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European Union Film Festival 2009

Right, Film Freaks! This is the time of the year when you put your work-schedule to one side and get serious. The dates in question - mark it up right now - are 5th to the 15th of this month, and the venue is - as ever - Vista Kadsuankaew. The 23 films come from all over Europe and include prestigeous prize-winners, some with Thai sub-titles, but most - if not with English soundtrack - with subtitles in English, among them some well-reviewed documentaries. You'll find titles, dates and times below. Happy viewing!

Gibellina - The Earthquake (2007)

Mon 9^th, 9.15 pm / Austria / 72 mins

Hundreds of people died when an earthquake destroyed the Sicilian mountain village of Gibellina. Although the city was rebuilt it became a lifeless bedroom community with modern, shoddy architecture and an over-abundance of modern art resembling an oversized, open-air memorial - a failed vision with increasing social end economic problems.

Ben X (2007) SAT 14^th, 7.30 pm / Belgium / 90 mins

Mildly autistic and a sitting duck for the school bullies, Ben wants to cry out his hurt to his tormentors and all the silent bystanders. Inspired by his mystery girl on the web and fuelled by his signature video game, he takes revenge. In their faces!

A Farewell to Hemingway (2008)

SUN 15^th, 3.30 pm / Bulgaria / 89 mins

The story about young Hemingway's stay in Bulgaria, during which he becomes acquainted with local manners and even meets love - for a very short time, indeed. A scandal on board the train leaves Ernest at a small Bulgarian station. Here, he is sheltered by the station-master and his daughter, who falls in love with the
unknown, but literate American.

Corridor # 8 (2008) WED 11^th, 9.30 pm / Bulgaria / 74 mins

Corridor #8 is a huge EU infrastructural project meant to link the Black and the Adriatic Seas, already a decade in the planning. Following the road's thread the film captures the moods, the prejudices and the hope of the people from the three Balkan countries, who paradoxically are "far away, so close" to each other.

Citizen Havel (2008) THU 12^th, 9 pm / Czech / 120 mins

Vaclav Havel was a key figure in the great changes that took place in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s. The film captures his work and influence both in the Czech Republic and internationally and offers new looks behind the scenes of international politics in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century.

Christmas Story (2007) TUE 10^th, 4.30 pm / Finland / 78 mins

A touching story of the life of the altruistic St. Nicholas, the man who became Santa Claus in myth and legend. Told in earnest period fantasy, the story radiates selflessness and friendship set against a breathtaking landscape.

CROSSED TRACKS (2007) SAT 7^th, 9.30 pm / France / 103 mins

Judith Ralitzer, femme fatale and popular writer, is seeking characters for her next best-seller. A serial killer has just escaped from a high-security prison. Huguelle, a hairdresser in a top Paris salon, is going to change their destiny.

LA PALOMA - LONGING WORLDWIDE (2008)

Thai Subtitles / MON 9^th, 3.30 pm / Germany / 93 mins

Sigrid Faltin investigates the rich history of the evocative song La Paloma by taking us to Cuba, Mexico, Hawaii, Romania,

Germany, the Basque Country, and finally Tanzania. Archival footage, clips of films in which the song appears, and interviews with the people who keep La Paloma alive have a remarkable effect on the storytelling. Historical and geographical distances disappear, and the song's meaning shifts instantaneously and continuously.

ADVENTURERS (2008) SUN 8^th, midday / Hungary / 100 mins

In his fifties Geza, a trumpeter lost whatever he had in the divorces. His son, Andras supports himself by odd jobs, often for the underworld, and usually losing on them too. They are coming to a small village to take Grandpa to Budapest, to save him from the misery his life has become due to Grandma's senility. The journey begins, but will they ever get anywhere?

GOOD MORNING HEARTACHE (2008)

SUN 8^th, midday / Italy / 93 mins

A young couple readying for the birth of their first child agree to let a team of documentary filmmakers follow them on their journey as they go from being a perfect couple to a perfect family. The only problem is that as the pregnancy progresses, their relationship falls apart.

THE VICEROYS (2007) TUE 10^th, 6.30 pm / Italy / 120 mins

In the mid 1800s, in the last years of the reign of the House of Bourbon in Sicily. On the eve of Italian reunification, the funeral of Princess Teresa brings together the members of the Uzeda family, descendents of the Viceroys of Spain. Through the eyes of a boy, the dynasty's last heir, the mysteries, intrigues and complex personalities of the other family members are brought to light as they fight over the Princess's inheritance.

THE COLLECTRESS (2008)

TUE 10^th, 8.45 pm / Lithuania / 84 mins

Gaile, a traumatized speech therapist, notices she no longer feels human emotions. However, suppressed sensations return when she sees herself on screen while preparing a video presentation. Gaile then decides to make an experiment with the help of a man and his video camera, staging various provoking situations.

Irina Palm (2007) SAT 7^th, 3.45 pm / Luxemburg / 103 mins

Maggie, a working-class fifty-something, is increasingly desperate to cover the cost of her ailing grandson's operation. Denied one loan and prospective job after another, a hopeless Maggie plunges headfirst into the underground skin trade of Soho London and becomes a prostitute. With a new name, "Irina Palm," Maggie begins working customers with a stimulatory technique so popular that patrons are soon lining up around the block to be "serviced" by her.

LOVE IS ALL (2007)

Thai Subtitles / SAT 7^th, 11.50 pm / Netherlands / 120 mins

After her husband's infidelity with their son's teacher, Klaasje falls for a teenage Don Juan. Her best friend Simone seems happy with her own husband but her tenacious striving for perfection is beginning to take its toll on the marriage. Kiki is in love too; enjoying her fling with Prince Valentijn, the most eligible prince within the Dutch royal family. Kees, an undertaker, and lifeguard Victor are also in love. They intend to get married soon, but now Kees seems to be holding back.

HANNAH HANNAH (2007)

Thai Subtitles / MON 9^th, 7.30 pm / Netherlands / 77 mins

Hannah, a stubborn outsider within a large family, watches her family with mixed feelings as they welcome her new boyfriend. Hannah tries to avoid the preparations for her parents' wedding anniversary, but her charming brand-new lover Victor sort of drags her along, and soon proves to be an ideal son-in-law. As Victor assumes full responsibility for organising the anniversary river cruise, Hannah is left with mixed feelings.

Splinters (2008)

Thai Subtitles / SAT 7th, 5.45 pm / Poland / 100 mins

Bartek, Marta, and Robert are like splinters: sharply lone and alienated, but also spontaneous, rough, that can get under one's skin… The paths of these three people cross during one of the seemingly ordinary and grey weekends. Truly, they haven't intended to meet; truly, they shouldn't have met; truly, fate gave them no choice.

California Dreaming (2007)SAT 14^th, 9.15 pm / Romania / 115 mins

During the war in Kosovo, circa 1999, a NATO train rolls through a Romanian hamlet with its cargo of weapons. Lacking official documents, the shipment has only the verbal consent of the Romanian authorities. The train is intensely vulnerable - especially to the corrupt head of the railway station, a part-time gangster with his own plans for the shipment.

Silent Wedding (2008) FRI 13^th, 7.35 pm / Romania / 95 mins

The death of Stalin is announced during the wedding celebration of Mara and Lancu on 9th March 1953. USSR decides that seven days of mourning should be observed so the wedding is officially cancelled. However, the guests simulate leaving the place, but, after the colonel's departure, come back and continue the wedding inside the house, noiseless.

OBABA (2005) SAT 14^th, 1.30 pm / Spain / 100 mins

Twenty-five-year-old Lourdes is set for Obaba, a small town in the Basque Country, to make a documentary video about the life of the town's residents. But as she digs deeper, Obaba becomes shrouded in magic - something to do with the mysterious green lizards which plague the townspeople - and allegedly feed on their brains.

Mataharis (2007) SUN 15^th, 1.30 p.m. / Spain / 95 mins

Far from being a melodrama of spies, gunplay and intrigue, Mataharis explores relationships and ethics in the daily life of working women. The title's implied irony - that women are employed as detectives not because they are tough and resourceful like Philip Marlowe but rather because they are seductive and deceitful like Mata Hari - is only the first of the complexities of this engrossing drama.

Zozo (2005) THU 12^th, 5 pm / Sweden / 102 mins

Zozo is a ten-year-old boy whose parents are struggling to flee Beirut amidst war. Zozo's grandparents have emigrated to Sweden, and his mother and father plan to follow as soon as their exit visas are approved. On the day that their papers finally come through, Zozo's mother asks him to go outside and get something for her - and just misses being killed by the shell that explodes into their home. Zozo is loosely inspired by the youthful experiences of Josef Fares, who himself emigrated to Sweden when he was ten.

The Linnaeus Experience (2007)

TUE 10^th, 3 pm / Sweden / 72 mins

A discovery through the film to seven continents, into space, down into the depths of the oceans and into the future. How should we behave and act today in order to survive tomorrow and how can science and research contribute to a better world? Inspired by Linnaeus curiosity and the thrill of discovery, the expedition meets some of the world's leading researchers and experts, who try to give answers to these questions.

Sounds Like Teen Spirit (2008)

SAT 14^th, 3.30 pm / UK / 89 mins

While The Eurovision Song contest has matured into the highest rating non-sporting event in the world, enjoyed by over six hundred million people annually, Junior Eurovision is somewhat more of a home-grown affair. Now in its seventh year, the Junior competition differs in one major aspect from the adult competition: all of the ten to fifteen year old amateur contestants must compose and write their own entries and sing them in their national language.