A fest celebrating womanhood

EU CINEMA

In almost every country of the world, there are stories which often remain untold or get overshadowed by bigger matters. Today, women are raising their voices with increasing persistence, demanding to be seen and heard. Therefore, in order to highlight the cause of the woman, the European Union has organised the 18th edition of its film festival in India on the theme ‘Celebrating Women’. 

The 12-day long festival which began yesterday will narrate many engaging stories, showcase different shades and nuances of women and will offer an insight into their remarkable lives through films from Greece, Sweden, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Ireland, Netherland, Luxemburg, Spain, Germany to name a few. 

The festival, which also celebrates 50 years of EU-India diplomatic relations, opened with a Cyprus film Dromoi kai Portokalia (Roads and Oranges), directed by Aliki Danezi and Knutsen, a poignant story about two sisters and the search for their father.

The viewers will have the opportunity to watch a selection of 24 films that have not been screened in India yet. The package includes My Personal Life (Romania), Little Girl Blue (Czech Republic), Applause (Denmark), The First Assignment (Italy), Fast Girls (UK), Graveyard Keeper’s Daughter (Estonia), Beyond (Sweden), My name is Ki (Poland), Athanasia (Greece), Water Lillies (France) and many more.

All the films will all be screened in national languages at Alliance Française, Instituto Cervantes, Hungarian Cultural Centre, Italian Cultural Centre and British Council. Among them there will be films in languages like Bulgarian, Finnish or Lithuanian – languages that ‘may be’ many Indians will hear for the first time.

The festival has already been showcased in Coimbatore and Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Goa and Mumbai. After the New Delhi screenings, the festival will travel to other cities like Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Jodhpur.