14/10/2014 - A selection of films from post-communist countries, including Viktoria and Velvet Terrorists, will tour seven European festivals

The MEDIA-supported OFF THE WALL project, presenting a selection of films by filmmakers from Eastern European countries that deal with their communist past, will kick off with a screening of All That I Love [+see also:
trailer
film profile] on 3 November in Tarragona, Spain.

Films like Walking Too Fast [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radim Spacek
film profile] and This Ain’t California [+see also:
trailer
film profile] will later screen as part of a special programme at A l’Est du Nouveau in Rouen, Mont Saint Aignan and Paris (17-23 November) and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (14-30 November).

Tallinn will feature national premieres of the newest films, like No One’s Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Monument to Michael Jackson [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Darko Lungulov
film profile], and other members of the network, including Finland’s Espoo Ciné IFF, Trieste Film Festival, Northern Film Festival (Leeuwarden, Netherlands) and IFF Kratkofil Plus (Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina), will also host screenings of films such as Viktoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maya Vitkova
film profile] and Velvet Terrorists [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] as part of both their respective programmes and the OFF THE WALL selection.

“The idea is to share the human experience of living in Eastern Europe with the audiences in the West, in order to establish a better understanding and dialogue between the two sides of the continent,” says Xavier Garcia Puerto, the initiator and main curator of the project, and the director of the REC Festival in Tarragona. “OFF THE WALL gathers different films around a strong concept and appealing topics, emphasising their qualities and value while raising interest in Eastern European films among new audiences. The main objective is to increase the visibility and accessibility of new and emerging European filmmakers from smaller countries for Western European audiences.”

Markéta Hodouskova, head of A l’Est du Nouveau, adds: “An increased interest in this kind of content could help future projects from the industries of Central and Eastern Europe to gain more opportunities for local funding as export items, and a better position for participation in international co-production schemes.”