Celebrating the latest cinematic offerings from Europe, the European Union Film Festival (EUFF) kicked off today with a promise to regale cinegoers with unusual stories from around the world.
Organised by the Delegation of the European Union and embassies of EU Member States in partnership with the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and various city film clubs, the 23rd edition of the festival will showcase 24 latest European movies from 23 European countries.
The EUFF will screen movies from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.
The award-winning film "Little Harbour" from Slovakia opened the festival today. Directed by Iveta Grofova, the movie is inspired by true events about two children whose innocent play changes their lives forever.
The festival was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, in the presence of Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Raimund Magis, Deputy head of Delegation of the European Union to India; Chaitanya Prasad, Additional Director General, Directorate of Film Festivals; Katarina Tomkova, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Slovak Republic.
Speaking about the festival, Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union, said, "The EU Film Festival has become a part of the cultural calendar of many cities in India and it continues to win appreciation for bringing in the oeuvre of both established and new talents. This years' EUFF is all the more special and relevant as we celebrate European Year of Cultural Heritage and cinema has a way to cut through boundaries and start an inter-cultural conversation."
As a special feature this year, the audience members will get a chance to interact with directors and producers, namely Katarina Krnacova (Slovakian producer), Paula Ortiz (Spanish director), Salvatore Alloca (Italian director), Yannis Korris (Greek director), Douglas Boswell (Belgium director) and Adam Fekete (Hungarian actor).
Indian actor Neena Kulkarni, who has worked in the Luxembourg movie "A Wedding", which is being screened at the film festival, will be attending the festival in Goa.
The festival will traverse through 11 cities in India starting the capital to Chennai, Port Blair, Pune, Puducherry, Kolkata, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Thrissur, Hyderabad and Goa.
Other films to be screened at the EUFF include: "The Magic of Children" (Austria); "Labyrinthus" (Belgium); "Viktoria" (Bulgaria); "Cowboys" (Croatia); "Boy on the Bridge" (Cyprus); "Tiger Theory" (Czech Republic); "Walk with me" (Denmark); "Unexpected Journey" (Finland); "9 Month Stretch" (France); "House without Roof" (Germany) and "Kissing?" (Greece), among others.
The movie extravaganza will be held in city from today onwards to June 24.
The EUFF runs till August 31.
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