24 European Movies you don’t want to miss from 23 European Countries!

24 European Movies you don’t want to miss from 23 European Countries! 

European Film Festival debuts in Delhi; To be hosted at Siri Fort auditorium in collaboration with Directorate of Film Festival, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting

Greet and Meet with 4 European Directors / Actors/ Producers 

Come and experience 24 cinematic wonders from 23 member states of the European Union. Bringing a collection of latest and award winning European movies to India, the European Union Film Festival (EUFF) premiered today in New Delhi with a screening of the Slovakian movie “Little Harbour”. In its 23^rd edition this year, the European Union Film Festival features some unusual stories curated from 23 EU Member States including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.

Organized by the Delegation of the European Union to India and Embassies of EU Member States in collaboration with Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, the screening of the European films will run at Siri Fort Auditorium Complex, Audi 2 and 3 till 24^th June.

The 23^rd European Film Festival has some unusual stories to tell: the lines of reality are blurred when the cyber world comes to life; a play done by a motley cast of antiheroes provides an opportunity for redemption; a man stuck in an unhappy marriage practices unusual ways to assert his freedom; a music critic finds his father irksome when they both begin to compete for the attention of an attractive psychotherapist; and three Kurdish siblings come together unexpectedly in a hair-raising journey during which they are pursued by angry relatives. These are just some of the curious themes of the European Union Film Festival of 2018.

The Festival was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, in the presence of Mr. Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Mr. Raimund Magis, Chargé d’affaires a.i., Delegation of the European Union to India; Mr.Chaitanya Prasad, Additional Director General, Directorate of Film Festivals; Ms. Katarina Tomkova, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Slovak Republic on 18 June 2018 at the Siri Fort complex. Slovakian Producer Ms. Katarina Krnáčová, whose film Little Harbour was the opening movie at the festival, attended the inauguration.

Spanish Director Paula Ortiz and Italian Director Salvatore Alloca will also be present during their respective movie screenings in New Delhi and interact with audience, students and filmmakers.  

EUFF to travel to 11 cities

The festival will traverse through 11 cities in India starting from New Delhi and then moving on to Chennai, Port Blair, Pune, Puducherry, Kolkata, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Thrissur, Hyderabad and Goa from 18^thJune till 31^st August.

As a special attraction this year, audience, students and filmmakers will get an opportunity to interact withKatarína Krnáčová (Slovakian producer), Paula Ortiz (Spanish Director), Salvatore Alloca (Italian Director), Yannis Korris (Greek Director), Douglas Boswell (Belgium Director) and Ádám Fekete(Hungarian Actor) who are travelling to India for the festival. Indian actress Neena Kulkarni who has worked in the Luxembourg movie being screened at the film festival will be attending the festival in Goa.

The films to be screened at the EUFF are – The Magic of Children (Austria); Labyrinthus (Belgium); Viktoria (Bulgaria); Cowboys (Croatia); Boy on the Bridge (Cyprus); Tiger Theory / Teorie Tygra (Czech Republic); Walk with me / De Standhaftige  (Denmark);  Land of Mine / Under Sandet (Denmark);  The Man Who Looks Like Me / Minu Näoga Onu (Estonia); Unexpected Journey (Finland); 9 Month Stretch / 9 Mois Ferme (France); House without Roof / Haus ohne Dach (Germany); Kissing? / Ontos Filiounte? (Greece); Kills on Wheels (Hungary); Taranta on the Road (Italy); The Lesson / Izlaiduma Gads (Latvia);When You Wake Up (Lithuania); A Wedding / Noces (Luxembourg); Letter for the King (Netherlands); A Brave Bunch (Poland); Mother Knows Best (Portugal); Little Harbour / Piata loď (Slovakia); The Bride / La Novia (Spain) and Eternal Summer (Sweden).

Film will be with English subtitles. Entry will be allowed for 18+ and will be on a first come, first served basis.

Notes to the editor:

Synopsis of the movies to be screened: euff_brochure_low_res.pdf

Schedule of the movies in New Delhi:  screening_card_euff.pdf

During his welcome speech, Mr. Raimund Magis, Chargé d’affaires a.i., Delegation of the European Union to India said that “India, itself, is now a veritable global giant in the movie business and Indians have been among the most appreciative and iconoclastic audiences of European cinema outside the EU.  And so, we look forward to presenting, across India and over the next few weeks, some of the most interesting recent works of young and established film makers.” He further added, “We are delighted to have the support of the Directorate of Film Festival to host the screening of the European films in Delhi, allowing the movies to reach to a wider audience.”

The Hon’ble Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore tweeted that “Beyond the borders, we’re one planet, one people & stories showcased from around the world at #EUFF2018 could well be ours. Traversing across 11 cities, these 24 movies are a potpourri of varied European cultures that will strengthen our bond with @EU_in_India! @MEAIndia”.

H.E. Mr. Tomasz Kozlowski, Ambassador of the European Union to India, said, “We are happy to provide an annual platform for the film enthusiasts to watch award winning European movies sitting right here. I believe that the cinema has a universal appeal and helps to bring people and cultures together. The European Union Film Festival has won a special place in the Indian film calendar and in the hearts of viewers and we hope that 22nd edition of the festival will delight audiences as before. “

About the European Union (EU):

The EU, which consists of 28 countries, has the world’s largest economy and its third largest population, after China and India. Though richly diverse, the countries that make up the EU (its ‘Member States’) are all committed to the same basic values: peace, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. They have set up common institutions so that decisions on matters of joint interest can be made democratically at European level. By creating a frontier-free single market and a single currency (the euro) which has been adopted by 19 Member States, the EU has given a significant boost to trade and employment. It is also at the forefront of policies on sustainability.

EU-India relations: For Over 50 years the EU and India have worked together to reduce poverty, prevent disasters, improve sustainability, expand trade, and promote joint research in energy, health, agriculture and many other fields of mutual interest. For Press Enquiries:

Profiles of the visiting Directors / Producers / Actors to India

Slovakian ProducerKatarína Krnáčová:Katarina is an Ex Oriente 2009 graduate, and an EAVE 2015 graduate. She is a voting member of European Film Academy and Slovak Film and Television Academy.

Initially a documentary producer and production coordinator in fiction, in 2009 she joined the production company MPhilms and worked on a short film THANKS, FINE (2009, dir. M. Prikler) which premiered at the Cinéfondation of Cannes IFF 2010, followed by fiction features FINE, THANKS (2013, dir. M. Prikler) which received its world premiere at IFF Rotterdam 2013 and SLOVAKIA 2.0 (2014, dir. by 10 directors). Within the company she worked also as a Coordinator on summer art workshops for children and young people from socio-economic disadvantaged families. She worked on development and pre-production of fiction feature film MY DOG KILLER (2013, dir. Mira Fornay) which received a Tiger award at Rotterdam IFF 2013 and was Slovak Oscar contender. Katarina is Delegate Producer of a family drama LITTLE HARBOUR, a Slovak-Czech coproduction supported also by Creative Europe and Eurimages, and awarded with Crystal Bear at Berlinale 2017 for the Best Film in Generation Kplus competition. 

Currently, Katarina is developing three feature films and a TV series in her production company Silverart, all set as international co-productions, two of them supported by Creative Europe MEDIA.

Paula Ortiz Álvarezis a Spanish director, screenwriter and producer. She also teaches Audiovisual 2. Paula Ortiz Álvarez is a Spanish director, screenwriter and producer. She graduated in Spanish Language Literature at the University of Zaragoza and studied a master’s degree in Screenwriting for Cinema and Television in Barcelona. She studied Stage Direction at New York University and at the University of California. She did her Ph.D on Narrative Theory of Scriptwriting. She has directed several short films which have been duly awarded. She has directed two feature films. With ‘De tu ventana a la mía/Chrysalis,’ released in 2011, she got the Pilar Miró Award and FIPRESCI award. Her second full-length film, ‘La Novia/The Bride’, released in 2015, got 12 nominations in Goya Awards, the Spanish Film Academy ceremony, where she finally got two. ‘La Novia’ was also awarded with six Feroz prizes. She is currently teaching Audiovisual Communication at the University of Barcelona and preparing her next production.

Salvatore Alloca (Italian Director): Salvatore Allocca is a director, creative producer and screenplay writer from Rome. After his bachelor’s degree in “Literature and Cinema”, in 2006 he founded a movie and TV production company “Vega’s Project”. In 2011 in Italy he released his first theatrical feature film as a director, “How to find in the right way the wrong man”, distributed by 20th Century FOX. In 2017 his second theatrical feature film “Taranta on the Road”, was presented in main competition at BIF&EST Bari International Film Festival and is premiering in the EUFF 2018.

Yannis Korris (Greek Director):The Greek rom-comKissing?  is the directorial debut of Yannis. Korres.  Korres was born in Athens, Greece in 1986. He studied filmmaking in the Film and Television Department of New York College. He then worked in short and feature films as an assistant director. He is currently working on his second feature film with the title Girl Without Clothes. It’s a drama about the end of youth and the theme of loss. It was part of last year’s Crossroads Co-Production Forum of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

Douglas Boswell (Belgium Director) :Douglas Boswell is a Belgian director. Having directed several successful TV series and a number of award winning short films he worked with Savage Film on his first feature film, based on a script of Pierre Declercq. His filmography includes the TV series “David” (60 episodes), “LouisLouise” (50 episodes), “Wittekerke” (30 episodes) and “Elfenheuvel” (68 episodes). His short film “Romance” has won numerous awards (best short film at film festival de Carmona, Seville, Spain, special award Warschau, Poland) and was selected at many others (official selection Montreal, Flanders International Film Festival, Ghent) and bought by various TV stations in Europe and the US.

Douglas Boswell released his first feature film “Labyrinthus” in July 2014.

Ádám Fekete(Hungarian Actor): He is an actor and writer, known for Kills on Wheels (2016), Földiek(2017) and Grimace (2013). He was the winner of the “Best Actor Award” at Thessaloniki Film Festival, 2016 for his role in the film ‘Kills on Wheels’.

 Screening Schedule (18^th – 24^th June 2018 @Siri Fort Auditorium)