Film Festival of the European Union and Switzerland - 2010

CLICK TO ENLARGE:  Opening Cocktails, 2010 Film Festival
 of the European Union and Switzerland

The 2010 Film Festival of the European Union and Switzerland opened on Friday, 14th of May,  at the Silverbird Entertainment Centre.

 ADMISSION IS FREE

Below is your guide to the movies:

Friday, May 14

8:00pm - Tesis (Spain)

SYNOPSIS: Angela is a film student at the Complutense University of Madrid. Searching for materials for her thesis (hence the film's title) on audio-visual violence, she attains the friendship of of Chema, a fellow student and an introvert with a vast collection of violent and pornographic films. After her professor dies while watching a film, Angela steals the videotape, featuring the murder of a former student at the university. Angela and Chema investigate the origins of the tape - and are drawn into the operations of a chilling snuff ring. THRILLER

Saturday, May 15
6:00pm - Die Gottesanbeterin (Austria)
SYNOPSIS: Martha, who is recently widowed rediscovers the joy of sewing underwears. Her lively septuagenarian friend Lisi encourages her to convert her store into a boutique, but Martha's other friends are shocked. They eventually come round, but it takes longer for Martha's clergyman son to get with the program, while local politician Fritz is outright hostile. COMEDY

8:00pm - Si le vent souleve les sables (Belgium)
SYNOPSIS: Rahne and his family travel across hostile lands under a lethal sun, walking endlessly onwards and frequently crossing paths with death. This is a story about determination and eternity that takes viewers in the footsteps of Sasha, a nomad child full of the joys of life, whose tenacity and strength will conquer her father's love. DRAMA

CLICK TO ENLARGE: Opening Cocktails of the 2010 Film
 Festival of the f European Union and Switzerland

Sunday, May 16

6:00pm - Niko and the Way to the Star (Finland)

SYNOPSIS: Reindeer boy Niko's biggest dream is to fly, like Santa's reindeer, the Flying Force of which, Niko is convinced is his absentee Dad.  Following an attack by wolves on his herd's peaceful home, something for which he takes responsibility, he heads off on a desparate, dangerous mission through blizzards and across wild terrain to find his father. He is accompanied by his constant friend and surrogate father Julius, a clumsy flying squirrel, and a sassy young singing weasel called Wilma. ANIMATION

8:00pm - Coeurs (France)

SYNOPSIS: In English: Private Fears in Public Places; tells the story of seven lonely dwellers whose lives are entwined while looking for love. It is set in Paris. COMEDY / DRAMA

Monday, May 17

6:00pm - Goobye Lenin (Germany)

SYNOPSIS: Christiane, who is a mother of two, is a Berliner who suffers heart attach and falls into a coma. She recovers eight months later, but major changes have taken place in Germany. To protect her from another shock, her son Alex decides not to tell her of the new Germany in which they live. He controls what she is exposed to, recreating East Germany in their home. How long can he keep the ruse? DRAMA/COMEDY

8:00pm - Noe Barkaja (Hungary)

SYNOPSIS: In English, Noah's Ark. It tells the story of a group of people living in a block of flats in Budapest, particularly an old man, Ede Stock, who is raising his grandchild all by himself, and his friend of many decades who hasn't stepped out of the house for 15 years. A TV show in search for the The Best Grandpa gives 5million forints to the winner. Stock signs up and the tenants forget their differences to prepare him for the show. DRAMA

Tuesday, May 18

6:00pm - Andreas Hofer-Die Freiheit des Adlers (Austria)

SYNOPSIS: The last year in the turbulent life of a national hero, this story of a struggle for the freedom of Tyrol, led by the charismatic Andrea Hofer, is both dramatic and touching. HISTORICAL

8:00pm - Mio fratello e'figlio unico (Italy)

SYNOPSIS: In English - My Brother is an Only Child. It tells the love-hate relationship between two brothers from a working class family - and explores the ideological cracks within Italian society during the 1960s and 1970s. It is an amusing and engaging film which respects the contradictions of its characters in the city of Latina, which was built by Mussolini on marshland south of Rome. COMEDY

Wednesday, May 19

6:00pm - Studs (Ireland)

Emmet Rovers, a football team, are going through a bad patch. Positioned at the bottom of the league, they have lost their manager and are about to lose their football pitch. However, help comes with arrival of a mysterious new manager. Studs is a feel-good movie about the difference of winning and losing. COMEDY/SPORTS

8:00pm - Dambe (Ireland)

SYNOPSIS: Dambe-The Mali Project is an award winning documentary that follows an extraordinary musical journey into Mali, the heart of Africa. World renowned Irishsh musicians embark on a musical adventure travelling over 3,000 miles where they meet with other musicians, culminating in a unique performance at the world's most remote musical festival, the Festival au Desert. DOCUMENTARY

Thursday, May 20

6:00pm - Alice (Portugal)

SYNOPSIS: It's been 193 days since Alice was last seen. Everyday, her father, Mario, leaves home and follows the exact same route Alice took when she disappeared. In his quest, Mario creates a video surveillance network on the places she might walk, the airport, anything that may provide a clue. Every day he watches the tapes, expecting to get a glimpse of his child. Hope is either born or extinguished - till one day, the search seems to be over. DRAMA

8:00pm - Los santos inocentes (Spain)

SYNOPSIS: On a feudal farm in northern Spain, stereotypical images of noble, earthy peasants are made unexpectedly touching in this movie, which focuses on the travails of one peasant family. As gatekeepers to the large country estate of a marchioness and her family in the 1960s,  these people are privy to the aristocracy's cruelty and callousness. This movie captures the hardship and the richness that characterize the lives of these workers, and conveys their closeness to animals and to the land. DRAMA

Friday, May 21

6:00pm - Wonderful and Loved by All (Sweden)

SYNOPSIS: There is something about Isabella's life that isn't right. By this time, she should be a super successful film star with a fantastic boyfriend. It's as if her real life, the life she's really meant to live, just never gets started. When her big chance finally shows up she grabs it without a secound thought. That's when things really start getting bad. COMEDY

8:00pm - Die Herbstzeitlosen (Switzerland)

SYNOPSIS: Trixi Jancik leads a risky double life. At home she is an obedient housewife. But when she puts on a disguise and goes to the racetrack to indulge in her secret passion, she catches a glimpse of a better life. Although she blows her grocery money, she tastes the kind of luxury she can normally only dream about. A minor squabble at home brings the situation to a head and marks a turning point in her life. COMEDY

Saturday, May 22

6:00pm - Pianomania (Austria)

SYNOPSIS: The sound does not breathe. The instruments need more magic.This movie follows the life of Stefan, a master tuner at Steinway and Sons, fulfilling the requests of the world's best pianists, who, when they set out to play, every nuance must be perfect.

8:00pm - Winter in Wartime (The Netherlands)

SYNOPSIS: War Winter is the story of Michiel (13 years old) who wants to grow up and is eager to join the resistance. He thinks his father is a weakling, while he adores his Uncle Ben, who is in the resistance. The boy next door takes part in a raid on an ammunition depot and asks Michiel to give a letter to the blacksmith, Bertus, if anything goes wrong. The raid fails and when Michiel wants to take the letter to Bertus, it turns out he'd just been shot dead by the Germans. DRAMA / HISTORY / WAR

Sunday, May 23

6:00pm - The Storm (The Netherlands)

SYNOPSIS: During a terrible storm, the dikes of Zeeland and breached in a hundred places, and Julia's farm is flooded. She is rescued by the young Aldo, but is nevertheless inconsolable. Her baby was left behind in the water. So begins the long search against the flow of evacuees. The chance of survival is small, yet Julia sees signs that her son is still alive. DRAMA

8:00pm - Rhythm is It (Germany)

SYNOPSIS: 250 Berlin children and teenagers of 25 different nationalities participate in a large-scale dancing program, including Marie, who is desperately trying to pass her secondary school leaving exams, Olayinka, who who has recently arrived in Germany from Nigeria, and Martin, who is trying to overcome his inhibitions.