2022 AFI European Union Film Showcase to Open with Cannes Award Winner "Corsage"
- Details
- Category: Entertainment News
- Published on Wednesday, 16 November 2022 08:59
- Written by AFI
The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center announced the complete slate of films for the 2022 AFI European Union Film Showcase, taking place December 1–20 at the American Film Institute's historic theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Now in its 35th year, the Showcase highlights 56 films representing all 27 EU member states, including award winners, regional box office hits, debut works by up-and-coming talents and new works by leading auteurs, plus 19 of the top contenders for this year's Academy Award® for Best International Feature Film and 12 U.S. and North American premieres. Of the Official Selections, 50% are directed or co-directed by women.
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This year's AFI European Union Film Showcase opens on December 1 with CORSAGE (Austria), Marie Kreutzer's (THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET) sumptuous period drama about legendary monarch Empress Elizabeth "Sisi" of Austria, for which actress Vicky Krieps (BERGMAN ISLAND, PHANTOM THREAD) won the Un Certain Regard Best Performance award at this year's Cannes Film Festival. CORSAGE recently took the top prize for Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival and is Austria’s official Oscar® submission for Best International Feature Film.
The Closing Night selection is Nicolas Pariser's (ALICE AND THE MAYOR) Cannes-premiered THE GREEN PERFUME (France), a comedic, Hitchcock-inspired whodunit starring Vincent Lacoste (LOST ILLUSIONS, SORRY ANGEL) and Sandrine Kiberlain (MADEMOISELLE CHAMBON, 9 MONTH STRETCH) as an unlikely duo who embark on an international adventure of political intrigue in the wake of an unsolved murder.
Alongside CORSAGE, the lineup features several other high-profile new films directed by women, including award-winning documentarian Alice Diop's (WE) boundary-pushing courtroom drama SAINT OMER, winner of the Silver Lion at this year's Venice Film Festival and France's official Oscar® submission; Carla Simón's stunning Catalonia-set family drama ALCARRÀS (Spain), winner of the Golden Bear at this year's Berlinale and Spain's official Oscar® submission; Maïmouna Doucouré's delightful Capra-esque tale HAWA (France), starring famed Malian singer Oumou Sangaré alongside standout newcomer Sania Halifa;Alice Rohrwacher's mischievous holiday fable THE PUPILS (Italy), produced by Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón; Tereza Nvotová's folk horror breakthrough NIGHTSIREN (Slovakia), winner of the Golden Leopard at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival, with Nvotová in attendance for a Q&A; and the U.S. premieres of Susanna Nicchiarelli's (NICO, 1988) Venice-debuted feminist medieval musical CHIARA (Italy) and Alice Winocour's (AUGUSTINE) Cannes-premiered REVOIR PARIS (France), starring Virginie Efira as the survivor of a mass shooting.
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Additional highlights include several eagerly anticipated new works from some of Europe's best-known filmmakers, including Jerzy Skolimowski's donkey-led Cannes Jury Prize winner EO (Poland), Poland's official Oscar® submission; Mia Hansen-Løve's deeply personal ONE FINE MORNING (France) starring Léa Seydoux, winner of the Label Europa Cinemas award at this year's Cannes Film Festival; Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason's Cannes-debuted historical drama GODLAND (Denmark); Romanian New Wave auteur Cristian Mungiu's highly anticipated Cannes-premiered drama R.M.N (Romania); Irish director Frank Berry's Tribeca-debuted social realist drama, AISHA, starring Letitia Wright and Josh O'Connor; and Ulrich Seidl's Berlin-premiered RIMINI (Austria), a bleakly comedic character study of a once-successful lounge singer.
Other standouts from among the 19 official Best International Feature Film Oscar® submissions featured in this year's lineup are Lukas Dhont's powerful portrait of adolescent friendship, CLOSE (Belgium), his anticipated follow up to GIRL and winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival; Colm Bairéad's stirring family drama THE QUIET GIRL (Ireland), winner of seven awards at the 2022 Irish Film and Television Awards and currently the highest-grossing Irish-language film of all time; Alli Haapasalo's Sundance award-winning teen dramedy GIRL PICTURE (Finland); Tarik Saleh's Cannes prize-winning political thriller BOY FROM HEAVEN (Sweden); and the U.S. and North American Premieres of award-winning submissions from Croatia (SAFE PLACE), Estonia (KALEV), Portugal (ALMA VIVA), Slovakia (VICTIM) and Slovenia (ORCHESTRA).
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Complete list of 2023 Oscar® submissions for Best International Feature Film:
ALCARRÀS (DIR Carla Simón, Spain)
ALMA VIVA (DIR Cristèle Alves Meira, Portugal)
BOY FROM HEAVEN [WALAD MIN AL JANNA] [ولد من الجنة] (DIR Tarik Saleh, Sweden)
CARMEN (2021) (DIR Valerie Buhagiar, Malta)
CLOSE (2022) (DIR Lukas Dhont, Belgium)
CORSAGE (DIR Marie Kreutzer, Austria)
EO (DIR Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland)
GIRL PICTURE [TYTÖT TYTÖT TYTÖT] (DIR Alli Haapasalo, Finland)
HOLY SPIDER (DIR Ali Abbasi, Denmark)
IN THE HEART OF THE MACHINE [V SŬRTSETO NA MASHINATA] [В СЪРЦЕТО НА МАШИНАТА] (DIR Martin Makariev, Bulgaria)
JANUARY (2022) [JANVĀRIS] (DIR Viesturs Kairišs, Latvia)
KALEV (DIR Ove Musting, Estonia)
MAGNETIC FIELDS (2021) [MAGNITIKÁ PEDÍA] [ΜαγνητικάΠεδία] (DIR Yorgos Goussis, Greece)
ORCHESTRA [ORKESTER] (DIR Matevž Luzar, Slovenia)
THE QUIET GIRL [AN CAILÍN CIÚIN] (DIR Colm Bairéad, Ireland)
PILGRIMS (2021) [PILIGRIMAI] (DIR Laurynas Bareiša, Lithuania)
SAFE PLACE (2022) [SIGURNO MJESTO] (DIR Juraj Lerotić, Croatia)
SAINT OMER (DIR Alice Diop, France)
VICTIM (2022) [OBET] (DIR Michal Blaško, Slovakia)
Complete list of U.S. and North American Premieres:
ALMA VIVA (DIR Cristèle Alves Meira, Portugal)
AXIOM (2022) (DIR Jöns Jönsson, Germany)
CHIARA (2022) (DIR Susanna Nicchiarelli)
THE GREEN PERFUME [LE PARFUM VERT] (DIR Nicolas Pariser, France)
INSIDE THE UFFIZI [IN DEN UFFIZIEN] (DIR Corinna Belz, Enrique Sánchez Lansch, Germany)
KALEV (DIR Ove Musting, Estonia) - North American Premiere
ORCHESTRA [ORKESTER] (DIR Matevž Luzar, Slovenia)
ORDINARY FAILURES [BĚŽNÁ SELHÁNÍ] (DIR Cristina Groşan, Czech Republic) - North American Premiere
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL [L'ORIGINE DU MAL] (DIR Sébastien Marnier, France)
REVOIR PARIS [PARIS MEMORIES] (DIR Alice Winocour, France)
SAFE PLACE (2022) [SIGURNO MJESTO] (DIR Juraj Lerotić, Croatia)
VICTIM (2022) [OBET] (DIR Michal Blaško, Slovakia)
Complete list of Special Presentations:
AISHA (2022) (DIR Frank Berry, Ireland)
ALCARRÀS (DIR Carla Simón, Spain)
THE BEASTS (2022) [AS BESTAS] (DIR Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Spain)
BOY FROM HEAVEN [WALAD MIN AL JANNA] [ولد من الجنة] (DIR Tarik Saleh, Sweden)
CLOSE (2022) (DIR Lukas Dhont, Belgium)
CORSAGE (DIR Marie Kreutzer, Austria) - Opening Selection
EO (DIR Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland)
GODLAND [VANSKABTE LAND] [VOLAÐA LAND] (DIR Hlynur Pálmason, Denmark)
THE GREEN PERFUME [LE PARFUM VERT] (DIR Nicolas Pariser, France) - Closing Selection
NIGHTSIREN [SVETLONOC] (DIR Tereza Nvotová, Slovakia)
ONE FINE MORNING (2022) [UN BEAU MATIN] (DIR Mia Hansen-Løve, France)
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL [L'ORIGINE DU MAL] (DIR Sébastien Marnier, France)
REVOIR PARIS [PARIS MEMORIES] (DIR Alice Winocour, France)
THE PUPILS [LE PUPILLE] (DIR Alice Rohrwacher, Italy)
SAINT OMER (DIR Alice Diop, France)
TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER [ALLE REDEN ÜBERS WETTER] (DIR Annika Pinske, Germany)
For updated information, tickets and festival passes, visit AFI.com/Silver/EUShowcase
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2022 AFI EUROPEAN UNION FILM SHOWCASE
December 1–20
Austria
Opening Night
2023 Oscar® Selection, Austria
CORSAGE
Thurs, Dec. 1, 7:15 p.m.* ;Sun, Dec. 4, 5:45 p.m.
*Post-screening dessert reception sponsored by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States on Dec. 1
PHANTOM THREAD's Vicky Krieps — Un Certain Regard Best Performance award winner at Cannes — gives legendary 19th-century monarch Empress Elizabeth "Sisi" of Austria her rightful place in the rock-and-roll royalty hall of fame in Marie Kreutzer's stylishly iconoclastic take on a year in the life of one of history's most talked-about women. DIR Marie Kreutzer. Austria/Luxembourg/Germany/France, 2022, 112 min. In English, German, French and Hungarian with English subtitles.
Nova Presents "Can Psychedelics Cure?" Explores Research, Benefits, of Hallucinogens
Fri, Dec. 16, 7:00 p.m.; Mon, Dec. 19, 7:00 p.m.
Director Ulrich Seidl crafts a darkly comic character study about Ritchie Bravo (Michael Thomas, in an astounding performance), a washed-up, sleazy lounge lizard living on the northern Italian coast who must scrounge up 30,000 euros for his estranged adult daughter as compensation for having abandoned her 12 years earlier. DIR Ulrich Seidl. Austria/France/Germany, 2022, 114 min. In German and Italian with English subtitles.
Belgium
Special Presentation
2023 Oscar® Selection, Belgium
CLOSE (2022)
Fri, Dec. 9, 7:00 p.m.; Sat, Dec. 10, 3:00 p.m.
This sensitive and moving drama from Lukas Dhont (GIRL) follows two 13-year-old boys who spend the long summer days and nights together, playing in the woods and sleeping over at each other's houses. But once the school year begins, other children notice how attached the two seem to be, and uncomfortable questions get asked. DIR Lukas Dhont. Belgium/Netherlands/France, 2022, 105 min. In Dutch and French with English subtitles.
Fri, Dec. 16, 3:00 p.m.; Sat, Dec. 17, 9:15 p.m.; Sun, Dec. 18, 7:00 p.m.
Kamal leaves his home in Brussels to support the Syrian rebels' efforts as a cameraman. Soon, he is fighting in a war zone with ISIS calling the shots, while radical recruiters attempt to enlist his little brother back home. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah's stylish cautionary tale rails against the exploiters who peddle radicalization. DIR Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah. Belgium/Luxembourg/France, 2022, 135 min. In Dutch, French and Arabic with English
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Bulgaria
2023 Oscar® Selection, Bulgaria
IN THE HEART OF THE MACHINE [V SŬRTSETO NA MASHINATA] [В СЪРЦЕТО НА МАШИНАТА]
Mon, Dec. 12, 4:30 p.m.; Thurs, Dec. 15, 9:20 p.m.
Set in 1978 inside Kremikovtsi Steel Plant, where a ragtag group of maximum-security inmates has been recruited to help double production, Martin Makariev's gritty prison drama becomes a thought-provoking meditation on humanity and survival when a trapped bird becomes the catalyst for a tense hostage situation and possible escape. DIR Martin Makariev. Bulgaria, 2021, 115 min. In Bulgarian with English subtitles.
Croatia
U.S. Premiere
2023 Oscar® Selection, Croatia
SAFE PLACE (2022) [SIGURNO MJESTO]
Tue, Dec. 13, 4:45 p.m.; Wed, Dec. 14, 6:45 p.m.
Writer-director Juraj Lerotić's potent and highly personal debut feature — in which he also stars — is a tense psychological drama following two brothers, as one (Lerotić) races against time and the bureaucracy of the social service and healthcare systems to prevent the other (Goran Marković) from repeating a suicide attempt. DIR Juraj Lerotić. Croatia/Slovenia, 2022, 102 min. In Croatian with English subtitles.
Cyprus
.DOG
Wed, Dec. 14, 9:20 p.m.; Tue, Dec. 20, 9:00 p.m.
Dimitris can't wait to make up for lost time when his father is released from prison. But his dad has a hard time kicking old habits, constantly scheming and hoping to drag Dimitris into the "family business." Cypriot filmmaker Yianna Americanou's thriller-tinged drama asks whether blood really is thicker than water. DIR Yianna Americanou. Cyprus/Greece, 2021, 97 min. In Greek with English subtitles.
Czech Republic
North American Premiere
ORDINARY FAILURES [BĚŽNÁ SELHÁNÍ]
Sun, Dec. 4, 5:30 p.m.; Thurs, Dec. 8, 4:45 p.m.
On the verge of the apocalypse, a lonely widow, a misfit teen and a frustrated young mother cross paths, each struggling to find her place in the world even as it seemingly comes to an end. Hungarian-Romanian filmmaker Cristina Groşan won Best Director Under 40 at the 2022 Venice Film Festival for this intimate sci-fi tale. DIR Cristina Groşan. Czech Republic/Italy/Hungary/Slovakia, 2022, 85 min. In Czech with English subtitles.
Denmark
2023 Oscar® Selection, Denmark
HOLY SPIDER
Fri, Dec. 2, 2:00 p.m.; Sat, Dec. 3, 9:45 p.m.; Wed, Dec. 7, 9:15 p.m.
Devout family man-turned-serial killer Saeed is on a quest to "cleanse" the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of sex workers. As the bodies pile up, a journalist grows obsessed with finding the murderer. Danish-based Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi's cat-and-mouse thriller raises thought-provoking questions about justice in contemporary Iran. DIR Ali Abbasi. Denmark/Germany/Sweden/France, 2022, 118 min. In Persian with English subtitles.
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Special Presentation
GODLAND [VANSKABTE LAND] [VOLAÐA LAND]
Sat, Dec. 3, 4:15 p.m.; Sun, Dec. 4, 8:00 p.m.
Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason (A WHITE, WHITE DAY) crafts an anti-colonial fable with this 19th-century-set tale of a Danish priest sent to establish a church in a remote community in Iceland (then a Danish colony). The distrust between the priest and his Icelandic guide devolves into a deadly battle of wills between colonizer and colonized. DIR Hlynur Pálmason. Denmark/Iceland/France/Sweden, 2022, 143 min. In Danish and Icelandic with English subtitles.
Estonia
2023 Oscar® Selection, Estonia
North American Premiere
KALEV
Sun, Dec. 11, 8:30 p.m.; Mon, Dec. 12, 4:45 p.m.
Summer, 1990. The collapse of the Soviet Union is imminent, but the USSR Premiere Basketball League is starting a new season. With independence within reach and societal support for the USSR waning, the Estonian team must decide whether to participate. Ove Musting's feature debut is a rousing and timely sports drama based on a true story. DIR Ove Musting. Estonia, 2022, 91 min. In Estonian and Russian with English subtitles.
Finland
THE WOODCUTTER STORY [METSURIN TARINA]
Fri, Dec. 2, 4:45 p.m.; Tue, Dec. 6, 7:10 p.m.
When the sawmill where he works suddenly closes, Pepe is cursed by increasingly bizarre bad luck, but maintains an unfaltering positive attitude. Imagine TWIN PEAKS by way of Aki Kaurismäki and you might get close to the delightfully deadpan surrealism at the core of Mikko Myllylahti's 35mm-shot directorial debut. DIR Mikko Myllylahti. Finland/Netherlands/Denmark/Germany, 2022, 99 min. In Finnish with English subtitles.
2023 Oscar® Selection, Finland
GIRL PICTURE [TYTÖT TYTÖT TYTÖT]
Fri, Dec. 9, 2:45 p.m.; Sat, Dec. 10, 9:45 p.m.; Tue, Dec. 13, 4:30 p.m.
Alli Haapasalo's fresh and frank snapshot of young womanhood follows three teenaged girls in Helsinki. Best friends Rönkkö and Mimmi work in a smoothie shop, sharing their personal woes and triumphs. When strait-laced figure skater Emma enters the picture, she strikes up a whirlwind romance with Mimmi that sends sparks flying. DIR Alli Haapasalo. Finland, 2022, 101 min. In Finnish with English subtitles.
France
MOTHER AND SON (2022) [UN PETIT FRÈRE]
Fri, Dec. 2, 2:15 p.m.; Sat, Dec. 3, 4:00 p.m.; Mon, Dec. 5, 6:45 p.m.
The latest film from writer-director Léonor Serraille (MONTPARNASSE BIENVENÜE) follows the ups and downs in the adventurous life of Rose (Annabelle Lengronne), who emigrates from Abidjan to Paris in the '90s with her two young sons, who grow to manhood over the ensuing years in the company of their headstrong mother. DIR Léonor Serraille. France, 2022, 116 min. In French with English subtitles.
Special Presentation
ONE FINE MORNING (2022) [UN BEAU MATIN]
Fri, Dec. 2, 6:45 p.m.; Sun, Dec. 4, 3:15 p.m.
The many facets of one woman's identity are expertly explored in Mia Hansen-Løve's (BERGMAN ISLAND, THINGS TO COME) deeply personal drama about a mother, daughter, sister and lover (Léa Seydoux) at a crossroads. Mourning the loss of her relationship with her ailing father, she finds hope in her young daughter and a new beau. DIR Mia Hansen-Løve. France, 2022, 112 min. In French with English subtitles.
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Special Presentation
U.S. Premiere
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL [L'ORIGINE DU MAL]
Sat, Dec. 3, 7:15 p.m.; Thurs, Dec. 8, 7:00 p.m.
Laure Calamy gives a brilliant performance as working-class woman who seeks out the wealthy father she never knew and discovers a vipers' nest of family drama, with everyone angling for the old man's inheritance and suspicious of this interloper. Sébastien Marnier's twisty thriller recalls the work of Agatha Christie and Patricia Highsmith, with a stylish air of intrigue and sensual visuals that bear comparison to screen masters Claude Chabrol and Pedro Almodóvar. DIR Sébastien Marnier. France/Canada, 2022, 125 min. In French with English subtitles.
THE FIVE DEVILS [LES CINQ DIABLES]
Sun, Dec. 4, 7:20 p.m.; Mon, Dec. 5, 4:45 p.m.; Thurs, Dec. 8, 9:30 p.m.
A young girl discovers she has a superpower, leading to a perilous journey into the past and the discovery of long-held secrets about her parents' tangled love lives. Léa Mysius' twisty, supernatural drama examines small-town racism, homophobia and the ways in which we manage to contain — for a time — our memories. DIR Léa Mysius. France, 2022, 95 min. In French with English subtitles.
Sun, Dec. 4, 9:20 p.m.; Wed, Dec. 7, 9:20 p.m.
A fiery, feminist take on the tale of a woman trying to make it a man's world, French filmmaker Lola Quivoron's narrative feature debut is an action-infused genre mashup about a young woman who joins the city's male-dominated "rodeos" — illegal gatherings where dirt bike riders show off their death-defying speed and stunts. DIR Lola Quivoron. France, 2022, 102 min. In French with English subtitles.
Fri, Dec. 9, 4:45 p.m.; Sun, Dec. 11, 12:50 p.m.; Thurs, Dec. 15, 4:45 p.m.
In her Capra-esque tale about a soon-to-be-orphaned adolescent seeking an audience with the icon she's chosen to be her adoptive mother — Michelle Obama — writer/director Maïmouna Doucouré's (CUTIES) sophomore feature dismantles boundaries of status and decorum and celebrates the power of self-determination. DIR Maïmouna Doucouré. France, 2022, 104 min. In French and Bambara with English subtitles.
Special Presentation
2023 Oscar® Selection, France
Sat, Dec. 10, 7:15 p.m.; Thurs, Dec. 15, 6:45 p.m.
Documentarian Alice Diop's narrative debut is a tense courtroom drama based on the real-life case of a Senegalese woman accused of infanticide. Following a pregnant novelist observing the trial, the film blurs the line between observer and subject to explore the limits of empathy and the double-edged sword of motherhood. DIR Alice Diop. France, 2022, 122 min. In French with English subtitles.
THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH [LA NUIT DU 12]
Sat, Dec. 10, 9:30 p.m.; Mon, Dec. 12, 7:00 p.m.; Wed, Dec. 14, 9:00 p.m.
A young woman walking home at night is set aflame. While several of the victim's exes fit the profile as suspects, none can be implicated in her murder. The latest from writer/director Dominik Moll is a gripping police procedural and a searing indictment of a society plagued by callousness and violence against women. DIR Dominik Moll. France/Belgium, 2022, 114 min. In French with English subtitles.
Special Presentation
U.S. Premiere
REVOIR PARIS aka PARIS MEMORIES
Sun, Dec. 11, 8:15 p.m.; Thurs, Dec. 15, 7:00 p.m.
Virginie Efira gives a powerful performance as a survivor of a mass shooting in a Paris restaurant. She has an imperfect recollection of the event, made worse by an accusation that she committed an unforgiveable act of cowardice. Alice Winocour's film examines the fault lines where memory, trauma and emotion collide for survivors. DIR Alice Winocour. France, 2022, 105 min. In French with English subtitles.
Closing Night
U.S. Premiere
