Hopping Around Europe’s Film Fest Circuit

European film festivals have dominated the industry since 1932, when the premiere of Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde opened the first international event of its kind, Venice’s Esposizione d'Arte Cinematografica. Since then, film fests have cropped up in every major European city, churning out everything from low-budget student mumblecore flicks to sword-and-sandal epics to obscure shorts that rarely venture beyond the continent, save for a brief stint on Youtube. Films like director José Padilha’s recent Berlin Golden Bear winner, Tropa de Elite (The Elite Squad), and  Jia Zhangke’s 2006 Venice Biennale hit, Still Life (Sanxia haoren) challenge audiences and continue to push the medium’s limits. But if Cannes’s red carpet isn’t calling to you, fear not: the sheer amount of European film series each year guarantees something for everyone. So nab a cheap EasyJet ticket and hop to as many of these festivals as you can.

African Film
The work of African filmmakers is finally being considered alongside that of their European counterparts thanks to the increasing number and growing importance of festivals exposing international audiences to their work. The genre’s forerunner is Nantes’ Festival des 3 continents (F3C) (}; www.3continents.com. Annually in late Nov. or early Dec.), which has showcased African, Asian, and Latin American films from all eras and genres since 1979 with the motto, “Singular films, chosen for their very singularity”.[4] Other festivals dedicated to Africa and the African Diaspora include Haus der Kulturen’s series New Cinema from Africa (}+49 030 39 78 71 75; www.hkw.de/en/; Berlin; September 10-11, 2008), Africa in the Picture (}+ 31 02 06 22 71 51; www.africainthepicture.nl; The Netherlands; September 4-13, 2008.), El Festival de Cine Africano de Tarifa (FCAT) (}+34 956 681 771; www.fcat.es; Tarifa), and Black International Cinema (www.black-international-cinema.com; Berlin, Warsaw, and USA).

Women’s Cinema
European cinema is especially indebted to its actresses and female filmmakers and scriptwriters, who in most cases enjoy greater recognition than their international counterparts. Each year, France’s International Women’s Film Festival (}+33 01 49 80 38 98; www.filmsdefemmes.com)  invites an accomplished actress to choose an exemplary body of her work to screen. The event celebrated its 30^th anniversary in 2008. The annual International Women’s Film Festival Dortmund-Cologne (}+49 221 5890708; www.frauenfilmfestival.eu.), which began with the recent merger of the Feminale and femme totale, which alternates between Dortmund, Germany, and Cologne, France, each year, honors women in all aspects of filmmaking.

Children’s Film
The young and young-at-heart will enjoy Europe’s many film series devoted to children, which include Germany’s KinderFilmFest (}+49 0251 225 79; www.kinderfilmfest-muenster.de.), Copenhagen’s International Film Festival for Children and Youth, Buster (}+45 33 93 07 21; www.buster.dk. Sept. 19-26 2008), and the festival for the coveted Prix Jeunesse International (}+49 89 5900 2058; www.prixjeunesse.de.) awarded in even years to the most innovative and entertaining work in children’s television programming.

Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy
Fantasy fests have become so plentiful across the continent that they’ve formed their own umbrella organization: the EFFF (European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation; } +32 2 201 1713; www.melies.org). Major gore-fests include the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) (}+32 02 201 17 13; www.bifff.org. April 9-21, 2009. Ticket prices vary, but average about ^12. Some events free.), Germany’s Fantasy FilmFest (www.fantasyfilmfest.com. Aug. 12-Sept. 10. Films and ticket prices will be posted online in Aug.), Portugal’s Fantasporto (}+351 222 076 050; www.fantasporto.com.), Cine Fantástico (}+34 952 13 19 27; www.fantastico.uma.es. Nov. 6-14, 2008.), and Switzerland’s B-film, cult favorite, Les Étranges Nuits du Cinéma (www.2300plan9.com).

Socially Conscious Cinema
Humanitarian cinema is another festival favorite, with themes that range from environmental sustainability to nonviolence to |socially-responsible travel. Now in its second decade, One World (}+420 226 200 400; www.jedensvet.cz.) is Europe’s foremost human rights film festival. In addition to its own annual event, it organizes 17 other festivals internationally each year. Bologna has its own festival, Human Rights Nights (}+39 051 21 94 208; www.humanrightsnights.org.) whose 2008 theme was “Resistance.”  Amnesty International hosts its own European festival (}+31 020 77 33 621; www.amnestyfilmfestival.nl.) and the programs  Movies that Matter and Cinema Without Boarders, which assist filmmakers and activists from the developing world in harnessing the power of film to advocate for social justice. Monaco’s International Film Festival (}/fax +39.0184. 26.63.54; www.monacofilmfest.com. Dec. 4-7, 2008.) is concerned with a range of social issues, with a special emphasis on eliminating gratuitous violence in entertainment media. Palermo hosts Ecovision (}+39 091.332567; www.ecovisionfestival.com.), an annual event devoted to environmental sustainability and the fiction, documentary, and animated films that promote it. The European Spiritual Film Festival (}+33 06 06 91 83 72; www.festival-esff.com. Feb. 15-Mar. 27, 2009.) will return for its second year in the winter of 2009, with films that explore—you guessed it—spirituality. The Toura D’or (}+49 81 77 17 83; www.tourador-contest.org. Berlin. March 2009) awards films that promote tourism that respects cultural differences and is mindful of the environment and economy.

Cinefest Novelties
Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (The Pordenone Silent Film Festival, Oct. 4-11, 2008. }+39 0432 980 458; www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/. Requires advanced registration via web form) pays tribute to silent film, while Bolzano’s No Words (Nov. 12-15, 2008. }; www.operenuove.it) gives silent a 21^st century spin. Krakow’s Philosophy Film Festival (}+48 012 430 50 90; http://www.eksit.pl/) screens films that tackle philosophical questions and hosts workshops that look at the intersection between the two disciplines. Now in its sixth year, Blacksoil (}+31 10 425 56 29; www.blacksoil.com/new. Rotterdam, Dec. 4-7, 2008) is Europe’s premier hip-hop movie event, featuring films that reference all things DJ-, MC-, break dance-, and graffiti-related. Turkey’s Festival on Wheels (+ 90 312 466 34 84 / 466 47 28; www.europeanfilmfestival.com. November 2008) hits the open road, bringing

Cannes glamour and Berlin prestige aside, some European film fests are just plain wack. Take France’s biennial International Insect Film Festival (FIFI) (}+33 04 68 57 27 49; http://opielr.free.fr/), for instance, whose stated goals include “facilitating relations between humans and insects…through film.”[5] Perhaps the wackest of them all, Croatia’s Trash Film Festival (}+098 976 08 89; www.trash.hr) focuses exclusively on “low-budget action films.” In addition to other equally noble ambitions, the festival aspires “to help ‘serious artists’ to get back on path.”[6] 

So whether it’s French porno-chic or Latvian slashers you’re after, Europe will satisfy your every movie-going urge. You may not rub shoulders with Almodóvar or Haneke on your next European vacation, but chances are you’ll be the only kid on your block sporting a T-Shirt commemorating Trashfest ’08.

SOURCES

Venice Biennale Website: http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/history/30/en/4791.html

http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2008/02_programm_2008/02_Filmdatenblatt_2008_20080468.php

http://www.indiewire.com/movies/2008/01/review_missing.html

http://opielr.free.fr/

http://www.ecfaweb.org/ecfnet/festivals.php?s=1&f=59