spanish relationship drama 10,000 Km, Berlin Film Festival winners Violet and Stations Of The Cross, and gritty Scandinavian coming-of-age dramas from Denmark (Northwest), Sweden (Sanctuary) and Finland (Concrete Night).
The documentary program includes Cathedrals Of Culture, a series of 3D documentary portraits of iconic buildings by filmmakers such as Wim Wenders, Robert Redford, Michael Madsen and Michael Glawogger, Hubert Canaval's snapshot of the global energy crisis Energized and Alex Fegan's endearing portrait of traditional publicans, The Irish Pub.

THE MAGICAL VOICE OF A REBEL (MAGICKÝ HLAS REBELKY)

SYD: Sat 22 Nov 11am | CBR: Sun 30 Nov 2pm

DIR OLGA SOMMEROVÁ | CZECH REPUBLIC, 2014, 87 MIN, DOCUMENTARY | AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

From humble beginnings, singer Marta Kubišová became a European pop sensation, until Soviet tanks rolled into Prague in 1968. Rather than exile, she chose to work in the shadows as a dissident to the Communist regime, sacrificing her singing career. With her comeback during the Velvet Revolution of 1989, she became a symbol of freedom in resistance. In the hands of veteran filmmaker Olga Sommerová, this entertaining portrait of a charismatic artist and activist tells a rousing story of Czechoslovakia and the fall Communism.




PROGRAM INFO: www.eurofilmfest.com.au

TICKETS: www.dendy.com.au