The 28th European Union Film Festival, put on by the Canadian Film Institute (CFI), is inviting all cinema lovers to watch a cooked up stew of films that will run from Nov. 14 to Dec. 1 as an exclusive treat for the citizens of Ottawa.
“This festival has something for everyone, but it has even more than that this year. I think this year we have love stories, we have thrillers both political and psychological, we have historical drama, we have coming-of-age films, we have road movies. We even have a film called I’m an Old Communist Hag, which wins the title of the year award at this year’s festival,” CFI executive director Tom McSorley said.
The festival contains 27 films in total, all of which are Ottawa premiers.
The films come from different countries and regions of the European Union, from Lithuania, to Denmark, to Portugal. But their country of origin isn’t the only thing that’s diverse about them. This year, the festival features four documentaries, in addition to the 23 fiction films.
Because the collaboration of the festival’s sponsors is under the Lithuanian presidency, the first film that will launch this year’s festival is from Lithuania.
“This story is political. It is a historical story. It has some pop culture,” said Tomas Margaitis, the representative of the Lithuanian embassy.
As for the other films, McSorley said the CFI likes to choose films outside of what people expect.
“Over the years our audience has been interested in films that are a little bit edgy, a little bit outside the main stream. We also like to have stuff that reflects the European commercial filmmaking because of some of the great stuff that is made there,” McSorley said.
Because Hollywood typically dominates North American cinema, McSorley compared bringing the films to this festival to a “little guerrilla warfare.”
“There is literally every possible kind of film you could imagine in the festival,” he said. “That is the main challenge—to provide Ottawa audiences with these amazing experiences that they wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to see. Most of these films—probably 90 per cent of them—will never see the light of day, not only in Ottawa but also in North America, because it is just not possible for distribution”
Tahar Rahim, the lead actor from the Cannes-selected French film Grand Central, will also be present as a special guest at the screenings.
Rahim is part of the new generation of leading actors, said Stéphane Schorderet, press and communication counsellor for the French embassy.
“The French cinema has a specific touch,” he said. “French cinema is specific to having a real story.”
Schorderet added the festival is important in showing audience what European film has to offer.
“It is important to show the international public that there is a cinema other than the American one,” he said.
A featured film from Sweden will officially enter the Academy Awards next year, said Sofia Ekstrand, representative of the Swedish embassy.
“If you’re a student, you might recognize the problems in this movie as unemployment and things like that,” she said.
In the end, though the range of films is staggering, McSorley said the goal of the festival is to bring exposure to Ottawa.
“The festival is for people to get a chance to see these films where you haven’t seen them already,” he said.
