FILMS IN COMPETITION

The films in competition illustrate the main challenges of cinema - considered as the artistic epitome of image.

ACTRICES (ACTRESSES)                                                                  France

By Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

With Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Noémie Lvovsky, Louis Garrel, Mathieu Amalric, Marisa Borini

Actress Marcelline - forty, single and childless - is rehearsing a new play. The director introduces her to his assistant, Nathalie, who was at drama school with her twenty years earlier.

SUGISBALL (AUTUMN BALL)                                                                          ESTONIA

By Veiko Ounpuu                                                                                               1^st Film

With Rain Tolk, Taavi Eelmaa, Sulevi Peltola, Tiina Tauraite, Juhan Ulfsak, Maarja Jakobson

Producer: Katrin Kissa

Some chosen moments from the life of six people living in a huge sprawling conurbation of tower blocks built during the soviet era.

Wara el mirat (THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR)                                        ALGERIA

By Nadia Cherabi                                                                                               1^st Film

With Rachid Farès, Nassima Shems, Kamel Rouini, Nassima Belmihoub, Abdelhamid Rabia

One night, Kamel, an occasional taxi driver, found a forsaken newborn baby on his car’s back seat. Instead of taking it to the police, he put the baby in his mother’s care and went searching for the last woman he had picked up that night. 

Funukedomo, Kanashimino Ai Wo Misero (FUNUKE SHOW SOME LOVE, YOU LOSERS!)

                                                                                                      JAPAN

By Daihachi Yoshida                                                                                           1^st Film

With Eriko Sato, Aimi Satsukawa, Hiromi Nagasaku, Masatochi Nagase 

Sumika, an aspiring actress, returns from Tokyo to her rural home town to attend the funeral of her parents. Upon Sumika’s return, her younger sister Kiyomi seems to be afraid of her. The older step-brother, Shinji is caught in the middle. He’s got a secret that he can not tell his new arranged marriage wife, Machiko, who is puzzled by the relationship of the three, but happy to have her sister-in-law home.

GRANDHOTEL                                                                                    CZECH REPUBLIK 

By David Ondřiček 

With Marek Taclík, Klára Issová, Jaroslav Plesl, Jaromír Dulava, Dita Zábranská

Fleischman, working as a repairman in the famous hotel Grandhotel, is also a passionate amateur meteorologist who wants to get as close to the skies as his life will permit. Until he met Ilja, a silent chambermaid who draws his thoughts back to earth…

Samira fi dayaa (SAMIRA’S GARDEN)                                                         MOROCCO

By Latif Lahlou

With Sana Mouziane, Mohammed Khuyi, Youssef Britel, Mohammed Majd

Samira lives only to find a husband. It is her father who eventually finds her a man to marry, a widowed and childless farmer. Samira discovers that her husband is impotent and that he married her to keep up with social conventions. The complete lack of affection and sexual interest from his husband become unbearable for Samira who becomes interested in Farouk, the nephew of her husband.

Miehen tyÖ (MAN’S JOB)                                                                         FINLAND

By Aleksi Salmenperä 

With Tommi Korpela, Jani Volanen, Maria Heiskanen, Stan Saanila 

Feeling ashamed and worried about his wife’s mental health, Juha decides to keep the fact that he got fired a secret. With the help of his friend Olli, he begins to sell his body. Juha’s shame and lies grow but the money helps him cope with the downside of his new profession…

Tirador (SLINGSHOT)                                                                  PHILIPPINES

By Brillante Ma. Mendoza

With Jiro Manio, Kristofer King, Coco Martin, Nathan Lopez, Jaclyn Jose

It is Holy Week and also the start of a national election campaign. Against this backdrop, a motley group of tiradors – local slang for pretty thieves – who operate in the busy business district of Quiapo in the city of Manila are trying to survive.   

Kremen (THE HARD-HEARTED)                                                                      RUSSIA

By Alexey Mizgirev                                                                                                      1^st Film

With Evgeny Antropov, Dmitry Kulichkov, Anastasiya  Bezborodova, Sergey Shekhovtsov, Karen Badalov

Anton, a young provincial man, comes to Moscow to see the girl he loves. The girl rejects him but Anton is not used to give up. He is ready to win the girl at any cost in this alien city, but with his own rules...

Hong Se Kang Bai Yin (THE RED AWN)                                                         CHINA 

By Cai Shangjun                                                                                                1^st Film

With Yao Anlian, Lu Yulai, Huang Lu 

A father leaves his wife and twelve years old son in their hometown to go to the city to make money. After the death of his mother, the son grows up alone without any care. Five years later, the father comes back and decides to drive the red combine for harvesting with his son…

THE SAVAGES                                                                                        USA

By Tamara Jenkins

With Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco, Peter Friedman, David Zayas, Gbenga Akinnagbe

Wendy Savage is a temp struggling to become a playwright who is dating her very married neighbor. Her brother Jon is a neurotic college professor writing books on obscure subjects. Then comes the call that informs them that the father they have long feared and avoided is slowly being consumed by dementia and they are the only ones that can help. 

Klopka (THE TRAP)                                                                           SERBIA

By Srdan Golubovic

With Nebosja Glogovac, Natasa Ninkovic, Anica Dobra, Miki Manojlovic

Amidst clashes of wealth and corruption in modern day Belgrade, Mladen struggles to pay for his son's life-saving heart operation. When a man offers to cover the cost in full, Mladen discovers that, in return, he must kill the man's business rival…

Partes usadas (USED PARTS)                                                                   MEXICO

By Aarón Fernandez                                                                                           1^st Film

With Eduardo Granados, Alan Chávez, Carlos Ceja, Damayanti Quintanar, Pilar Padilla, Raúl Adalid

Fourteen-year old Ivan lives in Mexico with his uncle Jaime, a dealer of used car parts. Both of them dream with a better life and are stashing away their money in order to immigrate illegally to Chicago shortly. When Jaime realizes that he needs much more money than he expected in order to pay the “Coyote” that will help them cross the border, he decides to introduce his nephew into the world of car-part theft.

Geomen Tangyi Sonyeo Oi (WITH A GIRL OF BLACK SOIL)                            SOUTH KOREA

By Jeon Soo-il 

With Yu Yun-mi, Jo Yung-jin, Park Hyun-woo

In a small coal village soon to be demolished, nine years old girl Young-lim lives with her father and mentally retarded brother. One day, her father lost his miner’s job because of a lung disease...

WOLFSBERGEN                                                                    THE NETHERLANDS

By Nanouk Leopold

With Catherine ten Bruggencate, Piet Kamerman, Tamar van den Dop, Fedja van Huêt, Jan Decleir, Oscar van Woensel, Karina Smulders, Merel van Houts

Konraad, 83, has written a letter to his relatives saying he wants to die. Maria, Konraad’s daughter and only child, refuses to discuss her father’s wish. Instead, she wants to move him to a flat for elderly people…