16/03/2015 - The tenth edition of the gathering gets under way today in Paris, showcasing 72 feature films hailing from 40 countries

True to its editorial policy, which hinges on allowing audiences to discover films from European countries that they may perhaps know less about in terms of their history, literature, language and current affairs, the L'Europe autour de l'Europe festival is this year celebrating its tenth anniversary. Up until 15 April, the event managed by Irena Bilić will present 72 features and 62 short films hailing from 40 European countries, and the vast majority (61%) of these works come from territories that have a low film-production capacity.

The theme for this year is "Bodies and souls", and this edition, which will be opened by the screening of the restored version of The Colour of Pomegranates by Sergei Paradjanov, will offer a competition in which nine films that are as-yet unseen in France will battle it out. Standing out among them are Heart of Lightness [+see also:
trailer
interview: Jan Vardøen
film profile] by Norwegian director Jan Vardoen (read the interview), the multi-award-winning Blind [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eskil Vogt
interview: Eskil Vogt
film profile] by his fellow countryman Eskil Vogt (read the review and the interview – distributed in France from 15 April courtesy of KMBO), Lucifer [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Belgium’s Gus Van Den Berghe (which won at Tallinn Black Nights – read the review), and two movies that were popular in the Forum section of the recent Berlinale: Superworld [+see also:
film review
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interview: Karl Markovics
film profile] by Austrian filmmaker Karl Markovics (read the review) and Until I Lose My Breath [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Turkey’s Emine Emel Balci (read the review).

Also vying for the top prize will be Finsterworld [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by German director Frauke Finsterwalder (which secured five nominations at last year’s Lola Awards, including in the categories of Best Film and Best Screenplay) and the Swiss-Hungarian feature Viktoria - A Tale of Grace and Greed [+see also:
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film profile] by Men Lareida. The competition, which will be judged by a jury chaired by Jos Stelling, also includes I'm Going to Change My Name [+see also:
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film profile] by Maria Saakyan (a co-production between Armenia, Russia and Denmark) and My Mermaid, My Lorelei by Nana Djordjadze (Ukraine, Russia, Poland).

In particular, the 2015 edition of L'Europe autour de l'Europe will pay tribute to Spanish filmmaker Vicente Aranda and to the cinema of Austria, with movies by such masters as Michael Haneke and the late Michael Glawogger. 

On the festival programme (which boasts a mix of heritage films and contemporary works), we could also highlight The Summer of Sangaile [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alanté Kavaïté
film profile] by Lithuania’s Alanté Kavaité (which won the Best Director Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival – read the review and the interview), Then It's Hi! Hi! Hee! by Latvian directors Maris Putnins and Janis Cimermanis, Foreign Body [+see also:
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interview: Krzysztof Zanussi
film profile] by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi, the Danish documentary 1989 by Anders Ostergaard and Erzsébet Rac, and two highly original Spanish productions: Androids Dream [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Ion de Sosa (which was a real revelation at the Berlinale Forum this year – read the review) and Crumbs by Miguel Llanso (a feature debut selected in Rotterdam’s Bright Future programme).

(Translated from French)