We may be tired to hear about the pandemic and CMCO again but as luck would have it, here’s another programme to keep us occupied!
If you find yourself sitting at home and feeling bored, do check out the European Film Festival (EFF) that will be held from 30 October to 30 November.
This year, the EFF features 22 films from all over Europe including a special treat for online viewers and 8 short films on the topic of climate change.
Best of all, we can all watch it for free. All we have to do is to register for a free festival pass through the Festival Scope platform.
Here is a list of some of the titles showing:
1. King of the Belgians | Dutch
King of the Belgians has won a string of film awards and it centers on the character named King Nicolas III. He is a lonely soul who feels he’s living the wrong life and embarks on a state visit to Istanbul. However, a solar storm strikes Earth which caused communications to cease and shut down the airspace. With no phones and no planes to take them home, the King makes a drastic decision using creative means to get home. The King and his entourage hatches a plan of escape involving flowery dresses and singing Bulgarians.
2. Bunuel In The Labyrinth of The Turtles | French, Spanish
In 1930 Paris, Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel are already the main figures of the Surrealist movement. Unexpectedly, Buñuel is left moneyless after the scandal surrounding his film The Golden Age. In this difficult situation, he cannot even tackle his next project, a documentary about one of the poorest Spanish regions, Las Hurdes. However, his good friend, sculptor Ramón Acín, buys a lottery ticket with the promise that, if he wins, he will pay for the film. Incredibly, luck is on their side.
3. Jacob, Mimmi and The Talking Dogs | Latvian
Jacob lives in the city and dreams of becoming an architect like his busy dad. He spends a lot of time drawing buildings and daydreaming while his father is at work. One day, his dad needs to go away on business for longer than usual and Jacob has to spend the a whole week with his bossy cousin Mimmi and her ex-pirate father Eagle in Riga’s historical suburb called Maskachka. As soon as Jacob arrives, it turns out that the local park is about to be transformed into new skyscrapers by a greedy businessman. Jacob and Mimmi decide to stop the development. It turns out that they can only do it with the help of a pack of local dogs that... can talk!
4. Mellow Mud | French
In order not to lose their home, 17-year-old Raya and her little brother keep their grandmother’s death a secret. Raya tries every trick in the book to make it seem like she’s still alive, while at the same time fully indulging her feelings for her English teacher. But in spite of her best efforts, things are getting out of control. Raya hopes for help from her mother in far-off London.
5. Tel Aviv On Fire | Arabic, Hebrew
In this satire dramedy, Salam, an inexperienced young Palestinian man, becomes a writer on a popular soap opera after a chance meeting with an Israeli soldier. His creative career is on the rise - until the soldier and the show's financial backers disagree about how the show should end, and Salam is caught in the middle.
6. The Line | Ukrainian, Slovaks
In this crime thriller, Adam Krajòák is head of the family and also boss of a gang of criminals smuggling cigarettes across the Slovak-Ukrainian border. The failure of one of the transports triggers an avalanche of consequences that compels him to question his own boundaries, none of which he had planned on crossing until now.
7. They Call Me Babu | Dutch, Indonesian
They Call me Babu is a film about native Indonesian girls working as nannies (pembantu) for colonial Dutch in a rapidly changing world in the 1940's against the backdrop of the second world war and the struggle for independence in Indonesia.
8. Weit: The Story of a Journey Around the World | German
This travel documentary won Germany’s most successful cinema documentary in 2017 follows a couple who hitchhiked 50,000km and return home with a baby. The colourful and authentic film follows the extraordinary journey of a young couple who set off into the east and return to the west three and a half years later with a new member of the family. Travelling on a small budget without flying on planes, they explore the world with natural curiosity and buoyant spontaneity.
The EFF Malaysia is once again organised by the European Union Delegation to Malaysia with the participation of EU member state embassies and cultural institutions, and Switzerland. Our Malaysia partner this year is Cinema Online.
For more updates, follow EFF Malaysia on Facebook and Instagram
To check out the movie listing, head over to the website www.euff.com.my.
