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BERGAMO 2016

Bergamo Film Meeting, female European cinema

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- Andrea Arnold, Teresa Villaverde, Aida Begić and Agnes Kocsis are the directors featuring in the second part of the “Europe: Unique Females” section this year

Bergamo Film Meeting, female European cinema

The Bergamo Film Meeting draws on Europe for almost all of its motion pictures. Its 33rd edition (7-15 March 2015) – presented yesterday in Milan in memory of festival creator Sandro Zambetti, who passed away last year – has all-European titles in the international competition. Seven features by emerging filmmakers, unseen in Italy, characterized by their original language and narrative style:Anywhere Else [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ester Amrami
film profile
]
by Ester Amrami (Germany), a fresh and whole-hearted comedy that considers the meaning of belonging; Why Can’t I Be Tarkovsky? by Murat Düzgünoğlu (Turkey), the debut fiction by a seasoned documentary filmmaker; Flowers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Jon Garano and José Mari Goenaga (Spain), a melancholic feminine story for filmmakers’ second co-direction; Modris [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Juris Kursietis (Latvia/Germany/Greece), a mature directing debut about power relationships, between parents and children and between the State and citizens; Gente de bien [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Franco Lolli (France/Columbia), set in a destitute neighbourhood in the outskirts of Bogotà; Amnesia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Nini Bull Robsahm (Norway), a high pressure thriller, a first work that’s already being talked about for an American remake; Afterlife [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Virág Zomborácz
film profile
]
by Viràg Zomboràcz (Hungary), a brilliant mixture of genres.

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The seven features selected are competing for the Bergamo Film Meeting Award granted to the section’s three best films on the basis of audience preferences. The winning movie, will also receive the Bergamo Film Meeting – Banca Popolare di Bergamo Award, to the tune of 5,000 euro, set up as a support for productions that invest in young filmmakers, in independent and quality cinema. 

For its second female-oriented year, the Festival journey through European cinema is focused on the works of four directors that have succeeded in establishing themselves on the independent film production scene, via their personal style and sound authorship. The stars of the 2015 edition are Andrea Arnold (Red Road [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, 2006, Fish Tank [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Arnold
film profile
]
, 2009, Wuthering Heights [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Arnold
film profile
]
, 2011), an up-and-coming voice in new British cinema, capable of uniting the tradition of English realism with a style that’s both simple and dramatic; Bosnian Aida Begić (Snow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, 2008, Children of Sarajevo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aida Begić
film profile
]
, 2012), witness and acute observer of a generation wounded by a civil war that tore the country apart; Hungarian Ágnes Kocsis (Fresh Air [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, 2006, Pal Adrienn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agnes Kocsis, director of P…
film profile
]
, 2010), who with an effective and tender approach loves to focus on the stories of characters fleeing their own solitude, in search of potential happiness; and finally Portuguese Teresa Villaverde (Os mutantes, 1998, Acqua e sale, 2001, Swan [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, 2011), creator of a cinema that’s harsh, but at the same time moving and poetic. She is particularly akin to stories about underdogs and successfully portrays their pain and scars. 

This year’s retrospective is dedicated to France. It consists of a review of the thrillergenre from the early 40s to the early 60s. 

For several years animation film has been a key feature of the Bergamo Film Meeting. A part of the programme aimed at children and a master class will be dedicated to the genre this year. The master class for this edition will be managed by the Bozzetto Studio. The director, whose complete works will be presented, is Czech Pavel Koutský.

16 documentaries make up the Bergamo Film Meeting 2015 selection Close-up, enriched, this year by two special programmes: Films from the North, which pushes us towards the final frontiers of Northern Europe, and the Best of CILECT Prize in doc, a focus on the best in documentary productions from European film schools, a selection of short documentary movies chosen in collaboration with the Troms International Film Festival.

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(Translated from Italian)

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