What with the war in the Balkans, the fall of Communism, the reunification of Germany, and the ongoing development of the European Union, Europe has seen tremendous changes in the past fifteen years or so, and there’s no better way to gauge the fallout of these upheavals than by viewing the cinema coming out of the countries that have been most affected. That’s why Cornell Cinema has teamed up with the Institute for European Studies to present Getting to Know (the new) Europe Through Film.
The last weekend in September will feature the Ithaca premieres of three films, one from Romania, the Czech Republic and Bosnia Herzegovina. It’s fitting that the mini-festival begin with a Romanian film, as the country has become a hotbed of award-winning cinema over the past few years.
“Since 2005, when Cannes audiences were stunned by Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, which won the Un Certain Regard prize, the festival has been host to a series of tough, strong, darkly comical films from Romania as directors in that country, assisted by a remarkable pool of native acting talent, confront the difficulties of the present and the brutalities of the past. Last year, there was Corneliu Porumboiu's mordant look at the 1989 revolution, 12:08 East of Bucharest, which won the Caméra d'Or for best debut film.” (A.O. Scott) This year, Cristian Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which takes place in the last years of the Ceaucescu dictatorship and tells the story of two college roommates, one of whom is seeking an illegal abortion, won the Palme d’Or for Best Film.
12:08 East of Bucharest, which will be introduced by Professor Matthew Evangelista (Government) on September 27, features an alcoholic teacher, a Santa Claus impersonator, and a television talk show host who gather on the eve of the 16th anniversary of Romania's revolution to answer the question: "Was there, or was there not, a revolution in our town?" A deadpan comedic look at the smallest agents of social change, "East of Bucharest has a sly modesty reminiscent of the long-ago Czech new wave, exhibiting a sense of film form that evokes the best of the rueful Czech comedies." (Village Voice) Next up is Czech Dream, a comedic documentary that examines the impact of globalization and capitalism on Czech society. The third selection is Grbavica: Land of My Dreams, which takes place in Sarajevo a decade after the war and centers on Esma, a single mother struggling to forge a life for herself and her 12-year-old daughter amid the aftermath.
Two other films screening earlier in the month—the Irish film Once, offering a glimpse of Czech immigrant life in Dublin, and the Hungarian film, White Palms, depicting a young gymnast’s brutal training in Communist Hungary and his struggle to overcome the past as a young man—complement the series.
The Festival is sponsored by the Institute of European Studies and the European Union Commission to the USA as part of its ‘Getting to Know Europe’ project and is timed to highlight the European Day of Languages (September 26).