Regained Freedom International Film Festival takes place between 20 to 30 November in Brussels and marks 30 years of freedom in Eastern Europe, the Baltics and the Balkans.
The programme proposes a deep reflection on the past: the selection focuses on the historical moment of 89, presenting the circumstances that led to, the way of life during and the events that triggered the changes from the totalitarian regimes. All this from distinct perspectives, with movies from eight different countries partnering in the project: Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Georgia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Romania and Croatia.
Look into the history of the region and discover through nine cinematic masterpieces how the former regime shaped the life of the people. The festival will show the past in a different light.
FESTIVAL OPENING:
Registration for the opening ceremony: HERE!
20 November, 7PM
Opening of the exhibition Pan-European Picnic / 20/11 – 30/11
Registration for the opening ceremony: HERE!
20 November, 7PM
Opening of the exhibition Pan-European Picnic / 20/11 – 30/11
It was not tanks or bulldozers that took down the Iron Curtain, but a picnic. In 1989 a group of Hungarians organized a peaceful demonstration on the border between Hungary and Austria which concluded in thousands of people showing up and hundreds of East Germans taking the opportunity to cross through the border while guards stood idly by.
The first domino of a series of events leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
– Diary for my children / Napló gyermekeimnek
Biography, Drama, HU, Márta Mészáros, 106’, 1984, OVstEN
Winner of the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury in 1984 at Cannes, the film is a semi-autobiographical story from Márta Mészáros of how history and the individual impact each other. A teenage girl awakens to her political consciousness in the 1940s Hungary and rebels against her Stalinist aunt. Their relationship captures the circumstances that led to the failed 1956 uprising against the Soviets.
PROGRAMMES:
Registration for the screenings: HERE!
22 November, 7PM
– Solidarity according to woman / Solidarnosc wedlug kobiet
Documentary, PL, Piotr Śliwowski, Marta Dzido, 113’, 2014, OVstEN
Solidarity according to women is a story about some of the brave Polish women whose wisdom and determination helped bring about a change of the political reality in Poland. The link between two aspects of the film is Marta Dzido. Born in 1981, symbolic daughter of the Solidarity movement, she makes an attempt at locating and reinstating women who were written out of recent Polish history
Q&A with prof. Ireneusz Krzemiński, Polish sociologist
23 November, 6PM
– Disco and Atomic War / Disko ja tuumasõda
Documentary, EE, Jaak Kilmi, 80’, 2009, OVstEN
The story of a generation growing up in Estonia, in the Soviet Union, under the thumb of Moscow, where the authorities controlled all aspects of life. Jaak Kilmi presents life behind the Iron Curtain, and the key role of Western pop culture played in the breakup of the Soviet Union. A funny, a personal story of coming of age of how youngsters of Estonia had their lives altered by illegally intercepted broadcasts of Dallas and disco dance shows of a Finnish TV channel.
Q&A via Skype with Kiur Aarma, producer and co-screenwriter.
24 November, 5PM
– Repentance / მონანიება / Monanieba
Drama, GE, Tengiz Abuladze, 153’, 1986, OVstEN
Banned from release in the Soviet Union in 1984 for its critique of Stalinism, it premiered at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, winning several awards, including the Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Prize. For the director ‘the essence of this film is that this might happen at any time and in any country’ as it is an emotional denunciation of official evil. The corpse of the mayor of a small town keeps returning after burial, as a local woman continues digging up the body to prevent the dead man’s deeds from being forgotten.
Q&A with Nana Janelidze, assistant to the director, scriptwriter and music designer.
26 November, 7PM
– Kolya
Drama, CZ, Jan Sverák, 105’, 1996, OVstEN
Winner of both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe as Best Foreign Language Film of 1997, Kolya depicts how the Velvet Revolution, fall of the regime and opening up the borders could also lead to personal dramas. The gifted concert cellist of the State Symphony Orchestra, Louka is banished from official music making. In need of money, he agrees to an arranged wedding with a Russian woman, who shortly after the opening of the frontiers leaves for West Germany. Louka finds himself in custody of six-year-old Kolya.
27 November, 7PM
– Gundermann
Drama, Romance, DE, Andreas Dresen, 128’, 2018, OVstEN
Based on a true story, the film depicts the life of Gerhard Gundermann, a coal miner who became a songwriter and musician, and an informant for the state (STASI) before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He wants to be a good worker, a great husband, a caring father, an artist, a clown, a politician – he is everything at the same time. Gerhard Gundermann is hero and anti-hero, a constant contradiction, a glittering figure typical of the former East Germany – and again not. People like him are everywhere. And they offend everywhere.
28 November, 7PM
– Red Earth / Vörös föld
Docu-drama, HU, László Vitézy, 100′, 1982, OVstEN
An unveiling drama on the regime and communist reality in Hungary.
A miner finds bauxite near his village, close to the surface. He thinks he has found his fortune, but thanks to the Communist bureaucracy, he actually found nothing but trouble. A story about the fight against the machinery of the regime, about the absurd albeit frustrating and biting reality of the 80’s on the East side of the Iron Curtain. The director is one of the founders of the so-called Budapest School of extreme realism creating features based on true stories with amateur actors.
29 November, 7PM
– Octav
Drama, RO, Serge Ioan Celebidachi, 102’, 2017, OVstEN
Octav is a drama exploring universal themes such as time, nostalgia and love in its purest form through the friendship of an 80-year-old man and a 10-year-old girl. When an elderly man returns to his family home after decades of absence, the apparition of his childhood sweetheart triggers a rewind to the life-changing events from his youth.
30 November, 5PM
– Long dark night / Duga mračna noć
Drama, War, HR, Antun Vrdoljak, 200’, 2004
While Long dark night is a film about the Second World War, it also deals with the aftermath, it shows the crimes of both the German Nazis and the Communist-led Partisans, depicting the atrocities of two totalitarian regimes. The film follows the life of Iva Kollar, a fictional partisan fighting in the war, presents his participation in the post-war government of Croatia and his inevitable downfall.
More info about the festival – Balassi Institute website.
