16/04/2008

While the European film festival season is in full swing in Italy, the Austrian city of Linz is preparing to host the 5th edition of the Crossing Europe Festival (April 22-27), which will screen 150 films from 32 different countries.

In the competition section, 10 films by young European directors will vie for a prize worth €10,000. Titles include I Am from Titov Veles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teona Strugar Mitevska
film profile] by Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska, which captivated audiences at the Berlinale; and Love and Other Crimes [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Serbia’s Stefan Arsenijević, which was co-produced by four European countries.

The line-up also includes French director Isild Le Besco’s Charly [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a story of friendship between a fugitive teenager and a prostitute; Marco Simon Puccioni’s French/Italian film Shelter [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]; and UK director Joanna Hogg’s Italian-set drama Unrelated [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Audiences will also have the chance to discover German director Ulrike von Ribbeck’s debut film Sooner or Later, a journey into the world of adults.

The European Panorama section features 19 titles. These include John Carney’s Oscar-winning Irish film Once [+see also:
trailer
film profile]; Abdellatif Kechiche’s award-winning French film The Secret of the Grain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hafsia Herzi
film profile]; Russian director Alexander Sokurov’s latest title, Alexandra [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which was co-produced in France; and Shane Meadows’ This Is England [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

This year, there will also be tributes to Lithuanian filmmakers Audrius Stonys, Arunas Matelis and Sharunas Bartas.

Other festival sections include "Working Worlds" and "Night Sight". Austrian directors are the focus of an exhaustive programme that includes features and numerous shorts.

(Translated from French)