In the selection of this Saturday's films, we find odes to youth and the youthful, but also films that are dedicated to memories - for one cannot exist without the other. In our selection is also a special film presented in the memory of its director, Zaza Urushadze, the loved Georgian director that left us far too soon, last year.
It's a festival different from any we have experienced before. Instead of drinks, special events, and late night festivities, international film guests take a morning dip into the Finnish gulf, visit as much film screenings as they can and take a quiet stroll around the town. But: it's wonderful to be able to receive a handful of guests, even in these special circumstances. Today, we will have four screenings with special guests attending and several international premieres.
Take a look at today's recommendations, and see the whole programme for today here.
13:00 | Coca-Cola iSense
Fascinating adaptation of the novel 80s Lovers by Yu Xiaodan, "Love Song 1980" is the latest movie from acclaimed director and scriptwriter Mei Feng. An ode to youth, love and its drives, the film is set in Beijing in the early 1980s, during that complex decade that forever changed the course of history in China, at a time when the country opened up to the global market letting novel ideas come sweeping in.
Regarded as the prequel to Lou Ye’s much admired "Summer Palace" - which Mei Feng co-wrote - the film is an epic saga that renders an accurate picture of China’s young generations of the time, with their utopias and desires, immersing the spectators in the warm hues of a fluid narrative.
Part of the Official Selection - Competition
16:00 | Coca-Cola Plaza iSense
21:00 | Virtual Hall
The first frame of the film says everything that needs to be said – an old man sitting alone on a bench beside a road, blanketed in mist. Bruno wants to go home, he needs to feed his dog, but he is not quite sure where home is. He is lost in himself. His memory and sense of reality are fractured. Right beside the bench, there is a big tree – so big that it does not even fit in the frame. Nature is a separate character in Miroslav Mandić’s lifelike film – the transient and the eternal are constantly side by side here.
Bruno actually lives at a home for the elderly and is in love with a co-resident named Dusa. Their love story is fragmented, as they tend to constantly forget each other. Thus, they can always meet for the first time.
Part of the Official Selection - Competition
16:45 | Artis 1
The end of the war brings no comfort for landowner Jüri Piir (Rudolf Allabert), because he has to try to satisfy the demands of both the forest brothers and the Soviet authorities. In a complicated situation, remaining impartial becomes exceedingly difficult.
Part of our special Estonian retrospective film programme, curated by film critic Tristan Priimägi.
18:00 | Apollo Solaris 3 + Q&A with Natalia Rjumina, Sebastian Anton
21:00 | Virtual Hall
The cinematic swan song of Georgian Director, who left us too shockingly soon. A debut novel "Anton, a young boy, his friend and the Russian Revolution" by Canadian writer Dale Eisler inspired Zaza to construct another emotional tearful war tale in classical flashbacks from memories of older witnesses. They are elegantly played by Lithuanian grand veteran actors Regimantas Adomaitis, Juozas Budraitis and Vaiva Mainelytė.
Raised in a Catholic family curious Anton gets along fondly with neighbour Jakob, who is a Jew. Such friendships are hardly imaginable in heated up political circumstances and economic calamity, but brave boys aren’t afraid of anyone in fantasies of the imaginary worlds.
18:30 | Coca-Cola Plaza iSense + Q&A with Nisan Dag, Oktay Cubuk
21:30 | Virtual Hall
Turkish writer-director Nisan Dağ rose to prominence six years ago with her debut feature, “Across the Sea”, which she co-directed with Esra Saydam and which was awarded at multiple festivals. Inspired by the hip-hop culture of Istanbul, she is presenting her much anticipated sophomore feature “When I’m Done Dying”.
Set in a rough neighbourhood of Istanbul, the story follows Fehmi (Oktay Çubuk), a talented 19-year-old rapper who is addicted to bonzai, a cheap synthetic and deadly drug, jeopardizing any success for his music career. Fehmi will cross paths with Devin (Hayal Köseoğlu), a 25-year-old upperclass DJ, who is also a lost soul. They will fall hard for each other, and by spending time together, they will find love and the inspiration they were lacking, which will be expressed through music.
Part of the Official Selection - Competition
19:00 | Coca-Cola Plaza 4 LUXE + Q&A with Clara Brandt, Sebastien Tixador, Boris Baum
22:00 | Virtual Hall
Marcelo likes to play black metal with his solo band, tinker with amateur science and wear a suit whenever it seems even the least bit appropriate. His destitute situation in a conformist Belgian suburb pales compared to his uncle who prefers to wear dresses and sometimes even naughty fishnet stockings. At the beginning of summer, an unexpected message arrives about the death of Marcelo’s father who was an anthropologist. That gives the dynamic duo an opportunity to escape the debilitating mediocracy and to travel to a faraway island to find out the truth about what happened.
Part of our Rebels with a Cause competition
19:15 Coca-Cola Plaza 8 + Q&A with Dave Hunter
22:15 Virtual Hall
Simon is hiding from the police. A modest but dogged girl offers him a hiding place. But when Patty finds out that the stranger is the singer of her favourite punk band, the random meeting takes on new undertones. After all, she has sent the boy photos you don’t show your parents. Cynical Simon could take advantage of the situation, but is prevented from doing so by a peculiar attraction – which is probably called love. The youngsters go on a journey where they find that completely different people can still have something in common.
Part of our Rebels with a Cause competition
21:30 | Coca-Cola Plaza 4 LUXE
Upon her arrival at an institution for people with mental disabilities, Maria becomes fast friends with the equally fiery Dragana. When it becomes clear that they are both in love with the more withdrawn Robert, their relationship is upset and gradually grows into a dangerous game of hide-and-seek to win him over.
21:15 | Coca-Cola Plaza iSense
Director and screenwriter Leonardo Antonio has done a lot of thorough research to give us a captivating drama of what happens when a woman files a court case against here own husband for rape. The already difficult situation is further complicated by the fact that the husband is the only son of the deputy to the chief prosecutor. The power balance is entirely askew and in addition to everything else the woman has to face the obsolete beliefs of the patriarchal society, which are embedded in the entire Portuguese court system. We see step by step what happens to a woman and her life in such a situation. The peak of “Submission” is doubtlessly a court scene which takes place almost in real time and gives the audience the chance to hear out all the parties.
Part of the Official Selection - Competition https://poff.ee/en/official-selection/
21:45 | Artis 2
A boy and a gun. We see this image right in the beginning of the film, and without doubt, the world of 9-year-old Roman is a dangerous and endangered one. He follows his Ukrainian mother to Germany, where she starts working illegally for 62-year-old Gert with whom she becomes romantically involved. Gert tries to befriend the boy, but Roman keeps his distance. When his mother falls ill, Roman stays alone with his Rival. A short period of coming closer follows, then Roman remains alone…
Part of New German Cinema Focus Programme https://poff.ee/en/in-focus-new-german-cinema/