UK Premiere at CFF40. Director(s): Nisan Dag. With: Oktay Cubuk, Hayal Koseoglu
Nisan Dag takes us into the buzzing rap scene in Istanbul and a glorious combination of music, composed by Da Poet, and colour provided by the neon lights so characteristic of the global music scene and Istanbul inner-city streets. Love and heartbreak follow, as the talented though ill-fated rappers Fehmi (Oktay Çubuk) and Yunus (Eren Cigdem) are consistently held back by Fehmi's addiction to the cheap chemical drug Bonzai. Strong parallels with the Souvenir, as Fehmi's new love Devin (Hayal Köseoglu), a talented DJ, tries to help him.
EDEN is a coming-of-age film about a Protestant Confirmation camp on a summer’s week, set in the archipelago of Helsinki. The story is told through the eyes of four central characters. ALIISA is a 15-year-old intellectually confident non-believer who looses her critical attitude when she falls in love and starts making friends. JENNA, 15, is a queen bee who is certain that the camp will become her kingdom but is thrown into an existential crisis instead. PANU is a 15-year-old scared bird but during the camp, he is forced to open up. The experience of these teenagers is affected by TIINA, 25, a young and eager priest. Tiina is irritated by the mild and liberal attitudes of the other counselors, and she decides to revamp the camp towards religious ecstasy.
In Belgrade, 1993 Marijana throws a costume party for her daughter’s 8th birthday, with family and fellow parents attending. Grabbing the rare opportunity when their children are kept entertained in the other room, the parents open a few bottles in the kitchen and enjoy their reunion. Marijana suddenly realizes that she longs for more than a bunch of drunken guests and an inattentive husband, so she sets out to discover the thrills the night has to offer. She sneaks out of the house strolling around the empty streets, seeking genuine experiences instead of mere substitutes. While she reaches an orgasm and smokes a cigarette with a stranger, the party slowly disperses, just like Yugoslavia, the country Marijana and her friends were all born in.
Another sleek and stylish film by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi begins with Gumi and Meiko (Katone Furukawa) in electric conversation and the news of a potential new love interest. Professor Segawa (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) keeps his school office door wide open to avoid potential accusations of harassment and misconduct, yet even being visible doesn't stop an erotic reading with an older student being recorded that causes trouble for both. The finale presents a school reunion and chance encounter between two people who vaguely remember one another. As their encounter develops, they enact the roles of people they thought they were. Winner of the 2021 Silver Bear Grand Jury prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.
An exceptional combination of dark comedy and theatre from Ivaylo Hristov. Tallinn Black Night's grand prize winner, set in a rural village in Bulgaria, follows a lone black refugee Bamba greeted at the edge of a forest by Svetla and her shotgun. An exceptional, heart-warming, deeply affecting and funny story ensues as one begins to consider life beyond the small confines and attitudes of the village and what the village represents. Captured in a sharp black and white evocative of The Lighthouse.
From the award-winning creative team behind Notes on Blindness and Listen to Me Marlon comes a contemporary take on cinema's most iconic figure. In an innovative blend of newly-unearthed audio recordings, dramatic reconstructions and personal archive, the film traces Charlie Chaplin's meteoric rise from the slums of Victorian London to the heights of Hollywood superstardom, before his scandalous fall from grace. For decades he was the most famous man in the world but who was The Real Charlie Chaplin?
A mute young woman, Patience, from an isolated community in rural England in 1555, struggles with her controlling brother-in-law and leader, David, who is gradually unraveling after the failure of his idyllic community. The Egyptian Act has been passed, stipulating that all ‘gypsies’ must vacate England immediately and anyone found aiding them could be executed...[Read more]
Laura Samani takes us on an epic journey over mountains and seas in this beautiful period drama set in Italy in 1900, shot in Friuli Venezia-Giulia and featuring dialect from the region...[Read more]
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