Over the next few days, Lima will become South America’s capital of European film. From 29 May-8 June, the Peruvian capital is playing host to a brand-new edition of the Al Este Central and Eastern European Film Festival. This private-sector initiative, organised by Soda Films and the Association A l’Est du Nouveau, has secured backing from institutions such as Marca País (Peru), the Normandy region (France), the Austrian, Czech, French, Georgian, German, Hungarian, Polish, Serbian and Slovenian embassies, as well as various Peruvian film centres and privately-held local companies. 

The star attraction of the entire programme is undoubtedly the official competition section for fiction films. In this sidebar, we find titles helmed by prestigious European auteurs that will be rocking up in Lima after a fruitful run at festivals the world over. Standing out among them are Sunset [+lire aussi :
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interview : László Nemes
fiche film] by Lázsló Nemes, Donbass [+lire aussi :
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interview : Sergei Loznitsa
fiche film] by Sergei Loznitsa, History of Love [+lire aussi :
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interview : Sonja Prosenc
fiche film] by Sonja Prosenc and Take Me Somewhere Nice [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ena Sendijarević
fiche film] by Ena Sendijarevic. No less compelling is the clutch of documentaries taking part in the official competition, which includes the likes of I See Red People [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Bojina Panayotova, Chris the Swiss [+lire aussi :
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interview : Anja Kofmel
fiche film] by Anja Kofmel, and Another Day of Life [+lire aussi :
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interview : Raul de la Fuente
fiche film] by Raúl de la Fuente and Damian Nenow.

The main objective of the Al Este Festival is to serve as a meeting point for professionals and film buffs, and this is why sections such as Al Este Mundo gather together European titles with others hailing from various Latin American nations. In this sidebar, viewers will be able to enjoy movies such as Casa Propia by Rosendo Ruiz (Argentina) and En cenizas by Camila Rodríguez Triana (Colombia). In the Made in Peru section, a total of ten films by local directors will be screened. Titles such as Choclos y Pallares by Sebastián Quispe, La Marea by Gisella Barthé and Leche para dos by Diego Bedoya will give audiences a taste of the sheer variety offered by the budding Peruvian film industry.

In addition to a wide array of screenings, the festival offers many different types of cultural activities, including concerts, parties, talks with highly renowned professionals, conferences and so on. One of the highlights is the first edition of Este Lab, a lab for co-productions between Europe and Latin America. A series of workshops with professionals from the European film industry will dispense advice to Peruvian and Latin American filmmakers aiming to establish ties with Europe in order to get their projects off the ground. To top it all off, the gathering is organising two master classes for all those interested in delving deeper into the secrets of the cinematic creative process. The first of them is on film directing and will be led by French filmmaker FJ Ossang, while the other will centre on documentary directing and will be given by Slovenian helmer Igor Zupe.