Tomorrow's directors shine at Titanic

by Fabien Lemercier

13/04/2012 - Today in Budapest, the 19th edition of the Titanic Film Festival kicked off. The festival is to be held until April 21 at the Urania National Film Theatre, in the Toldi, Kino, and Örökmozgó cinemas, but also for the first time on the A38 Boat.

Among the seven films in the livne-up for a high quality competition are five European co-productions : Clip [trailer, film focus] by Serbian director Maja Milos (who won at the beginning of the year in Rotterdam), Oslo, August 31st [trailer, film focus] by Norwegian director Joachim Trier (applauded worldwide since its international premiere at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight in 2011), Nana [trailer] by French director Valérie Massadian (best debut film last year in Locarno), the fascinating Play [trailer, film focus] by Swedish director Ruben Ostlund (another attraction at the Directors' Fortnight in 2011), and Austrian-German co-production The Wall [trailer] by Julian Roman Pölsler (discovered in the Panorama Special section at the 2012 Berlinale). The jury is made up of Hungarian director Agnes Kocsis, of her fellow-countrymen, producer Andras Muhi, and Polish film festival director Stefan Laudy.

After Ireland last year, Titanic this year has chosen to focus on Spanish production through five films: Anything you Want [trailer] by Achero Mañas, Catalunya Über Alles! [trailer] by Ramon Térmens, documentary Garbo: The Spy by Edmon Roch, Half of Oscar [trailer] by Manuel Martín Cuenca, and The Perfect Stranger by Toni Bestard.

The festival will also include its traditional Northern Lights section with Danish films Those Who Kill - Shadow of the Past [trailer] by Birger Larsen and ID:A [trailer] by Christian E. Christiansen, Indebted by Márton Jelinkó from Finland, The Troll Hunter [trailer, film focus] by Norwegian director André Øvredal, Pure [trailer] by Swedish director Lisa Langseth, and Undercurrent by Icelandic director Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson.