Press Summary for the 2013 European Union FIlm Festival Toronto

9th European Union Film Festival Toronto, November 2013 GAT PR Press Summary

Interviews completed

Tuesday October 29

Tuesday November 12

L’Express Interviewed: Jeremie Abessira CBC Radio-­‐Canada Interviewed: Jeremie Abessira

Notable.ca Interviewed: Jeremie Abessira

Wednesday November 13 CHOQ FM Interviewed: Jeremie Abessira

Corriere Canadese

Interviewed: Riccardo Milani (VOLARE -­‐ The Great Story of Domenico Modugno -­‐ Italy)

Thursday November 21 CIUT 89.5 FM Interviewed: Gabriela Pichler (Eat Sleep Die -­‐ Sweden)

Canada Contacto (OMNI TV) Filmed intro, talked to audience as they exited the screening

Saturday November 23 Saturday Irish Radio Interviewed: Art O'Briain (Natural Grace -­‐ Ireland)

Sunday November 24 Hungarian Pictures TV (OMNI) Interviewed: Jeremie Abessira

A little bit of Europe at no cost to you

Worthy new titles among wide selection of movies on tap at European film fest

Jason Anderson Special to the Star *No archive available online

European Union Film Festival: When it comes to prices for movie tickets, it's hard to beat a big fat zero. That's certainly one reason the European Union Film Festival (EUFF) will be encouraging steady traffic to the Royal with its nightly slate of free screenings until Nov. 27.

Another, of course, is the variety of worthy new titles on offer, many of which make their local or Canadian premieres at the EUFF. This weekend sees the Toronto debut of Oh Boy, a low-­‐budget comedy that recently staged an upset victory over Cloud Atlas at the German Film Awards. A delightfully wry effort by Jan Ole Gerster, it stars Tom Schilling as a 20-­‐something Berliner whose aimlessness is a source of fascination and frustration to

everyone he meets. With its jazzy score and black-­‐and-­‐white cinematography, Gerster's film isn't shy about its debt to Woody Allen yet it still feels fresh. It plays on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Among the other notable -­‐ and, lest we forget, free -­‐ European movies on deck are Kuma (Saturday at 6:30 p.m.), an Austrian drama about a young bride caught in a cultural divide, and Grand Central (Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.), a new French feature that stars Blue Is the Warmest Colour star Léa Seydoux with A Prophet's Tahar Rahim as young lovers whose happiness may be spoiled by goings-­‐on at their local nuclear power plant.

Another must-­‐see at the EUFF is Bullhead (Nov. 23 at 9 p.m.), a recent Belgian Oscar nominee that's driven by a ferocious performance from Rust and Bone's Matthias Schoenaerts as a troubled cattle farmer who owes his hulking physique to his intake of illicit bovine hormones. Yes, you read that right -­‐ clearly, the continent faces graver problems than crumbling economies.

Christmas Creep ... or not Aired November 15, 2013 http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2013/11/15/christmas-­‐creep-­‐or-­‐not/

European Union Film Festival Nov 14 to Nov 27 Various Locations This free festival showcases 28 contemporary films drawn from each of the EU's member countries. EUFF is a unique festival and the only one in the world to bring together disparate EU Consulates and local cultural institutes for collaboration.

For the line-­‐up of films, check out the European Union Film Festival website.

Projections: Rendezvous With Madness explores mental-­‐health issues By: Jason Anderson Special to the Star, Published on Thu Nov 07 2013

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2013/11/07/projections_rendezvous_with_mad ness_explores_mentalhealth_issues.html

European Union Film Festival: Lithuania gets opening-­‐night honours whenThe Other Dream Team, a documentary about the travails of Lithuanian basketball stars during the Soviet era, launches the European Union Film Festival’s program at the Royal on Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. The fest’s hearty lineup of free screenings continues to Nov. 27. There will be more picks to come in next week’s Projections.

Five things to do in Toronto this weekend: Nov. 22 to 24 BRAD WHEELER | Published Friday, Nov. 22 2013, 4:46 PM EST

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/five-­‐things-­‐to-­‐do-­‐in-­‐toronto-­‐this-­‐ weekend-­‐nov-­‐22-­‐to-­‐24/article15570360/

European Union Film Festival The annual event is dedicated to films from European countries only, and yet the box office refuses euros. Outrageous? Not at all, because the dozen flicks from 11 nations are all free to watch, on a first-­‐come, first-­‐serve basis. Highlights this weekend include the Oscar-­‐ nominated Bullhead, a Belgian thriller involving a young cattle farmer, an unscrupulous veterinarian and the assassination of a policeman (Nov. 23, 9 p.m.). To Nov. 27. Free (reservations available, $10). Royal Cinema, 608 College St., 416-­‐466-­‐4400 or eutorontofilmfest.ca.

Sampling Europe’s best There are no breakthroughs, but this year’s lineup is decent

By NORMAN WILNER | N O W R A T IN G : N N N N http://www.nowtoronto.com/movies/story.cfm?content=195311

Every autumn, the European Union Film Festival takes over the Royal for two weeks, offering Toronto audiences a sampling of cinema from every country on the Continent – and Ireland, too. All non-­‐English films are subtitled, and admission is free, first come first served.

This year’s slate doesn’t appear to have a must-­‐see TIFF title like The White Ribbon or A Prophet, or even last year’s alluring Byzantium, but there are some enjoyable selections.

In dry German comedy Oh Boy (Friday, November 15, 6:30 pm), disaffected law school dropout Niko’s (Tom Schilling) entire world collapses around him in slow motion. He’s broke, his driver’s licence is suspended and he can’t get a decent cup of coffee anywhere… and those are just the first woes of his day.

The black-­‐and-­‐white cinematography and directionless urban-­‐millennial protagonist might suggest a Teutonic Frances Ha, but writer-­‐director Jan Ole Gerster has other angles to explore.

From Finland comes the documentary Alcan Highway (Saturday, November 16, 4:30 pm), director Aleksi Salmenperä’s engaging portrait of Hese Tonolen, a fiercely independent Finn determined to drive an aging truck and Airstream trailer from Alaska to Vancouver. It premiered at Hot Docs earlier this year, so if you missed it there, catch up now.

Michaël R. Roskam’s Bullhead (November 23, 9 pm) might seem familiar; it was Belgium’s foreign-­‐language Oscar submission in 2011, losing to A Separation, and has been available on disc for a while. But it never got a Toronto theatrical run, meaning this could be the last big-­‐screen shot for Matthias Schoenaerts’s tour-­‐de-­‐force performance as a steroid-­‐shooting cattle farmer whose sordid deal with the “hormone mafia” leads him into a world of hurt.

Not all the selections are winners, mind you. This year’s Netherlands film, Jackie (November 22, 8:30 pm), has the distinction of being one of the worst movies I saw at last year’s Toronto Film Festival – an achingly saccharine family drama about twin sisters (Black Book’s Carice Van Houten and her real-­‐life sister Jelka) who travel from Holland to America when a woman (Holly Hunter) in a New Mexico hospital is identified as their birth mother.

A textbook example of laissez-­‐faire European commercial cinema, Jackie employs every cliché in the book, shamelessly stealing from Rain Man and Thelma & Louise without understanding either. About a third of the way in, I realized that Hunter’s surly, snappish performance would be just as convincing from Tommy Lee Jones in a shag wig. This is not a compliment.

Three Things to do This Weekend Published on Thu Nov 14 2013 http://www.thestar.com/life/2013/11/14/three_things_to_do_this_weekend

European Union Film Festival EUFF collaborates with various European Union consulates in Toronto to feature award-­‐winning films, with free admission to all screenings. Several movies are set to make their Canadian debut at the fest.More information at Toronto.com

5 films to watch at the 2013 European Union Film Fest Posted by Regan Reid / NOVEMBER 9, 2013 http://www.blogto.com/film/2013/11/5_films_to_watch_at_the_2013_european_union_film_fe st/

Not often do you have the opportunity to watch a feature film from Malta or Estonia. Even in Toronto, it can be difficult to find European films on the big screen. But from November 14 to 27, film fans can watch some of the best movies from countries across Europe at the European Union Film Festival. The ninth annual festival will screen 34 films from 28 countries for free at The Royal Cinema.

Here are five films to add to your watch list at this year's EU Film Fest.

The Other Dream Team In 1988, Lithuanian basketball players helped the USSR win Olympic gold. Four years later, the team, representing a newly independent Lithuania, would face off against Russia at the Olympics in Barcelona.

Not just your typical sports flick, the documentary explores the difficulties Lithuanians faced under Soviet rule, and how these athletes helped push for their country's independence. Thursday, November 14, 8:30pm.

Oh Boy This black and white film from director Jan-­‐Ole Gerster won Best Film at the 2013 Lolas, Germany's version of the Academy Awards. The film follows 20-­‐something underachiever Niko, who has recently dropped out of college, been cut off by dad and dumped by his girlfriend, as he meanders around Berlin. The film's first-­‐ time director also took home the award for best director at the Lolas, and Tom Schilling won best actor for his performance as Niko. The film makes its Toronto premiere at EUFF. Friday, November 15, 6:30pm.

Grand Central Lea Seydoux, who made waves for her role in the Palm d'Or-­‐winning Blue is the Warmest Colour (and also for her criticisms of the film's director), stars in Grand Central, which also screened at this year's Cannes International Film Festival. The film, by French director Rebecca Zlotowski, follows Gary, a nuclear power plant employee who has an affair with his co-­‐worker's wife (Seydoux). Wednesday, November 20, 6:30pm .

BAFTA 2013 Short Film Nominees In less than the time it takes to watch a single feature film, you can watch seven completely unique short films, which have also all been nominated for British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards. If you don't have the opportunity to see many shorts, this is your chance to see some of the UK's best.

Thursday, November 21, 8:30pm.

Bullhead This dark thriller from Belgium was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2012 Academy Awards. It tells the story of a young cattle farmer, Jacky (Matthias Schoenaerts), who makes a pact with a meat-­‐trading mobster and then has to deal with the profound consequences. Schoenaerts's performance has been lauded by critics, but perhaps more importantly, he's also been called "the next Ryan Gosling."

Saturday, November 23, 9pm.

Festivals this week http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=195269

European Union Film Festival Films from more than 20 countries reflecting the excellence, innovation and diversity of European cinema. Free. Royal Cinema, 608 College. eutorontofilmfest.ca. Nov 14 to 27

Radar: Gourmet Food and Wine Expo, European Union Film Festival, Not Dead Yet Fest, After Miss Julie Posted by Aubrey Jax / NOVEMBER 14, 2013

http://www.blogto.com/radar/2013/11/radar_gourmet_food_and_wine_expo_european_union _film_festival_not_dead_yet_fest_after_miss_julie/

FILM | European Union Film Festival At the European Union Film Festival Torontonians can catch features from Euro destinations from Bulgaria to the UK and from Croatia to Finland, France, Greece, Romania, and well, you get it.

From November 14 to 27 the ninth annual fest will screen 34 films from 28 countries for free (yes, for free!) at The Royal Cinema. Read our preview here. November 14 -­‐ 27, The Royal Cinema (608 College St), various showtimes, free.

This Week in Film: Blue is the Warmest Color, Late films by Claire Denis, Backbone, and the EU Film Festival

By Blake Williams

http://www.blogto.com/film/2013/11/this_week_in_film_blue_is_the_warmest_color_late_films_by_clair e_denis_backbone_and_the_eu_fil

FILM FESTIVALS The European Union Film Festival (November 14-­‐27; The Royal)

One of the best film festivals in Toronto, the European Union Film Festival arrives once again to bring us free movies from all over Europe — in fact, one from each and every country, no matter how big or un-­‐locatable on a map. This year's highlight is unquestionably Eat Sleep Die, a Swedish film that played in TIFF 2012 and knocked each and every person I know who saw it on his or her ass with its Dardennesian social realist depiction of a young woman forced to take a job that pulls her away from her friends and family. Sounds dire, perhaps, but it's as alive and cathartic as they come. Be sure to catch as many films as you can, though, because who knows what countries this year's gems will come from.

Le Festival du film de l’UE Par Alice Fabre – Semaine du 12 novembre au 18 novembre 2013 http://www.lexpress.to/archives/13329/

“Grand central" représente la France au Festival du film de l'UE à Toronto“

34 films seront présentés au cinéma Royal de Toronto, du 14 au 27 novembre, dans le cadre de la 9e édition du Festival du film de l’Union européenne, soit au moins un film par pays membre de l’UE, tous sous-­‐titrés en anglais.

Ce festival est né d’une initiative des consulats de l’UE à Toronto, pour promouvoir la culture européenne et celle de pays dont la voix peine souvent à être entendue.

Il vise à faire découvrir un éventail d’œuvres et de réalisateurs peu représentés dans d’autres événements plus importants du cinéma.

Ainsi, chaque consulat présente son film, sélectionné en partenariat avec l’institut du film de son pays.

Dernière arrivée dans le concert des nations européennes, la Croatie sera aussi représentée.

Gratuit «C’est un des seuls projets de coopération poussés des acteurs de l’UE à Toronto», explique Jérémie Abessira, directeur du Festival, qui a déjà travaillé pour Cinéfranco, qui se tient lui aussi au Royal.

«Même si les degrés de participation sont divers compte tenu des différents moyens, l’important est que tous participent au festival», explique-­‐t-­‐il. Autre point important, toutes les séances sont gratuites. «Nous ne voulons exclure aucune communauté. Un des principes du festival est son accessibilité à tous.»

Réservations Loin de vouloir concurrencer un mastodonte comme le TIFF, le Festival du film de l’UE se pose en acteur complémentaire, en proposant au public des films absents de la programmation du TIFF. 8 films connaîtront d’ailleurs leur première torontoise, 6 leur première canadienne et 4 leur première nord-­‐ américaine.

Nouveau cette année: ceux qui le souhaitent peuvent réserver leurs sièges, dans la limite des places disponibles, en faisant un don de 10$ au festival. Toutes les réservations se font sur Internet.

Pour les autres, il est recommandé d’arriver au moins 30 minutes avant le début de la séance.

Grand Central Cette année c’est Grand Central, de Rebecca Zlotowski qui a été choisi pour représenter la France.

On y retrouve Tahar Rahin, qui avait joué dans Un Prophète, en employé d’une centrale nucléaire, et une certaine Léa Seydoux, venue présenterLa vie d’Adèle au TIFF en septembre dernier.

Le Festival des films de l’UE s’ouvre avec le documentaire lituanien The Other Dream Team, du réalisateur Marius A. Markevicius. Il se conclut avec un autre documentaire, irlandais cette fois, d’Art Ó Briain, Natural Grace.

«L’UE a une force particulière, elle existe en tant qu’entité cohérente. Avec la crise (économique) qu’elle connaît en ce moment, c’est important de montrer que la culture n’est pas délaissée. C’est aussi une victoire de voir que tous les films ont réussi à passer l’Atlantique, même ceux provenant de pays en difficulté», conclut Jérémie Abessira.

Renseignements Le cinéma Royal est situé au 608 rue College.

Programmation du Festival et réservations: www.eutorontofilmfest.ca

European film festival gets rolling http://pages.cdn.pagesuite.com/3/2/3253554b-­‐f9a8-­‐448e-­‐970b-­‐9d841f8de7a9/page.pdf

Pictured: Lars Henriksson, honorary consul of Sweden, Executive Director Jérémie Abessira and Arne Nordtorp, honorary consul general of Denmark

Daniel Garber talks with Swedish director Gabriela Pichler about her new film EAT SLEEP DIE (Äta Sova Dö) http://danielgarber.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/daniel-­‐garber-­‐talks-­‐with-­‐swedish-­‐director-­‐ gabriela-­‐pichler-­‐about-­‐her-­‐new-­‐film-­‐eat-­‐sleep-­‐die-­‐ata-­‐sova-­‐do/

Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM. Raša (Nermina Lukač) is a young Swedish woman, a Muslim born in Montenegro. She lives with her Dad in a small town near Gothenburg and works in a produce-­‐ packing factory. She’s a damned good employee — they type who can tell the exact weight of a handful of lettuce.

But when she and some others are laid off by the company, she finds herself suddenly rudderless, adrift. And, when her ailing father is forced to look for work in Norway, she has nothing to do and no one to do it with. All her friends were at the factory — her life was there, too. Is she “Swedish” enough to find a new job in her home town?

A new movie, a realistic drama, looks at small-­‐town life in Sweden through the eyes of an assimilated, working class immigrant. It deals with questions of identity, community and exclusion.

This award-­‐winning film is called EAT SLEEP DIE and played at the the Venice, Busan and Toronto film festivals. It is screening at the EU Film Festival in Toronto.

I speak — by telephone from Gothenburg, Sweden — with the film’s writer/director, Gabriela Pichler. She talks about immigrants in Sweden, making her film and the personal connection she has with the story.

Radar: Making a Living Making Music, ShopAGO, Art Bar Poetry, Veggielicious, Not Criminally Responsible Posted by Jason Steidman / NOVEMBER 19, 2013 http://www.blogto.com/radar/2013/11/radar_making_a_living_making_music_shopago_art_bar _poetry_veggielicious_not_criminally_responsible/

European Union Film Festival At the European Union Film Festival Torontonians can catch features from Euro destinations from Bulgaria to the UK and from Croatia to Finland, France, Greece, Romania, and well, you get it. Ongoing until November 27 the ninth annual fest will screen 34 films from 28 countries for free (yes, for free!) at The Royal Cinema. Read our preview here. Until November 27, The Royal Cinema (608 College St), various showtimes, all screenings free (reserved seats $10).

Toronto's fall film festival season is hot

By Bryen Dunn Nov 13, 2013 in Entertainment http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/362065

3. European Union Film Festival – November 14 to 27 EU Consulates and Cultural Institutes in Toronto present cinematic excellence with national and international award-­‐winning films from across Europe. Seven years after the festival’s premiere, the festival is the largest of the European run film festivals in Toronto, and one of the largest free film festivals in Canada. Admittance is free to all screenings.

All films are screened at the Royal Cinema, 608 College St. Click here for a full listing of films and times.

Executive Reads: Jeremie Abessira

By: Notable Posted in: Shop -­‐ Nationwide || November 14, 2013, 3:30 pm http://notable.ca/nationwide/shop/Executive-­‐Reads-­‐Jeremie-­‐Abessira/

Originally from France, Jérémie Abessira is the Executive Director of Toronto’s European Union Film Festival (Nov 14 to 27 at The Royal Cinema). After working at several film events around the city, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, and Cinefranco, this is Jeremie’s first year at EUFF, where he constantly puts to use the many experiences he has learned while working in film in one of the world’s most multicultural cities.

Animal Farm -­‐ George Orwell I love allegories, especially social and historical ones. I think they are incredibly creative ways of understanding our present and past; they allow us to see things from different perspectives in ways we could have never done otherwise. I think this is extremely true of Orwell’s book. For me the different ways in which he represented various social issues and historical events really helped me see things in a new light, all while appreciating the intricate complexity of the parallels he had drawn.

The Empire of the Angels -­‐ Bernard Webber I find Webber’s writing really compelling; it is really hard to not immerse one’s self in it. I love how easily his characters come to life, it is almost like you are there with them, experiencing first-­‐hand what they are going through. Webber’s imagination and ability to create worlds of their own have always been a source of inspiration to me, helping me push myself to be more creative.

Fear and Trembling -­‐ Amélie Nothomb One of the main reasons why I really enjoy reading is that books are often a way to travel to different places, times and civilizations, and even be other people. This book is the perfect example and I feel like Nothom really gave me the chance to go to Japan just by reading it, and to experience it through somebody else’s eyes, learning more about its culture in the process (including things that honestly surprised me). I think that’s why I love art in general; it gives you the opportunity to get away without even leaving the room.

EUFF13 Review: Dinner with My Sisters (2011)

By John Munshour | November 13, 2013 http://prettycleverfilms.com/movie-­‐reviews/modern-­‐times/euff13-­‐review-­‐dinner-­‐with-­‐my-­‐ sisters-­‐2011/

If you’re a big fan of having your movies explained to you very, very carefully, be sure to check out the North American debut of Michael Hapeshis’ 2011 film, Dinner with My Sisters . Set in Cyprus, a land filled with sunshine and expository dialogue, this movie follows Dr. Michael Kolovos (Andreas Karras) as he returns home after a 30 year absence. His reunion with his sisters is tempered by their coldness, which is made worse when they clash over the sale of their father’s home. He can’t believe that stern matron Maria (Popi Avraam), angsty prostitute Olga (Nadia Charalabous), and semi-­‐clothed but mostly ignored Helen (Julietta Michael) would want to sell the house that their father designed and built before his death. He begins asking questions about his father’s death and brings to light family secrets that his sisters have spent years hiding.

Fortunately, all it takes to uncover these family secrets is to ask the same question twice in a row, a technique so effective that Michael does not bother with too much else with his screen time,

except smoking and staring ruefully into the distance. Fear not, that’s all well-­‐documented too, as are his flashbacks and dreams. When the film isn’t occupied with these concerns, it can be found either attempting to hide the fact that every shot lasts way too long with needless camera movement, or attempting to establish mood and setting by lingering endlessly on picturesque details. All of this leaves very little time for you to get to know the characters through dialogue and interaction, so Hapeshis saves you the effort by having characters constantly explain their feelings and motivations. What a clever time-­‐saving device!

With the movie’s overall tone, Hapeshis seems to be going for the look and feel of a BBC production based on a piece of literary fiction, the only part of which he does justice to is how incredibly un-­‐fun those are to watch. He really nails the humorless, self-­‐importance of those productions. Like spot-­‐on. Fortunately, he can only keep this up for about 50 of the 84 minutes, after which the movie finally–mercifully–descends into being genuinely terrible. Perhaps it didn’t actually get worse and 50 minutes is all that one can take of stagey direction, wooden acting, and cliché-­‐riddled writing before your critical faculties just collapse and it all becomes hilarious, but I know I found the last third of the movie quite funny. It features one of the least convincing fight scenes I have ever watched and some of the worst dialogue I’ve heard in a long time.

Unfortunately, as an overall product, it’s not bad enough to recommend on those grounds either.

Dinner with My Sisters screens on Friday, November 15, 2013 at 6:30 PM. To reserve your space for this free screening, visit the European Union Film Festival Toronto website.

Watch the Dinner with My Sisters Trailer

EUFF Review: Oh Boy (2012)

Wade Sheeler November 13, 2013

http://prettycleverfilms.com/movie-­‐reviews/modern-­‐times/euff-­‐toronto-­‐film-­‐fest-­‐review-­‐oh-­‐ boy/#.UoUUpGRO9Hw

Take Woody Allen’s ode to Manhattan, shake it up with Martin Scorsese’s satirical After Hours, season with a dash of sauerkraut and you’ve got Oh Boy , a delightful German dramedy from Director Jan Ole Gerster, enjoying its Toronto Premiere at the European Union Film Festival.

This funny yet tender story of a “slacker” having the worst (and best) 24 hours of his life is an unusual “homage” to the city of Berlin, photographed in beautiful B&W, with a comfortable jazz score that goes down like the warm cup of coffee that our hero tries, but is never able, to drink.

Everything goes wrong for the college dropout Niko (Tom Schilling), from a debit card eating ATM, to a failed run in with a sadistic psychologist. It all comes to a head in a tone changing conversation with an aged alcoholic, forcing our affable hero to face some inner demons.

Gerster’s breezy yet surefooted feature debut is definitely worth a look.

Oh Boy screens on Friday, November 15, 2013 at 6:30PM. To reserve your space for this free screening, visit the European Union Film Festival Toronto website.

European Union Film Festival Review: Oh Boy (2012)

By Jordan Ferguson | November 13, 2013 http://nextprojection.com/2013/11/13/european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐review-­‐oh-­‐boy-­‐2012/

Editor’s Notes: The following article is part of our coverage for the 9th Annual European Union Film Festival which runs from November 14th to 27th at Toronto’s Royal Cinema. For more information on the festival visit eutorontofilmfest.ca and follow the European Union Film Festival on Twitter at@EUFFToronto

There’s a sense throughout Oh Boy, a film about a shiftless twenty-­‐something not exactly sure who or what he wants to be, that the film shares its protagonist’s uncertainty. Sometimes, the film is a laid-­‐back hangout movie, sometimes it plays more like social farce, and occasionally it strains for deeper meaning. What results is a fitfully fun, occasionally moving, ultimately fairly messy film without an idea of its purpose or even its tone.

Sometimes, the film is a laid-­‐back hangout movie, sometimes it plays more like social farce, and occasionally it strains for deeper meaning.

The film follows Niko (Tom Schilling), a guy in his late twenties, a college drop out living off of the money he gets from his father, who thinks he is still paying for the boy’s education, and mostly just drifting aimlessly through his life. We follow him through a particularly eventful day as he ends a relationship, weathers a psychiatric hearing in an attempt to regain his driver’s license, visits a movie set, plays golf with his father, sees some friends, goes to an avant garde performance and tries, desperately, to find a simple cup of coffee.

Sometimes the film feels like it is attempting to force Niko to change or evolve, to confront the consequences of his detachment and indecisiveness and to grow up. Yet often throughout, it feels more like a German riff onCurb Your Enthusiasm, as Niko is forced into some very uncomfortable social situations and tries to make the best of them, often failing miserably. Watching him try to steal back the change he has given a sleeping homeless man when he realizes his credit card has been cancelled, or his attempts to get out of several very awkward situations with any shred of dignity intact, can be very funny indeed.

This isn’t to say Oh Boy has no redeeming qualities. There’s a playfulness to a lot of the film that, if not always outright hilarious, is at least fairly amiable.

Sometimes it hits on something that works, whether it’s the coffee gag, which pays off over time and resolves with a surprising amount of resonance…

Yet Niko himself remains somewhat out of reach, almost a cipher standing in for quarter-­‐life crisis malaise more than an actual human being.

Because he lacks a strong point of view, a lot of the farcical elements can fall flat (imagine a completely unopinionated Larry David at the center of Curb, and you might imagine how many sequences here play out), and the deeper issues the film wants to address never fully coalesce.

Niko needs to work as a character before we can put his flaws into focus and care about whether he overcomes them. He’s so affectless and uninterested, he occasionally becomes uninteresting, a hole at the center of a film that spends almost no time with anyone else. Every other character is a supporting player to a guy who would fade into the background if the camera ever lost focus on him for a second.

This isn’t to say Oh Boy has no redeeming qualities. There’s a playfulness to a lot of the film that, if not always outright hilarious, is at least fairly amiable. Sometimes it hits on something that works, whether it’s the coffee gag, which pays off over time and resolves with a surprising amount of resonance, or a monologue delivered at Niko in a bar that attempts to encapsulate the passage of time, as an old man looks back on fond memories and regrets. It feels a little dropped in to provide the film a climax and to potentially push Niko towards a resolution, but in and of itself, the scene is a lovely evocation of a life recalled, played with a wonderful mixture of humor and melancholy. If the rest of the film had managed that balance, or even seemed committed to any particular tone, viewpoint, or even a strong central character, it might have been something special. Instead, Oh Boy is occasionally entertaining, fitfully interesting, and ultimately somewhat unsatisfying.

Notable - 11.14.2013 - "Executive Reads: Jeremie Abessira"

European Union 2013 Review: Oh Boy B Y A D A W O N G N O V E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 3 http://thetfs.ca/2013/11/14/european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐review-­‐oh-­‐boy/

Niko is a law school dropout who pockets his father’s money instead of getting a job and occupies his days with busy nothings. Oh Boy takes us on a day in the life of Nikos, we follow him to get a coffee, to visit a film set with an actor friend, as he befriends a drug dealer’s grandmother, and so on. Slacker films have taken a backseat to superheroes and bio pics in recent years, but Oh Boy deftly meets every standard of the neglected genre.

Oh Boy is shot in black and white, providing an instant visual cue signaling the audience of the film’s indie roots. Through his character Niko (portrayed by Tom Schilling), director Jan Ole Gerster masters the act of purposeful meandering. Niko does not accomplish much with his day, but yet he is perpetually busy. Each act, each encounter, and conversation is on the verge of leading to catharsis, but doesn’t. We watch with (very) mild amusement and are 40 minutes into the film before anything happens that remotely hooks us, but in that time there are chuckles and the set-­‐up of a running gag.

Recognizing lack of plot is typical of this type of film, it could be said that Gerster slowly draws us in and we find ourselves vested into Niko’s life. He is subtle and pulls back at the end of each encounter, but it could be argued that much is happening in this one day to

Niko, setting the wheels into motion for something big. We contemplate with him, and the outcome is anyone’s guess.

Is Oh Boy essential European Union Film Festival viewing?

If you are a fan of slacker films, this is a fine example coming out of Germany and you should check it out. To those not a fan of this genre, Oh Boy will come off rather pointless and it’s best to pass.

Oh Boy screening time November 15, 2013 – 6:30 pm – The Royal Cinema

More About Oh Boy

Oh Boy trailer

Oh Boy gallery

Review: Oh Boy -­‐ or -­‐ Just a cup of coffee

By Will Brownridge http://www.the-­‐filmreel.com/2013/11/14/review-­‐oh-­‐boy-­‐2012-­‐or-­‐just-­‐a-­‐cup-­‐of-­‐coffee/

Niko (Tom Schilling) has managed to do nothing with his life, although he wouldn’t view it that way. Things take a turn when everything starts falling apart. He breaks up with his girlfriend, has his bank account frozen when his father finds out he quit school, is deemed to be emotionally imbalanced by a psychiatrist, and is unable to get a regular cup of coffee. Through numerous odd interactions, Niko must finally deal with the things he’s done in his life, and find a new outlook.

As you journey through a day in the life of Niko, you’ll start to wonder if he’s the lazy one, or if it’s everybody else in the world who has decided to do nothing with their lives.

Writer/director Jan Ole Gerster crafts a quietly funny, and always charming film.

Tom Schilling is outstanding as Niko, making questionably bad choices seem like good ones, especially when he’s meets so many odd people in his day. An actor friend who excels in his craft, and turned down every role offered to him, or his neighbour who hides away in a games room after a difficult spell with his wife. Niko seems to have done the proper thing by watching life pass by, until a final encounter at a bar. The stranger he

meets there offers more wisdom than Niko may have ever gotten, and it’s a touching finish to a fantastic film.

Is Oh Boy Worth Watching?

An amazing film that will change the way you look at life, and all in a very funny, and sweet way. Don’t miss out on this one.

Oh Boy screens Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 6:00 pm, FOR FREE, at The Royal. Check their website for information.

Oh Boy trailer

Oh Boy gallery

The Dork Shelf Guide to the 2013 European Union Film Festival

By Dork Shelf | November 14, 2013 http://dorkshelf.com/2013/11/14/the-­‐dork-­‐shelf-­‐guide-­‐to-­‐the-­‐2013-­‐european-­‐union-­‐ film-­‐festival/

Entering its inaugural year, the European Union Film Festival (starting up today with the Lithuanian documentary, The Other Dream Team, looking back on the country’s unlikely Olympic basketball superstars, and running until November 27th) aims to bring back to the city some of the best in feature and documentary filmmaking from across the European subcontinent. It’s comprised of a wide cross-­‐section of films that quite often preserve a profound sense of national identity, with no two films ever feeling the same. Some of the films in the series have screened in the city before (like the highly acclaimed Bullhead), but for the most part these films are at the very least debuts within the city of Toronto.

All screenings take place at The Royal, and best of all, they are all free of charge. So instead of seeing if the line-­‐ up is worth your money (it’s a no lose scenario there!), let’s see if the films we were able to check out are worth your time!

And with two full weeks of programming that we weren’t able to get around to, there’s plenty more to see that we haven’t touched upon. For a full list of everything showing, and to reserve seats, check out the festival’s website!

2013 European Union Film Festival Alcan Highway The Consul of Bordeaux Dinner With My Sisters Dream Team 1935 Kuma Love.net Oh Boy Volare

EUFF 2013: Alcan Highway

By Kirk Haviland – November 14, 2013 http://dorkshelf.com/2013/11/14/euff-­‐2013-­‐alcan-­‐highway/

Alcan Highway Hese is a 44 year-­‐old Finnish man trying to solve the paradox of wanting to be constantly on the move and to find a home to settle down. To this end, he plans to build a mobile home and find a place to turn off the engine for good. He travels from Finland to Anchorage, Alaska, customizes a 60 year-­‐old truck, throwing the body of an old Streamline trailer very awkwardly on the back, with his friends and drives to Vancouver Island to seek peace of mind. At least, that’s the plan.

After making its Canadian debut at this year’s Hot Docs film festival, Alcan Highway returns to Toronto as part of the European Union lineup. It starts as a tale of an over ambitious endeavour and the crew of frazzled, put upon men charged with the journey. Eventually the indecisive Hese is put on the right course, as the other more experienced members of the rebuild crew finally berate him into listening. What follows is a road trip that experiences one mechanical failure after another. Through it all Hese manages to keep his spirits up and remains determined to make his crazy dream alive.

Hese is an intriguing and genuine character that will engage audiences in the story of his poorly conceived venture. (Kirk Haviland)

Screens th Saturday, November 16 , The Royal, 4:30pm

This article also ran in the following outlet: http://moviejunkieto.com/2013/11/24/alcan-­‐highway-­‐dork-­‐shelf/

EUFF 2013: The Consul of Bordeaux Review

By Tina Hassannia – November 14, 2013 http://dorkshelf.com/2013/11/14/euff-­‐2013-­‐the-­‐consul-­‐of-­‐bordeaux-­‐review/

The Consul of Bordeaux There is nothing particularly striking in The Consul of Bordeaux, yet the real-­‐life story of Portuguese consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes’s efforts to help save Jews stranded in Bordeaux, France during World War II is a mostly heartwarming tale. De Sousa Mendes issued tens of thousands of visas irrespective of applicants’ race, religion and nationality, including 10,000 Jews.

While the film follows De Sousa Mendes’ heroic story, it’s framed as a flashback from the perspective of an elder maestro named Francisco de Almeida in present day.

A young journalist convinces De Almeida to tell his life story as a young Jewish boy under De Sousa Mendes’ protection, when she reveals knowing De Almeida’s real name, Aaron Apelman.

Startled but charmed by the journalist’s friendliness, De Almeida recalls his impressions of the consul, who continued to register Jewish applicants even after Portugal forbade it. The film is peppered with the consul’s positive, humanitarian rhetoric against racist consulate employees who try to stop him, and though his proclamations are undeniably true the film feels too stagey for such dialogue to feel truly compelling.

The film does best when it illuminates the stressful but productive conditions under which De Sousa Mendes and his aides (De Almeida included) worked long hours in order to bust out as many people as possible—an area in which it can provide fruitful and authentic detail. Though De Almeida’s recollection should rightly include the warm, community-­‐oriented episodes of his time in Bordeaux, the film’s artificiality hinders its ability to convincingly illustrate the characters’ imminent jeopardy. Thankfully, however, the film skips the Argo chase-­‐capper approach as the characters try to leave France, and while it relies a little too heavily on convenient plot turns to conclude on a happy note, such contrivances also demonstrate the underlying non-­‐conformist attitudes De Sousa Mendes was able to bring out in other people, including authorial figures. (Tina Hassania) Screens Thursday, November 21st, The Royal, 6:30pm

EUFF 2013: Dinner With My Sisters Review

By Tina Hassannia– November 14, 2013 http://dorkshelf.com/2013/11/14/euff-­‐2013-­‐dinner-­‐with-­‐my-­‐sisters-­‐review/

Dinner with My Sisters The look and feel in Dinner with My Sisters could very well belong in a Greek tourism video: shots of open fields, clear, blue skies and sleek, white architecture capture the beauty of Cyprus in this family drama, but outside of its production design the film falls short.

The clunky story features Andrea (Andreas Karras), a London-­‐based Greek doctor who returns to his home country, finding an unwelcoming family of sisters guarding secrets about their father’s untimely death. Andrea slowly uncovers the truth while his embittered two elder sisters, Maria (Popi Avraam) and Olga (Nadia Charalambous), scoff at him for not being a real man because he left their family behind, and make menacing racist remarks about his girlfriend in Greek.

Maria and Olga are understandably angry about their family’s past—their father inadvertently hurt them in unimaginable ways—the real nature of his death is entirely accidental. When that kernel of truth finally comes out, everyone somehow magically achieves catharsis and they all live happily ever after. What is bewildering and quite problematic about this ending is that the film is so focused on the innocuous death of the family patriarch that it overrides the sisters’ much more tragic ordeals and thereby negates them. Amusingly, had Dinner with My Sisterssimply switched around its narrative order, it could have at least provided a semi-­‐satisfying Greek tragedy. (Tina Hassania) Screens Friday, November 15th, The Royal, 8:30pm

EUFF 2013: Dream Team 1935

By Dave Voigt – November 14, 2013 http://dorkshelf.com/2013/11/14/euff-­‐2013-­‐dream-­‐team-­‐1935/

Dream Team 1935 The rare example of a sports drama not from North America, Dream Team 1935 is the true story of a small nation succeeding on the world stage when no one gave them a chance.

In Geneva, Switzerland in 1935 the first European Championship in basketball is about to take place. The national teams are meeting each other for the first time, and they all want the honour of being the first champion to help put the growing sport on the map. In Latvia, Coach Baumanis is convinced he can gather a team and bring them to Geneva. That’s easier said than done, as he has to overcome his government’s ignorance and bring together the best players in his country, most of whom hate each other, before molding them into a real team.

Much like basketball itself, filmmaking is a team sport, and while no one individual stands out over all, together this makes for a solid cinematic experience. Director Aigas Grauba runs through the bullet points of a sports underdog movie fairly well, and despite needing some editing in spots where it drags a little bit, it gets the job done. The ensemble cast is solid, and they all get the story from point A to point B fairly easily.

As a sports movie, Dream Team 1935 works just fine, and it makes for a nice little history lesson for any basketball fans out there, but don’t expect anything too flashy outside of the cinematic equivalent of learning the fundamentals. (Dave Voigt)

Screens Tuesday, November 13th, The Royal, 8:30pm

EUFF 2013: Kuma Review

By Kirk Haviland – November 14, 2013 http://dorkshelf.com/2013/11/14/euff-­‐2013-­‐kuma-­‐review/

Kuma Fatma is a fiftysomething housewife with six children in Vienna, but she grew up in Turkey and clings stubbornly to the traditions and values of the old country. Ayse is 19, and married to Fatma’s son, Hasan. However, when the family takes Ayse to Vienna this is revealed as a charade… for Ayse is to be the kuma (second wife) of Fatma’s husband, Mustafa.

Kuma starts with a slow pace that makes the audience’s entry into this world a chore in parts. It’s anchored by the 2 ladies at the heart of the story, Nihal Koldas as Fatma and Begum Akkaya as Ayse. The pair form a strong and tender bond, with Fatma leaning on Asye to take care of the household and her children. Koldas is solid as Fatma, who’s so stubborn that she would willingly plot and scheme for her husband to have a child with another woman. But its Akkaya’s turn as Ayse that’s the real attention grabber here. As the story develops, and after tragedy strikes the family, Ayse discovers herself for the first time, with Akkaya pitch perfect in relating the character’s naïve charm and eagerness.

The pacing and tone may turn off some, but Akkaya`s performance is enthralling, and audiences will debate her actions and their repercussions long after the film is over. (Kirk Haviland)

Screens Saturday, November 16th, The Royal, 6:30pm

This article also ran in the following outlet:

http://moviejunkieto.com/2013/11/24/kuma-­‐dork-­‐shelf/

EUFF 2013: Love.net Review

By Kirk Haviland – November 14, 2013 http://dorkshelf.com/2013/11/14/euff-­‐2013-­‐love-­‐net-­‐review/

Love.net Love.net follows the parallel stories of character trying to change their lives via Internet dating sites in Bulgaria. This film is about love at first (virtual) sight in all its forms – the inevitable, mystic and inexplicable love, as well as the superficial. The film tracks multiple couples trying to make their first forays into the online dating world, examining the possible dangers of underage users on sites, the anonymity of site clients, and the possibility that the person you are talking to may not be that unfamiliar.

The film doesn’t quite know what it wants to be-­‐ tear jerking emotional roller coaster, romantic comedy, serious drama-­‐ and in the end it fails to be any of them. Attempting a plot along the lines of Valentine`s Day, where eventually we discover how everyone is connected, the film stretches a little too thin , making tenuous and tedious connections between some characters just to include them into the story. A story with a failing marriage seems to work best, but most of the others just stagnate without much to do or add.

With characters that have nothing to work with, the audience is left with no one to get involved with. It’s more likely to inspire people to watch the clock than the films finale. It all falls flat with a tremendous thud. (Kirk Haviland)

Screens th Wednesday, November 20 , The Royal, 8:30pm

This article also ran in the following outlet:

http://moviejunkieto.com/2013/11/24/love-­‐net-­‐dork-­‐shelf/

EUFF 2013: Oh Boy Review

By Andrew Parker – November 14, 2013 http://dorkshelf.com/2013/11/14/euff-­‐2013-­‐oh-­‐boy-­‐review/

Oh Boy Although it’s a German production filled with a lot of national identity and flavour, the black and white shot, slick looking, but amateurishly mounted Oh Boy feels more like a well made university thesis project rather than a film that was actually a huge indie and mainstream hit in its home country earlier this year.

Tom Schilling stars as Niko Fischer, a slacker approaching his late 20s and having the worst day of his life. After being dismissed as an emotionally unstable alcoholic by the official who could reinstate his driver’s license, he learns he’s been cut off by his wealthy father, is forced into a conversation with a creepy upstairs neighbour, finds himself forced by his best friend into going to a performance art play starring a girl he used to bully in grade school, and he hangs out in the trailer of an actor playing a Nazi in a WWII drama.

Things don’t necessarily happen in that order, but just by listing them, one gets the idea of exactly what kind of film Oh Boy is. It’s a listless look at an aimless young man who has to learn how to be an adult before it’s too late. Schilling is great, and the direction from Jan Ole Gerster certainly looks accomplished on a visual level, but the material feels like a Woody Allen worshiper screaming at the viewer. It tries so hard to give off Niko’s feelings of disenfranchisement and privileged ennui that everything feels forced and rather inorganic. It’s a movie with a bunch of situations that add up to nothing and say nothing really all that interesting. (Andrew Parker) Screens Friday, November 15th, The Royal, 6:30pm

EUFF 2013: VOLARE Review

By Andrew Parker – November 14, 2013

http://dorkshelf.com/2013/11/14/euff-­‐2013-­‐volare-­‐review/

Volare – The Great Story of Domenico Modugno A made for Italian TV look at one of the country’s most well known pop culture icons, Volare takes the name of singer Domenico Modugno’s best known worldwide hit (I think you can figure out which one) and takes a look at the life of the struggling artist through the 1950s and 60s.

A lifelong lover of cinema, but coming from a rural family too poor to help him pay for his film schooling, Domenico (played by dead ringer Beppe Fiorello) struggles to even get work as an actor or a singer/songwriter because of his use of dialect and typecasting based on his looks.

With the help of the singer who would eventually become his lover and a former best friend and classmate who tends towards the bottle, Domenico rises above it all without giving up.

It’s pretty standard inspirational movie-­‐of-­‐the-­‐week biopic stuff, but it’s well acted and crafted. It might only cover a relatively short period of his life (his childhood and his eventual foray into politics later in life are never covered since the success story is related to an audience at one of his shows in the 1970s), but what made him a legend in Italy is retained. It also takes its time before getting to Modugno’s success, but it never feels like a slow burn, and refreshingly the guy wasn’t so big of a saint that one would have to wait until after he hits it big to see his flaws. (Andrew Parker)

Screens Saturday, November 16th, The Royal, 8:30pm

European Union 2013 Review: Kuma B Y L A U R A H O L T E B R I N C K N O V E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 3 http://thetfs.ca/2013/11/15/european-­‐union-­‐2013-­‐review-­‐kuma/

Kuma is the story of Ayse (Begüm Akkaya), a young woman from a small Turkish village. The film begins with her wedding to Hasan (Murathan Muslu) whose family has been living in Austria for his entire life. Soon after the wedding Ayse joins her new family in Vienna and the audience learns what she has really come there to do. Ayse is to be the kuma, a second wife to Hasan’s father, to be there for the family if Hasan’s mother, who is suffering from cancer, dies.

Kuma is a very slow-­‐building family drama that, for the most part, chooses to show rather than tell. Ayse’s new family harbours a number of secrets, but it doesn’t explicitly devote too many lines of dialogue or too much time to these moments. Instead the film lets us discover these family secrets and dynamics almost along the way, hinting at them throughout even before they explicitly begin to bear on the story.

The film’s main anchor is Begüm Akkaya as Ayse who is our entry point into the family. Like us, she is an outsider and in many ways remains one for the whole film. A shy and introverted woman who is trying to find her place in a new family and alos a completely different world, Ayse doesn’t say much. Akkara’s body language and facial expressions, however, tell us a lot of things without being overly showy or her having saying anything. Her performance is quiet and unassuming which works really well to counterbalance some of the almost tragic experiences she faces in her new life.

Is Kuma essential European Union Film Festival Viewing?

Definitely. If contemplative family dramas are your thing, then this is a definite must-­‐see.

Kuma screening time Saturday, November 16, 2013 – 6:30 pm – The Royal

Kuma trailer

Kuma gallery

EUFF13 Review: Bajari: Gypsy Barcelona (2013)

Posted by John Munshour | November 16, 2013 http://prettycleverfilms.com/movie-­‐reviews/modern-­‐times/euff13-­‐review-­‐bajari-­‐gypsy-­‐ barcelona-­‐2012/

It is a commonplace to think of traditions purely in the terms of things that are threatened or in crisis. In Bajari (2013), Eva Vila’s film about Flamenco and its closely knit community of performers, no such threat is visible. The music here is an active, vibrant, vitalizing force, and Bajari provides engaging access to it’s pulse and the people it animates.

Bajari is split between two different narratives about the transmission of Flamenco tradition within Spanish Gypsy communities. One thread follows Karime, a Flamenco dancer in Barcelona working with a group of musicians to put together a night of Flamenco that will pay respects to its local history and forms. But the high expectations created by tradition and family cast a long shadow across the performance; her mother Winy–also a dancer– is flying in from Mexico to participate in the event. But both Winy and Karime have to dance in the shadow of a third performer, the late Carmen Amaya. Carmen is considered the greatest of all Flamenco dancers, the one whose image is in films, books about Flamenco, and even on public monuments. She’s the one all other dancers are measured against. She is also Karime’s great aunt.

The rest of Bajari focuses on Juanito, a Gypsy boy about to get his first pair of boots for dancing.

He is thoroughly immersed in Flamenco, singing along with the older men, watching Carmen Amaya films with his family, and getting advice–even at such a young age–about which colors make a dancer’s costume stand out. His uncle is a singer, and Vila allows us to watch as the older man passes along not only songs and tips, but also a love of the music and culture that surrounds it.

Flamenco music is the star of Bajari . The joy of watching Karime and Winy get ready for the show is not the suspense of whether they’ll be able to make it work–they and the musicians they’re working with are the best in their fields–but rather the joy in watching them form relationships with the songs, and watching those relationships animate their movements.

Similarly, Juanito–who an excess of energy seems to pour off of at all moments–dances while with his family, while at play with other children, and even while running through the jets of a water from a fountain.

Bajari is just as joyful a watch.

Bajari screens on Sunday, November 17, 2013 at 6:00 PM. To reserve your space for this free screening, visit the European Union Film Festival Toronto website.

Watch the Bajari Trailer

European Union FIlm Festival Review Review: Kuma (2012)

By Doug Heller – November 16, 2014 http://nextprojection.com/2013/11/16/european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐review-­‐kuma-­‐2012/

Editor’s Notes: The following article is part of our coverage for the 9th Annual European Union Film Festival which runs from November 14th to 27th at Toronto’s Royal Cinema. For more information on the festival visit eutorontofilmfest.ca and follow the European Union Film Festival on Twitter at@EUFFToronto.

Kuma is the debut feature from Umut Dag and shows great promise. The film is not so much plot or character based as it is situational. It gives insight into a Turkish family that has immigrated to Austria, but the insight is not cultural it is just of this family.

The story centers on Ayse (the lovely Begum Akkaya) who is wed to Hasan (Murathan Muslu) in the first scenes of the film. She is packed up with her new family and they go back home to Austria, where we discover that Fatma (Nihal G. Koldas) has cancer and Ayse was not really married to Hasan but is intended to be Fatma’s replacement if she should not survive her cancer. She spends her wedding night with Mustafa (Vedat Erincin) and not the man everyone outside the family thinks she is married to.

The film is not so much plot or character based as it is situational. It gives insight into a Turkish family that has immigrated to Austria, but the insight is not cultural it is just of this family.

Fatma trains Ayse in homemaking and develops a very special bond with her. As they go on, Fatma seems to consider Ayse more as a daughter than her husband’s second wife. She explains that she feels blessed to have found her because now she is not afraid to die, knowing that Ayse will care for her family properly. Ayse gets pregnant by Mustafa and their bond only grows stronger.

The entire concept of Kuma is fascinating to a westerner like me. I have no idea if this is a common practice within Turkish culture or not, but I’m inclined to think that it is not considering how it is discussed amongst the children of Fatma and Mustafa (and there are many children). This seems to be a singular idea that is played out because she feels that without someone already in her role, her family would fall apart. She is so focused on her family that she would get a very young girl to come in and sleep with her husband just to be sure her family would have a caretaker if her cancer should take her (and she was only in early stages of chemo, and not given a poor prognosis as far as the film tells us). I really can’t imagine this being done in western culture, mostly because of rigid social morays concerning monogamy and the marital sanctity that isn’t often shared by the countries that formerly made up the Ottoman Empire.

I say this not to cast dispersions on a culture that is not mine, but rather in an attempt to place myself into a different frame of perception. Initially, I was surprised at the arraignment, but not appalled. Understanding the situation requires understanding Fatma, and that is something that Dag and Koldas allow us to do. Fatma is really the linchpin of the story, more so than Ayse, despite the film being told entirely from Ayse’s point of view, because the entire situation was conceived and implemented by Fatma. Koldas gives a very loving portrayal of Fatma, a woman who cares so much for her family that she cannot bare to think of what it would be like without her. In a way, her plan is to train Ayse to be so much like her that it will not feel as though she died, just got younger. This is kind of her way of cheating death in a way. It was also a way to hand-­‐pick a daughter figure that she likes, because she seems mostly aloof and

distanced from her own children. She obviously loves them, but she doesn’t seem to connect with any of them and she lavishes overt love upon Ayse.

For her part, Akkaya also does a wonderful job as Ayse. She plays Ayse as incredibly naïve and out of place. She was aware from the start of the arraignment, but she does not seem to be 100% on board with it at the start. She is scared and intimidated by all the people around her (except Fatma) and eventually grows into the person that Fatma wants her to be. Certain circumstances that develop later in the film also showcase her youthful thinking has not evaporated and that is not something that will work out well for her. Akkaya gives a genuine touch to Ayse, a feeling that all is new to her still, and that is what endears her to Fatma and us.

For Dag’s part, the film is well directed. He handles the cramped space of a small apartment populated with a few too many people very well, emphasizing the closeness of the people. He also takes great care to not over light the apartment, keeping it a little dim so as not to call attention to the fact that it is a film, but never lets it get too dark.

For Dag’s part, the film is well directed. He handles the cramped space of a small apartment populated with a few too many people very well, emphasizing the closeness of the people. He also takes great care to not over light the apartment, keeping it a little dim so as not to call attention to the fact that it is a film, but never lets it get too dark. He gets good performances out of his actors and lets the story speak more for itself instead of trying to show off behind the camera.

One problem is that the film is awfully talky. The script is so concerned that we understand everything that instead of letting the actors convey things nonverbally or let Dag show us something, it wants to tell us everything. In a lot of ways, this could have functioned better as a play because everything is spelled out for us. The strange thing is that this develops over the course of the film. In the beginning, we get very little information and we feel just as confused and isolated as Ayse. As it goes on, people just blatantly tell us what is happening and sometimes recap what has happened. The film would have been a little more powerful if there had been more quiet scenes where we saw Ayse doing the chores or learning from Fatma. As it is, it feels worried that we won’t get everything so it stands there and spells it all out.

Kuma ends up a good film with some rich performances and shows promise for the director; it just has little confidence in its ability to convey ideas and just as little confidence in the audience for being able to pick up on the ideas. As novel as the story is, the film could have been pretty powerful especially given some of the twists that crop up but it falls short because of a lack of surety.

75/100 ~ GOOD. Kuma ends up a good film with some rich performances and shows promise for the director; it just has little confidence in its ability to convey ideas and just as little confidence in the audience for being able to pick up on the ideas.

EUFF13 Review: Dream Team 1935 Posted by Lesley Coffin November 17, 2013 http://prettycleverfilms.com/movie-­‐reviews/modern-­‐times/euff13-­‐reviewdream-­‐team-­‐1935/

The “inspired by true events” sports film is nothing new. We’ve seen it in Miracle (about US Hockey’s victory), Cool Runnings (about Jamaican bobsledding) and Chariots of Fire (about UK track and field). Now we have the Toronto premiere of Aigars Grauba’s Dream Team 1935 about the Latvian basketball team which won the first European Basketball championships. And like the other films I mentioned, the film does what these other sports films accomplish by making the audience absolutely root for the underdog team we’re following…despite knowing they’ll likely win.

The odd issue regarding this film is the movie has an odd political-­‐social-­‐historical connection because of Latvia’s history. I honestly know very little about the country of Latvia, but I do recall university lessons about their struggles for independence only to be invaded by both German and Soviet, and ultimately forced to become a part of the Soviet Union. Yet as an American, I really know very little about the country’s history, which makes a story like Dream Team 1935 both compelling for what little information it provides, and frustrating for what it seems to leave out. It’s part of the problem with watching foreign films which are made to appeal to their country of origin. What one can assume an audience knows as part of their national history, I have to admit to being a bit lost and wanting a bit more explanation of political-­‐social climate having an effect on the story.

But even with my own lapses in inexcusable knowledge of the country, I knew that Latvia was a tiny country, considered insignificant by more powerful nations in 1935, making Dream Team 1935 an obvious underdog story. And any film about the history of a sport is always interesting and compelling to watch (I’m not a sports fan by nature and even I enjoy historical sports documentaries). More importantly, Grauba makes a well-­‐made, unsentimental yet feel good period dramedy. And has an exceptionally good cast to help tell this story of national pride.

The majority of the cast are newcomers who have the potential to make the transition to international fame if the film is marketed and released properly. Janis Amanis as coach Valdemars Baumanis is charismatic and holds the screen as the composed and eloquent man who got the job by default and had to fight his own country to get his team to the Euro-­‐Championships. But it’s Marvis Manjakos who has real star power as the team captain, able to captivate on screen despite his limited screen time. But the entire cast is strong, if underused; if I had one wish for them film it would have been the opportunity to give a bit more time and character development to the team members.

The other issue I have with the film is the excessive use of slow-­‐motion and tendency to be repetitive with plot points. Even if the exact same events did play out, with so many in the cast, shifting focus to different characters would have helped the film’s pacing. But these issues are relatively minor for a film which is an enjoyable, if not revolutionary, entry into the true sports story about an event more than worthy of a feature film.

Dream Team 1935 screens on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 8:30 PM. To reserve your space for this free screening, visit the European Union Film Festival Toronto website.

EUFF Review: A Trip Posted by Pat at 11/17/2013 09:35:00 PM http://www.cinemablographer.com/2013/11/euff-­‐review-­‐trip.html

If you’ve attended one of the screenings at this year’s European Union Film Festival, you’ve probably witnessed the infectious little bit of head-­‐bobbing that accompanies New Wave Syria’s “Let it Out,” which is the song featured in the festival’s official trailer. The funky elector-­‐euphoria of “Let it Out” should give festivalgoers a good sense of what to expect when they attend the EUFF screening of Slovenia’s A Trip, the film in which “Let it Out” originally appears. A Trip is an energetic, tangibly contemporary film. Like the Swedish EUFF film Eat Sleep Die, which coincidentally screens at the festival the same night as A Trip, Slovenia’s offering at the festival should strike a chord with younger viewers or festivalgoers in search of New Wave-­‐type fair.

A Trip might be the more upbeat feature on the night’s programme in comparison to the kitchen-­‐sink realism of Eat Sleep Die, but both films are worthy choices. Like Eat Sleep Die, A Trip ushers in a new voice in European cinema. Writer/director Nejc Gazvoda makes a strong feature film debut by giving a fresh take on the tried and tested trope of the road movie. The film sees three friends—Ziva (Nina Rakovec), Andrej (Luka Cimpric), and Gregor (Jure Henigman)—reunite for a road trip to the sea on a journey that takes their friendship on a radical arc.

The three friends used to make the trip in high school, so they’re going back to the sea at Ziva’s request since all three of them seem to be at a turning point in their lives and they might not have the same chance to reconnect. Ziva says that she plans to study abroad and Gregor is a soldier on leave from Afghanistan.

Andrej, the token gay friend, hates everything and plans to take life day by day.

A Trip, like most road movies, puts the friends on a symbolic journey as the make their way from point A to point B. Some of the friends harbour secrets when the trip begins, but things are gradually revealed as the

friends progress to their destination. A drunken kiss between Ziva and Gregor stirs old feelings, both old and good, which have a ripple effect on things that have lain dormant between the threesome for years. In one moment when the friends do make a pit stop, the breeziness of A Trip explodes in a random outburst in which the three friends unleash all the tensions the friends need to release on their expedition by taking their rage out on a car discarded on a hillside. Viewers are bound to be taken aback as the three friends beat the car to pieces, but Gazvoda reframes the trip in this scene and reveals that there is much going unsaid between the friends.

The trip is mostly a jaunt of escapism, though, just as A Trip provides a fun relief for audiences. The contemporary score and music by New Wave Syria heightens the sense of freedom afforded by the trip as the friends sing along to “Let it Out” as the car drives along the winding Slovenian highway. Gazvoda offers a film that is candid and authentic, drawing on the strong performances from the three actors to create a tale that speaks of the alienation of young people in a fast-­‐paced society that doesn’t give them much room to grow. They’re always moving, as one friend seems to be leaving while the others have nowhere to go, and the handheld camerawork conveys the restlessness of the three friends as they go in search of themselves. The escape of the road trip affords perspective—A Trip stands by the hallmark of the road movie by teaching the characters about where they’re going.

The themes of the film are palpably relevant and universal, as the side-­‐by-­‐side programming of A Trip and Eat Sleep Die reveals. The frustrations voiced by Ziva, Andrej, and Gregor aren’t all that differently from the stresses Raša experiences in rural Sweden. These two films offer a night at the European Union Film Festival that shows how styles and stories might shape a national cinema, but the themes underlying these films are ultimately universal. The accessibility of the two films should reverberate with Canadian viewers just as loudly as the speakers shake when they go home and blast “Let it Out” following the film.

Rating: ★★★1/2 (out of ★★★★★)

A Trip screens in Ottawa at the European Union Film Festival on Friday, Nov. 22nd at 9:00 pm.

It screens at Toronto’s European Union Film Festival on Monday Nov. 18 at 6:30 pm.

EUFF13 Review: God Loves Caviar (2013)

By Claire Dunderman, November 18, 2013 http://prettycleverfilms.com/movie-­‐reviews/modern-­‐times/euff13-­‐review-­‐god-­‐loves-­‐caviar

When one thinks “pirate,” Johnny Depp and swashbuckling come to mind, not Catherine the Great. But with the Greek film God Loves Caviar , she becomes just as much entangled with the devious actions of a pirate as any other skull and bones flick. The film does a good job at flashiness but lacks a bit of the political punch that it sets off to do: what exactly does Varvakis’ Greek identity bring to the table intellectually?

God Loves Caviar screens on Friday, November 22,2013 6:30 PM. To reserve your space for this free screening, visit the European Union Film Festival Toronto website.

Watch the God Love Caviar Trailer

European Union 2013 Review: Love.net B Y A D A W O N G N O V E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 3 http://thetfs.ca/2013/11/19/european-­‐union-­‐2013-­‐review-­‐love-­‐net/

Everything can be found on the internet, and that includes all forms of love and sexual offerings.Love.net gives us a glimpse through a handful of computers (and residents) of Sophia, Bulgaria.

Mila discovers her husband has been meeting other women on a dating site; jailbait Devora lies about her age and garners many online admirers with her sexy, sophisticated selfies ; John and Joana connect from across the continent over a search for a 70’s music video; and skeptic reporter Toni stumbles upon love in the midst of his (literally) hands-­‐on research.

There seems to be an increasing number of films about online dating, virtual love, and other technological connections, but Love.net stands out for its lack of pretense. Filmmaker Ilian Djevelekov asked for submissions from Bulgaria’s largest dating site and developed his ensemble film from the stories he received. The result is warm, thoughtful and appealing, Love.net is entertaining without being pretentious or glorifying.

Lilia Maraviglia is terrific as the lonely Mila Bogateva, who garners her husband’s love online but paradoxically removes him further from her in their frigid marriage. Their unusual tale is complex but plausible, the audience feels every moment of her anguish. Djevelekov makes a wise choice utilizing Mila

and Andrey ‘s story as the central plot, subsequently weaving in several subplots, which provide great comedic counterpoint. The story of 14 year old Devora masquerading as an 18 year is also a stark reminder to monitor our children in this technologically advanced age. Love.net may take place halfway around the world, but hits close to home.

Is Love.net essential European Union Film Festival viewing?

Yes, the topics and themes of Love.net effortlessly transcend any language barriers. More importantly it’s entertaining and will appeal to a wide audience. Not to be missed.

Love.net screening time Wednesday, November 20, 2013 – 8:30 pm – The Royal

Love.net gallery

European Union Film Festival Toronto 2013: Night Boats Review http://www.rowthree.com/2013/11/19/european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐toronto-­‐2013-­‐night-­‐boats-­‐ review/

Love is ageless. This is the message behind Igor Mirkovic’s feature film debut, Night Boats. A tender film, beautifully if simply shot, it offers a diverse image of love. Acted with compassionate care, and written with a deft, at times poetic, hand, Night Boats is captivating. Unfortunately ambiguous by its conclusion, the tone remains in tact, offering a heartwarming story.Night Boats at the Toronto European Union Film Festival

Helena and Jakov are the inhabitants of a retirement community. Having sold her house to help her son fund his move to Australia, Helena leads a fairly solitary life, content with the company of her quiet roommate. Jakov enters the scene, a moderately disgruntled ex-­‐saxophone player.

Having travelled the world playing his jazz, he’s a renegade romantic at heart. The two meet, and become fast friends, progressively falling deeply in love with one another. Conflicted over her new feelings for a man who is not her deceased husband, Helena treads lightly, like a bird carefully pecking seeds from a friendly hand. Jakov is fearless, and unabashedly infatuated with Helena. Together, they leave everything behind, and run off to Italy together with nary a penny to their names.

The pair acts like teenagers. Innocent in their infatuation, they still tread lightly, as the wisdom of age has taught them. Though it’s clear neither has felt this kind of emotion for some time, if at all, they are both weary in their own way.

Ana Karic provides us with a strong-­‐willed, if fragile heroine. Clearly abandoned by an ungrateful son, she’s coping with neglect. Her performance is that of an intelligent, compassionate and delicate woman, rife with complex emotions, and conflicting desires. Karic paints a beautiful portrait of a troubled past, without being overt. Helena’s story, besides that of her son, is relatively ambiguous, lending an air of whimsy to the otherwise grounded story.

Radko Polic as Jakov is quite possibly my favourite romantic leading man this year. The Yugoslavian acting veteran is incredibly charming. Standoffish at the beginning, he very quickly succumbs to Helena’s charm. You can see him fall in love with her. The subtlety of the perfect yearning glance. A nuanced exhale when he wants nothing more than to kiss her and hold her. A hilarious double take at a stunning new hairdo. Polic’s reactions to Karic are beautifully executed.

He’ll melt your heart.

The charisma and chemistry of Karic and Polic is undeniably the film’s strongest point. Their performances are remarkable, moving portrayals of sated loneliness. The plot, however, treads a little too close to ambiguity. Elements of their pasts seem to overlap, yet the characters had never met prior to this home. Polic’s Jakov is clearly ill, and with something gravely shocking judging by Helena’s reaction to the news, yet we’re never made aware of what’s wrong. Random characters that were present at the home seem to crop up along their journey, inexplicably recurring at the film’s closing. It winds up overcomplicating a simple, and lovely, film.

However, in spite of its vague difficulties, Night Boats still maintains itself as a touching film about last love. The invigorating power of romance oozes through every inch of celluloid, and we are given a truly beautiful film.

Night Boats had its Canadian premiere at the European Union Film Festival this past Sunday evening. The festival continues until next Wednesday, November 27th, with offerings from Poland, Latvia, Greece, and more. Screenings are free at The Royal Cinema.

EUFF13 Review: Jackie

By Claire Dunderman | November 19, 2013 http://prettycleverfilms.com/movie-­‐reviews/modern-­‐times/euff13-­‐review-­‐jackie-­‐2012/

More than just a sister travel flick, Jackie delves into the human question of finding where we come from. The film does a good job with representing a diverse female cast, but unfortunately falls into the trap of cliches. A particularly notable performance from Carice Van Houten as the ever-­‐complaining Sofie injects the film with a feeling of genuineness.

Jackie screens on Friday, November 22, 2013 8:30PM. To reserve your space for this free screening, visit the European Union Film Festival Toronto website.

Watch the Jackie Trailer

Images from Jackie

Toronto European Union Film Festival

http://myetvmedia.com/feature/toronto-­‐european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival/

When was the last time you were able to watch a Greek movie one day and Estonian movie the next? Even in Toronto, it can be difficult to find European films on the big screen. From November 14 to 27, film fans can watch some of the best movies from countries across Europe at the Toronto European Union Film Festival (EUFF). One film, the crime thriller Blind Spot, is Luxembourg’s 2014 Foreign Film Oscar entry.

The Toronto European Union Film Fest is different from any other Film Fest. First and foremost it’s free, entry is provided on a first come, first serve basis, the box office opens one hour before the screening. But the main particularity is that the festival is programmed not by theme or vision but by country. There are no breakthroughs at the EUFF, but the line up is decent, 28 countries 34 films with 4 North American Premieres, 6 Canadian Premieres and 8 Toronto Premieres, all films are screening at the Royal Cinema (608 College St.)

Our 3 Top Movie picks are:

From Portugal: The Consul of Bordeaux (O Consul De Bordéus) 2011-­‐ North American Premiere

Director: Francisco Manso, Joao Correa Thursday 21 November 2013 6:30PM

Big fans of History and real life stories, the tales of Aristides Sousa Mendes’s efforts to rescue more than 30,000 people including 10,000 Jews (during World War II) is a must see even if I do not expect the film to have the same success and distribution as Schindler’s List .

From Ireland: Natural Grace 2012

Director: Art Ó Briain Wednesday 27 November 2013 6:30PM An Irish documentary following the life and music of Martin Hayes, one of Ireland’s top fiddlers. It moves from his childhood home in rural Ireland, to Chicago and even Japan, as he talks us through his experiences with music. Winner of the 2012 Best Irish Feature Documentary at Galway’s Film Fleadh.

From Luxembourg: Blind Spot 2012

Director: Christophe Wagner Tuesday 26 November 2013 8:30PM

Making its Canadian premiere, Blind Spot concerns a cop and his boss investigating his brother’s murder. A movie that can stand alongside the best noir movies, Blind Spot is also Luxembourg’s submission to the 2014 Oscars.

Christophe Chanel & Donal O’Connor

European Film Festival Review: Dinner with my sisters (2011)

By Jacqueline Valencia | November 20, 2013 http://nextprojection.com/2013/11/20/european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐review-­‐dinner-­‐sisters-­‐2011/

Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for the 9th Annual European Union Film Festival which runs from November 14th to 27th at Toronto’s Royal Cinema, with additional editions of the festival taking place in Ottawa and Vancouver. For more information on the festival visit eutorontofilmfest.ca and follow the European Union Film Festival on Twitter at @EUFFToronto.

In Michael Hapeshis’s Dinner With My Sisters, Dr. Michael Kolovos (Andreas Karras) returns home after being away for thirty years. His sisters greet him coldly and explain to him that they are selling their father’s home in Cyprus. Naturally, the family clashes over the sale and Michael tries to make sense out of his father’s death and the secrets his sisters hold regarding it. The eldest, Maria (Popi Avraam), is stoic and unyielding; the middle sister, Olga (Nadia Charalabous), is a quietly fuming prostitute; and the youngest,

Helen (Julietta Michael), is naïve and constantly ignored. Michael’s questions come fast, but they only lead to more suspicions.

First of all, the film is beautiful to look at. The majestic home is sparkling white, gorgeous in its design, surrounded by the lush undergrowth of olive groves and fields.

It’s an open home that only becomes dark when the sun goes out and the rain clouds move in. So there’s a pleasantly rustic feeling surrounding the film. This can be Hapeshis’s structurally trained brain at work (he was originally trained as an architect).

First of all, the film is beautiful to look at. The majestic home is sparkling white, gorgeous in its design, surrounded by the lush undergrowth of olive groves and fields. It’s an open home that only becomes dark when the sun goes out and the rain clouds move in. So there’s a pleasantly rustic feeling surrounding the film. This can be Hapeshis’s structurally trained brain at work (he was originally trained as an architect). The kitchen pots clang and cutlery scrapes on plates are muted but discernible, just as one renders a memory from a setting in a remembered home. The infusion of sepia colored memories of young boys getting into trouble at church or at home are a good way to set tone.

However, somewhere in this film I lost a reason to care for its obviously tortured characters.

Maybe it was the clichéd insane moment trope as the young Olga puts on her lipstick, encircling her lips over and over again until the red is all over her face. Perhaps it was how little we knew of the sisters’ lives before and after the grand secret is revealed which could have given a better view of the characters’ individual development. With all the time that was given to Michael’s constantly asking Maria what had happened to his family and their bantering about his having left them to suffer without his support, the film’s many subplots (including sharp racism), and twists, eventually neatly wrap up in one climatic incident with a smile and a quick farewell.

The acting though is quite good [...] Yet it feels like director Hapeshis reigns the performances in too much, wanting the big reveal to be the primary focus and not the possible explosive dramas that could have been culled from his obviously skilled actors.

The acting though is quite good. Karras feels like the reluctant patriarch who’s still reliving the past as a teen running away from tradition. Avraam, Charalbous, and Michael are tempered, fiery, and, in the case of Michael’s character, Helen, clear eyed and looking for adventure. Yet it feels like director Hapeshis reigns the performances in too much, wanting the big reveal to be the primary focus and not the possible explosive dramas that could have been culled from his obviously skilled actors.

The film is billed as a psychological family drama and I dug the familial connections in it. However, when a family is in turmoil, especially the kind of struggle that keeps it estranged for thirty years, the conclusion felt empty and I couldn’t gather any mutual catharsis or meaning from it.

Dinner With My Sisters promises its audience a journey through the strife of a family torn apart by situations and secrets. Overall, the film builds and builds only to fizzle quietly in its quaint denouement.

55/100 ~ MEDIOCRE. Dinner With My Sisters promises its audience a journey through the strife of a family torn apart by situations and secrets. Overall, the film builds and builds only to fizzle quietly in its quaint denouement.

European Film Festival Review: Consul of Bordeaux (2011)

By Jaime Burchardt | November 20, 2013 http://nextprojection.com/2013/11/20/european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐review-­‐consul-­‐bordeaux-­‐ 2011/

Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for the 9th Annual European Union Film Festival which runs from November 14th to 27th at Toronto’s Royal Cinema, with additional editions of the festival taking place in Ottawa and Vancouver. For more information on the festival visit eutorontofilmfest.ca and follow the European Union Film Festival on Twitter at@EUFFToronto.

The Consul of Bordeaux is a something else; something it doesn’t deserve to be. It tells the true-­‐life story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a simple man that made a life changing decision that helped saved the lives of 30,000 people during June 1940, at the height of World War II. Using the job of approving passports in Bordeaux, France, he went against tremendous odds and the strictest of orders to help many people reach a safe refuge, including 10,000 Jews. The story is told through the view of a young man at the time, which had the fortune of helping Mendes through this life-­‐

changing journey. This is an incredible true story, and to see the result of the motion picture dedicated to this is disheartening.

Directors João Correa and Francisco Manso simply don’t have the means to give this amazing story the respect it deserves, and yet at the same time there’s a bit of arrogance to their execution.

What’s to stop them? That’s the mentality that screams all over the poorly shot frames (as an example). For about 10 minutes towards in the middle of the third act, there’s a slight hint of some actual respectable filmmaking.

Perhaps some sort of document can be created that extremely encourages that important, real-­‐life stories be told by people that actually have the means to. It may be harsh to say so, but there’s no denying that the importance of one person’s deep heroic accounts getting a C-­‐list treatment is just an ugly sight to behold. The Consul of Bordeaux isn’t really a mess; it’s more of a crime. The movie starts off and after a few minutes you realize that it’s taking the narrative high road, which would be fine except one would think that this is documentary instead; not because of the subject matter but the approach of the film itself. The music, the shot compositions, just the whole feel of it. If it were indeed a documentary, then it would have been a different, almost keen approach. But when the narrative realization kicks in…oh boy.

Right off the bat (more like a bat hit to the skull) the production value assaults your senses like a stench that tries to hide itself behind the story. From the beginning till the end, the actual quality of the film hides behind its source like a sleaze hiding behind a fake glorified online dating profile. You know the kind, right? Fake online picture, fake online profile, and fake everything. The Consul of Bordeaux is like a living, breathing Catfish entity. Directors João Correa and Francisco Manso simply don’t have the means to give this amazing story the respect it deserves, and yet at the same time there’s a bit of arrogance to their execution. What’s to stop them? That’s the mentality that screams all over the poorly shot frames (as an example). For about 10 minutes towards in the middle of the third act, there’s a slight hint of some actual respectable filmmaking.

Considering it’s a 90-­‐minute film, the win-­‐loss ratio is uneven to the point that it might as well laugh at the face for wasting your other 80-­‐ minutes.

To imagine how this would have come out with the right kind of team is to realize that some real quality could have been obtained. That aspect is quickly lost amongst the misdirection, shoddy editing and cinematography, and consistent moments of severely awkward acting. There are stumbling attempts of set-­‐ups for the characters to, you know, emote since this is such a dramatic, thrilling story. The cast here doesn’t emote.

The one thing that might be excusable is the set-­‐up for the film. Told through the account of an old man flashing back to the way he came to met Mendes, The Consul of Bordeaux can’t say it didn’t have a leg to stand on. To imagine how this would have come out with the right kind of team is to realize that some real quality could have been obtained.

That aspect is quickly lost amongst the misdirection, shoddy editing and cinematography, and consistent moments of severely awkward acting. There are stumbling attempts of set-­‐ups for the characters to, you know, emote since this is such a dramatic, thrilling story. The cast here doesn’t emote. Perhaps one can say they tried, but it’s not enough to carry you through this. In fact, nothing in the movie is really good enough to make you truly embrace and care for the what’s going on. Your time is better spent looking up a good old-­‐fashioned book about this. But if you’re really bent on experiencing this cinematic splat…bring coffee.

30/100 ~ AWFUL. The Consul of Bordeaux attempts to tell the real-­‐life story of a brave hero.

“Attempts” is the keyword. The level of horribleness this manages to reach with an all-­‐around lack of quality should be a considered a crime.

EUFF 13 Review: Reflections In The Emerald Isle

by Lesley Coffin November 20, 2013 http://prettycleverfilms.com/movie-­‐reviews/modern-­‐times/euff13-­‐review-­‐reflections-­‐emerald-­‐ isle/

James L. Brooks one stated (I paraphrase) that specificity is key to identification. To connect personally with people, in documentary or narrative films, a film doesn’t have to reflect your own situation exactly; only present something intimate and specific enough that you feel empathy for the subjects or characters. Recently we’ve seen films which have told intimate, personal stories in documentary forms with great effectiveness. Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell accomplished this with an intimate story of her parent’s marriage and mother’s secret life.

But simply presenting a personal story does not equate to intimacy, and in a film like Reflections in the Emerald Isle , these films can seem more pretentious than anything else. Mark Magro’s film (the fifth documentary’s he’s completed) is essentially a piece of performance art, 30 minutes of personal thoughts on his father intercut with glamour shots of Ireland with family photos and home movies. I had to cheat to know what he was discussing, but according to the official description:

A young man is in Ireland to shoot a historical documentary of the country. However, his Maltese father, a thousand miles away in Canada, is ill. As the melancholic images inspire him, he reflects on the journey of his father and of his own Maltese heritage. Questions of decisions make the young man realize the footprints individuals make in shaping generations of families, nations and the fabric of humanity.

It sounds like an interesting practice in meditative filmmaking for a short film, but had I not read the description, I think I would have found the film even more frustrating than I already did. And the movie is an incredibly frustrating cinematic experience because it is the ultimate example of selfish filmmaking, a textbook example of why producer interference sometimes is good for a filmmaker.

Magro’s film feels like a student film handed in when grander plans fell through. In this case, Magro went to Ireland to film a historical documentary (which we don’t see) and he simply uses beauty shots to fill out a documentary about his feelings about his father. He includes a few family photographs (all rather generic) and narrates the film with two voice males (I assume were staged for the film) and narrates with the kind of ramblings of an 18 year old asked to write a personal essay.

As harsh as I fear I’m being, Magro’s narration is the biggest problem with Reflections in the Emerald Isle , because he is ultimately saying nothing. There is no insight or poetry in what he says, and his droll speaking voice makes the film seem much longer than its 25 minute running time. He didn’t need to say anything profound and unheard of, but he ultimately sounds like he has NOTHING to say. There is nothing personal, emotional, or moving in his words about his dying father, just the benign ramblings of a young man who wants to sound profound, but confuses depth with hollow affectation.

Had he had the courage to be a bit more personal, a bit more open…a bit more SPECIFIC, it would have been much easier to empathize with what should be a universal story of impending loss. *While this is a minor technical complaint, the decision to include a 2 ½ minute credit scroll to this 25 minute film was almost offensively conceited for a film of this kind.

Reflections in the Emerald Isle screens on Saturday, November 23, 2013 at 5:00 PM. To reserve your space for this free screening, visit the European Union Film Festival Toronto website.

Watch the Reflections in the Emerald Isle Trailer

European Union 2013 Review: Superclasico

BY ADA WONG

N O V E M B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 3

http://thetfs.ca/2013/11/24/european-­‐union-­‐2013-­‐review-­‐superclasico/

Christian is a depressed man. It’s been 17 months since his wife Anna left him, moving from Copenhagen to Buenos Aires to be with her new lover, the handsome football star Juan Diaz, and leaving Christian and their son Oscar behind.

Christian’s wine shop is ailing financially and Christian is dipping into the reserve stock, when he receives divorce papers from Anna to be urgently signed. Reaching his tipping point, Christian piles himself and Oscar into a plane and flies over Buenos Aires for one final attempt at winning his wife, and his life, back.

Superclasico is a balanced feel good comedy with characters that are a touch absurd, thrown into situations that are a little far-­‐fetched but not impossible. Playing an oafish, bungling father, a bubblehead football star, hardened but seductive maid, and all-­‐black-­‐clad emo photographer son against one another is a sure-­‐fire way to guarantee comedic success. But beneath the physical gags, cultural stereotypes, and language barrier quips is a thoughtful plot that examines the inner workings of a family’s bonds.

While Christian (portrayed by Anders W. Berthelsen) makes a terrific antagonist, even more impressive are how Ole Christian Madsen and Anders Frithiof August have written their female characters. Christian’s wife Anna is a strong-­‐ willed, business-­‐minded sports agent, Oscar’s love interest Veronica (Dafne Schiling) is a smart, independent spirit, and even the housemaid Fernanda bares a tragic past with a brave face and uses her feminine wiles to help Christian. The

women in Superclasico are determined and confident, but at the same time realistically flawed, these combine for an empowering representation.

In life’s absurd moments we learn what the things we value are truly worth. Superclassico shows us that love is worth fighting for without getting too hokey, and also that sometimes one needs to know when to let go too. Director Ole Christian Madsen arrives at an evolved happy ending, which is really the best kind of ending.

Is Superclasico essential European Union Film Festival viewing?

Yes, it’s hard not to like something with such mass appeal and at a pricetag of $0 there’s no reason to skip it. Fans of writer/director Richard Curtis should eat this up, and with its share of eccentric characters, Wes Anderson fans make get a kick out of it too. This is a great movie to see with your mildly dysfunction family.

Superclasico screening time Monday, November 25, 2013 – 6:30pm – The Royal Cinema

Superclasico trailer

Superclasico gallery

European Film Festival Review: Natural Grace (2012)

By Ronan Doyle | November 29, 2013 http://nextprojection.com/2013/11/29/european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐review-­‐natural-­‐grace-­‐2012/

Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for the 9th Annual European Union Film Festival, which runs from November 14th to 27th at Toronto’s Royal Cinema, with additional editions of the festival taking place in Ottawa and Vancouver. For more information on the festival visit eutorontofilmfest.ca and follow the European Union Film Festival on Twitter at @EUFFToronto.

What a poetic sort is Martin Hayes, subject of Natural Grace, Art Ó Briain’s measured movie that uses the fiddler’s musings as the gateway to a reflection on the nature of tradition and its relation—beyond that evidenced in the name—to what the Irish call “trad”. He speaks of such things as “the simple shape of a melody”, artfully describing music’s uncanny ability to assume an almost physical force in its ability to move

us. Such a subject is essential to any good music documentary: not merely a great player—and there’s no doubt, given his toe-­‐tapping talents, that Hayes passes that test—but one also capable of communicating their passion, their love, their obsession, as integral to the very essence of who they are.

…were his film a short, perhaps, it might find the success for which it strives; as a feature, alas, it’s so burdened with filler it struggles to stay afloat.

That idea of music as a transcendental force is a sentiment solidified by Ó Briain’s visuals, which—to the tremendous tune of Hayes’ instrument—fade here and there to snow-­‐laden landscapes as though swept away by the force of the music alone. Such scenes have a hint of Pat Collins, the Irish documentarian whose ability to say so much with landscape alone has made him one of the country’s most interesting, if under-­‐ heralded, emergent talents. It is but a hint, however, and Ó Briain’s not long betraying his relative inability to ascribe his aesthetic such an essential role: were his film a short, perhaps, it might find the success for which it strives; as a feature, alas, it’s so burdened with filler it struggles to stay afloat.

The appearance of onscreen captions that describe Hayes’ biography are the first prominent sign of trouble ahead: adorning images of such little resolution they bear an animated frame around them, these expository titles serve firstly to give the project the look of a computer-­‐generated slideshow, secondly to cause us to wonder why Hayes doesn’t just give us these details himself. He is an engaging interviewee, so soft-­‐spoken he seems almost to whisper, yet ferociously passionate nonetheless, and immensely intelligent to boot, speaking of the ties between folk music and Eastern philosophy in a conversational style that’s compelling to the last. Ó Briain’s direction, increasingly stale in his talking head sequences, may fail to suitably serve his subject, but he’s more than capable of holding his own.

“Can you lift it up out of the landscape and take it away?” wonders Hayes at one point, considering the relationship between art and its place of origin. A contemplative silence fills the film, until that beautiful bubble’s summarily popped by the peppy interjection of Ó Briain: “You can!”

Would that Hayes were enough, but such is the forcefulness of Ó Briain’s misjudged meanderings that they derail the project entirely, merits and all. “Can you lift it up out of the landscape and take it away?” wonders Hayes at one point, considering the relationship between art and its place of origin. A contemplative silence fills the film, until that beautiful bubble’s summarily popped by the peppy interjection of Ó Briain: “You can!” And yet, as much as this might be a case of the movie that could have been, Ó Briain isn’t quite the offender his more inane offerings might suggest: he has the sense, for instance to step back and observe in reverence as Hayes replaces a picture of his father on the wall, carefully adjusting its corners, presumably unaware he’s still being filmed. Ó Briain also, essentially, allows the music to take centre stage, an obvious choice for a music documentary indeed, but one we ought to be thankful for anyway given the film’s formal failings elsewhere. These sequences are as close to redemption as the film could ever come: folk fan or not, one can’t but be borne aloft by the rhythm of that fiddle in this master craftsman’s hands. There’s a passage, proximal to the movie’s conclusion, in which Hayes hammers his tunes out backed by an orchestra, his movements and music growing increasingly frantic as his face seems only to soothe. It might be easy to quip that Ó Briain’s is a graceless offering indeed, but courtesy of Hayes, there’s plenty to go around.

50/100 ~ MEDIOCRE. Natural Grace’s misjudged meanderings derail the project entirely.

EU Film Festival: Volare

November 25th, 2013 | write http://readwritestroll.com/2013/11/eu-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐volare/

I went to check out the European Union Film Festival which is taking place from November 14 – 27, 2013.

There were a few interesting films to see but picked one that worked well with my schedule. I went to see Volare: The Great Story of Domenico Modugno.

Volare is an Italian biopic movie looking at Italy’s most well known pop culture icon, singer Domenico Modugno, and his life as a struggling artist through the 1950s and 60s.

Domenico Modugno grew up in a poor, rural family and is a lifelong lover of cinema. He has a dream to attend film school in Rome and unable to pay for school or get help from his family, Domenico still pursues his dream and, in the process, struggles to get work as an actor or a singer/songwriter due to his use of dialect and typecasting based on his looks.

It was a a standard inspirational movie but it was fun to watch. The movie didn’t feel too long as it only covered a short period of his life-­‐ the film school and subsequent events that led to his success. There wasn’t any portrayal of his childhood or what became of him after success later in life. Apparently Domenico eventually went into politics later in life.

European Union Film Festival, All films are FREE NOVEMBER 10, 2013 BY GTASHOESTRING http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://torontoonashoestring.com/blog /2013/11/10/european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐all-­‐films-­‐are-­‐free/

There is a European Union Film Festival from November 14-­‐27th and all films are free! It’s on a first come first serve basis but you can pay $10 if you want to secure a seat for yourself. I am so excited for this. Films will be shown at the Royal Cinema @ 608 College Street.

CLICK HERE for the schedule Get there early so you can get a seat!

Enjoy

Mark your calendar: Estonian film at EUFF, Sunday, Nov. 24 Friday, 08 November 2013 14:24 http://www.eestielu.ca/en/announcements/123-­‐kultuur/2195-­‐mark-­‐your-­‐calendar-­‐estonian-­‐film-­‐ at-­‐euff-­‐sunday-­‐nov-­‐24

The European Union Film Festival in its 9th season In Toronto will be screening Hardi Volmer's "Living Images" (Elavad pildid). It's a critically acclaimed historical melodrama moving through the 20th century.

The EUFF has been placed in the top 15 of all Toronto film festivals, of which there are currently over 50. This makes Toronto the host city with the largest number of film festivals in the world

Directed by Estonia's "renaissance man" Hardi Volmer it uses new presentation techniques and depicts major sequences of humour and tragedy.

The film will be screened at The Royal, 608 College Street, (West of Bathurst), at 5:00 pm.

Althoug donations are welcome, admission is free. More information at: eutorontofilmfest.ca.

Estonian Consulate, Toronto

Read more: www.eutorontofilmfest.ca

European Union Film Festival -­‐ Films Gratuits http://www.bonsplanstoronto.com/2013/11/european-­‐union-­‐film-­‐festival-­‐films.html

Du 14 au 27 novembre, Toronto accueillera le neuvième Festival du film de l'Union européenne au Royal cinema. Cet évènement, organisé conjointement par les consulats européens et les institutions culturelles de la ville, présentera 34 films originaires de 28 pays. Le plus ? Toutes les séances seront gratuites ! C'est ça, gratuites ! Autrement dit, pas mal de monde pour peu de places. Prévoyez, donc, d'être aux portes 45-­‐60 minutes avant la séance. Sinon, pour $10, vous pourrez réserver votre ticket en ligne et arriver à la dernière minute avec l’assurance d’assister à la projection. Voir la liste des films présentés. Àpremière vue, la cuvée de cette année est intéressante et réserve de belles surprises !

EUROPEAN UNION FILM FESTIVAL Festival de cinéma http://www.eutorontofilmfest.ca/ The Royal, 608 College Street Toronto, ON (416) 466-­‐4400

EUFF2013/Happy Funerals/Funeralii fericite @ The Royal Cinema, Toronto | Nov 18 NOVEMBER 2, 2013 / EVENTS IN TORONTO & AREA, EUROPEAN UNION FILM FESTIVAL, FILM FESTIVAL

http://www.cevaromanesc.com/euff2013-­‐happy-­‐funerals-­‐funeralii-­‐fericite-­‐the-­‐royal-­‐cinema-­‐ toronto-­‐nov-­‐18/

The European Union Film Festival is screening “Happy Funerals / Funeralii fericite” (Romania 2013), a film by the Romanian director Horaţțiu Mălăele, starring Horaţțiu Mălăele, Crina Semciuc, Igor Caras-­‐ Romanov, and Sandu Mihai Gruia.

Happy Funerals / Funeralii fericite (Romania, 2013) Monday, November 18, 2013 at 8:30 pm

The Royal Cinema 608 College Street, Toronto

Synopsis

In an industrial neighborhood, three friends drink away their cares. Lionel is an engineer who left his country a long ago, but returned because of the economic crisis. Kiril is a bootlegger and Volodea, a plumber. When police raid the pub, the three leave and discover a Gypsy camp where they dare to have their future told. They laugh when an old Gypsy tells them their exact time of death. On the fateful day, the stakes could not be higher; will the Grim Reaper be as merciless as foreseen?

Awards and Festivals Sibiu International Film Festival 2013 Film Info

http://www.eutorontofilmfest.ca/index.php/films/item/happy-­‐funerals http://www.teatrucontemporan.ro/ro/cinema/funeralii-­‐fericite Tickets

FREE general admission (first come, first serve basis) $10 advance reservations at https://www.uniiverse.com/listings/euff-­‐2013-­‐happy-­‐funerals-­‐ toronto-­‐J8GXG All films 18 and over, subtitled in English unless noted Admission and Seating is guaranteed until 15 minutes before the screening. Latecomers will be admitted at the discretion of the Theatre manager.

Organizer

The European Union Film Festival is a unique cultural collaboration of EU Consulates and Cultural Institutes in Toronto. Celebrating cinematic excellence with national and international award-­‐ winning Films, the Festival will be held exclusively at The Royal Cinema from November 14 – 27, 2013.

Now in its 9th year, the official European Union Film Festival (EUFF) strives to reflect the excellence, innovation, and diversity of European cinema in Toronto, the world’s most multicultural city. Founded in 2004 as a salve to Hollywood monotony, this free festival showcases 28 contemporary films drawn from each of the EU’s member countries. EUFF is a unique festival and the only one in the world to bring together disparate EU Consulates and local cultural institutes for collaboration.

Participating EU Countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

Kultura w Toronto Published 1 November, 2013 | By Contributor

http://www.gazetagazeta.com/2013/11/kultura-toronto/

• Już wkrótce rusza European Union Film Festival 2013 Festiwal filmowy organizowany rokrocznie przez torontońskie konsulaty i instytuty kulturalne krajów EU. Początek 14 listopada. Zapraszamy!

W tegorocznym festiwalu Polskę reprezentować będzie film Piotra Trzaskalskiego “Mój rower”.

Na projekcję zapraszamy we wtorek 19 listopada, o godzinie 18:30 Royal Cinema, 608 College St, Toronto

Synopsis: Ranek. Siedemdziesięcioletni Włodek znajduje list, w którym żona powiadamia go o swoim odejściu. Wiadomość ta wywołuje szok. Włodek traci przytomność.Następnego dnia, w szpitalu odwiedzają Włodka syn i nastoletni wnuk. Paweł przyjechał z Berlina, gdzie mieszka i koncertuje jako międzynarodowej sławny pianista. Jest zanym w świecie artystą i celebrytą.Z kolei Maciek przyleciał z Anglii, gdzie chodzi do szkoły i mieszka ze swoją matką. Okazuje się, że obaj mężczyźni od lat nie utrzymywali ze sobą kontaktu.Dowiadują się szokującej prawdy: żona Włodka ich mama i babcia zakochała się i odeszła do innego mężczyzny.Wyjechała z nim prawdopodobnie do niewielkiej miejscowości nad malowniczo położonym jeziorem. Paweł zna to miejsce. Jeździł tam z rodzicami na wakacje. Postanawia jak najszybciej odnaleźć matkę. Przywiezie ją najdalej pojutrze. Potem, rozjadą sie do swoich domów, po Europie, wrócą do swojego poukładanego i zaplanowanego życia.Włodek nie zgadza się. Upiera się, że pojedzie z Pawłem.

To w końcu jego żona. Maciek również chce jechać. Oświadcza, że nie puści dziadka samego.Następnego ranka cała trójka wyjeżdża w podróż… Już na miejscu wracają zadawnione konflikty między Włodkiem a

Pawłem i Pawłem a Maćkiem. Wspólne poszukiwania sprawiają, że mężczyźni zaczynają poznawać się na nowo. Każdy dzień wspólnego przebywania ujawniać będzie ich lęki, wspomnienia, a czasami starannie skrywane sekrety. Szybko odkryją, że to co brali za różnice jest w istocie podobieństwem, a to co wydawało się złe jest w istocie dobrem. Wkrótce też jasnym się stanie, że ważniejsze od powrotu żony-­‐mamy-­‐babci, jest zbudowanie na nowo uczuciowych relacji, odnalezienie wzajemnej, zagubionej gdzieś miłości…

W rolach pierwszoplanowych wystąpią: Michał Urbaniak (Włodzimierz Starnawski), Artur Żmijewski (Paweł Starnawski, syn Włodzimierza), Krzysztof Chodorowski (Maciek Starnawski, syn Pawła).

http://www.eutorontofilmfest.ca/ index.php/films/item/my-­‐fathers-­‐bike https://www.facebook.com/EUFilmFestivalToronto

Źródło: strona Konsulatu RP w Toronto

This Week in Film: Godard Forever, Robert Frank, and Stranger By the Lake Posted by Blake Williams / JANUARY 16, 2014 http://www.blogto.com/film/2014/01/this_week_in_film_godard_forever_robert_frank_ and_stranger_by_the_lake/

More in rep cinema this week: The Consul of Bordeaux [FREE] (Friday, January 17 at 6:30; The Royal)

Oh Boy [FREE] (Saturday, January 18 at 6PM; The Royal)

Mr. Volare: The Story of Domenico Modugno [FREE] (Saturday, January 18 at 6PM; The Royal)

Ran listings online and in print for EUFF encore screenings – no archive available online

Projections: Israeli film Zaytoun makes first return after TIFF success

By Jason Anderson http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2014/01/16/projections_israeli_film_zaytoun_m akes_first_return_after_tiff_success.html

In brief The Royal’s got free encore screenings of audience faves from last November’s European Union Film Festival – The Consul of Bordeaux (Jan. 17 at 6:30 p.m.), Oh Boy (Jan. 18 at 6 p.m.) and Volare: The Story of Domenico Modugno (Jan. 18 at 8 p.m.) all make return visits.

Films in Brief: 1/18/14

By Andrew Parker | January 18, 2014 http://dorkshelf.com/2014/01/18/films-­‐in-­‐brief-­‐11814/

Also returning this weekend are free encore screenings of films that played the European Union Film Festival last year. Tonight there are screenings at The Royal of Oh Boy and Volare, at 6 and 8pm, respectively, and the latter of which is actually pretty decent.

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