welcome to the
30th Chichester International Film Festival Artistic Director Introduction
WE HAVE JUST REACHED A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY. FROM MODEST BEGINNINGS IN 1992 SHOWING Roger Gibson 29 FILMS, WE ARE NOW CELEBRATING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHICHESTER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, SCREENING OVER 156 FILMS FROM OVER 30 COUNTRIES PLUS LIVE EVENTS IN 8 VENUES. AN AMAZING JOURNEY! The world feels very different after the pandemic and with the catastrophic Ukrainian situation. Therefore, it’s not surprising that this Festival is reflecting changing times, with an important survey of undervalued Ukrainian cinema (often subsumed as “Russian” films of the Soviet period.) Two silent classics, Vertov’s ‘Man with the Movie Camera’ and Dovchenko’s ‘Earth’ (with live piano accompaniment by the brilliant Stephen Horne) are both truly Ukrainian films. Some recent films such as ‘Reflection’ and ‘Atlantis’ are challenging but we surely need to spotlight this vital cinema. Even Spy films take on a new relevance today as can be seen in the two Andrew Eaton productions he will introduce, with director James Watkins: ‘Munich, Edge of war ‘, ‘The Ipcress File’ (ITV serial ep 4) and the Estonian – ‘Dawn of War’, sharing similar themes. Recent Russian films included -especially ‘White Wale’ and ‘100 days’ (retelling Solzhenitsyn’s novel about Denisovich) are savage critiques of Russian society (hardly pro-Putin). For those seeking less volatile material there are two Chinese tales of rural life: the thought-provoking ‘Return to Dust ‘and the life-affirming ‘Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom’. Both our animation programmes, ‘Where
Return to Dust
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Where is Anne Frank is Anne Frank’ and a special programme of short animations ‘I’m Fine’, should also appeal to our younger audience, and don’t forget Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’, one of the open air shows in Priory Park. For teenagers and upwards we have a group of films dealing with rites of passage, with ‘18khz’ (our first film from Kazakhstan), ‘Magnetic Beats’ (French pirate radio antics), a Canadian romantic coming-of-age story ‘Wildwood’ and from Finland, ‘Girls Girls Girls’ (Three teenage girls seek love over three weekends). What better for Saturday night viewing!
Official Competition If you are looking for comedy, I would highlight ‘Official Competition’, a hilarious Spanish parody of the film industry starring Penelope Cruz as a director struggling with a cast of egomaniacs (Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martinez). Adapted from Balzac’s novel, ‘Lost Illusions’, is a French satire ridiculing society and social media. It couldn’t feel more germane. ‘Nobody’s Hero’ veers from fierce satire to broad farce and back in its witty observation of our troubled times. Look out for some great indie comedies in the Studio with ‘Brigitte Bardot Forever ‘ (echoes of ‘Cinema Paradiso’), ‘Sweet Disaster’, a feel-good delight from Germany and ‘Met Mes’ in which the consequences of a lie unravel against a palate of Almodóvar-esque primary colours.
