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SEEfest’s Passport to Trieste Festival Opens on April 26th, 2018

SEEfest’s Passport to Trieste Takes Angelenos on a Cinematic Journey to South East Europe

The 13th annual South East European Film Festival (SEEfest), April 26 – May 3, brings a large selection of feature, documentaries and short films to the Writers Guild Theater, Laemmle Music Hall and West Hollywood Council Chambers/Library campus, highlighting a bygone era of 100 years ago centered around Trieste, once a major port of the Habsburg empire and a magnet for artists like Rilke and Joyce.  

 As a crossroads between Austrian, Italian, Slavic and Jewish cultures on the peripheries of Habsburg Austria, modern Italy, and the Balkan Peninsula, Trieste has been defined by its proximity to borders erased and redrawn with unusual frequency. 

Contested and contemplated by poets, scholars, novelists, and filmmakers, it has been depicted as a microcosm of plurinational civility, an uncanny non-place or as a site of mystery and political intrigue, in works of narrative fiction and non-fiction that blur the line between myth and reality. 

SEEfest invites you to reflect on this city as a metaphor for the ironies, uncertainties and possibilities that characterize not only the South East European experience, but many facets of our global age; shifting and disappearing borders, fervent nationalisms, placeless places and the multiplicity of identities that are confluent, and sometimes conflicting, in us all.

Festival visitors will be given the facsimile of a passport book and receive a stamp at each event they attend during the program, with prizes awaiting those completing the entire journey.

Irina Maleeva presents “Gypsy in my Soul”

Pre-festival events include musical theater Gypsy in My Soul starring Irina Maleeva on April 6, 7:30 PM at the WACO Theater Center in North Hollywood, featuring memorable songs and dances from the Gypsy musical tradition. Tickets for this one-night-only show are available on Eventbrite

Trieste Literary Salon is on April 17 at 7 PM at the West Hollywood Council Chambers with UCLA professor Thomas Harrison, author of “1910” in conversation with John Agnew, distinguished professor of Political Geography; Tzvi Rafael Rivlin, Trieste cultural scholar from Montreal, Quebec; Nina Bjekovic, PhD candidate in Italian studies researching the literature of prominent authors of the Slovene minority in Northern Italy; and moderator MariaCristina Heller, Trieste-born actress and journalist. 

RSVP is required for the Trieste Literary Salon. Tickets are free.

Trieste

Featured Films

Highlights of the festival include documentary film Trieste, Yugoslavia by Alessio Bozzer about the 1970-1990 shopping bonanza when Yugoslavs traveled to Trieste in droves to buy jeans and other coveted Western garments; The Nearest Elsewhere. A Journey to Slovenia, by Elisabetta Sgarbi, traveling to Trieste’s next-door neighbor Slovenia.

Men Don’t Cry is the debut feature by Bosnian filmmaker Alen Drljevic about war veterans in a group therapy for PTSD; Bulgarian WWI satire Enemies by Svetislav Ovcharov; The Miner from Slovenia, Hanna Slak’s thriller-like exploration of dark secrets from the past; Twice Upon a Time animated delight about a king with a split personality by the multi-talented Vojin Vasovic; and documentary The Other Side of Everything, portrait of a country by Mila Turajlic (Cinema Komunisto), winner of the top award at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam.

The specific brand of humor and zest for life against all odds make these stories universal, transcending language and borders. They open doors into another experience altogether and by taking us on a journey halfway across the globe help us to better understand challenges in our own backyard.

Festival passes, and tickets to pre-festival events are available on https://seefest18.eventbrite.com

About the South East European Film Festival (SEEfest)

SEEfest presents the cinematic and cultural diversity of South East Europe to American audiences and creates cultural connections through films, artistic and social events. It was founded in 2006 by Vera Mijojlić, long-time film critic, and cultural entrepreneur.  

Not a Cine-Fan yet? Join SEEfest today!

Become a Cine-Fan and engage with other SEEfest members, make new friends and join the journey of cinematic and cultural discovery.  Cine-Fan Members receive a 20% discount on Festival Passes and Tickets.

Annual General Membership is $55. Student membership is $30. All are welcome! Click here to join today. THANK YOU!

The 13th Edition of SEEfest kicks off on April 26, 2018!

Mindset that knows no borders: Interview with Otto Banovits

Online cultural magazine Transatlantic Panorama (TAP) has just published an interview with film director Otto Banovits, whose short film Donkey Xote won Best Short Film Award at SEEfest 2017. He talks about his migratory life that took him from Sweden to Hungary to England and Los Angeles, and how this journey informed his work – and his mindset that knows no borders. Interviewed by Bettina Botos, publisher of TAP, Banovits touches upon many themes including, among others, form vs. content, quotes Hungarian writer István Eörsi, and references the 2016 Oscar-winning film Son of Saul by László Nemes when talking about the fate of refugees. You can read the entire interview here

 

 

Meet Festival Programmers June 3rd, Columbia College Hollywood

Our friends from the Valley Film Festival have organized a Panel with festival programmers on Saturday, 6/3. This event is FREE to attend. Tickets are available at FilmFreeway. Location: Columbia College Hollywood, 18618 Oxnard Street, Los Angeles, California 91356. Moderator: Ken Storer, Writer, Law and Order, Special Victims Unit. 

Dances with Films (@DancesWithFilms) June 1-11, 2017 @ TCL, Hollywood

DTLA Film Festival (@dtlaff) September 21-30, 2017 @ Regal Cinemas, Downtown LA

Hollywood Shorts (@hollywoodshorts) Monthly @ The Attic, Hollywood

LA Film Festival (@filmindependent) June 14-22, 2017 @ ArcLight Cinemas, Culver City

SEE Fest (@seefilmla) April 2018 @ Various Venues (West Hollywood & Beverly Hills)

The Valley Film Festival (@ValleyFilmFest) October 25-29, 2017 @ Laemmle NoHo 7, North Hollywood 

Schedule:

5:00pm – Network with peers & colleagues over complimentary tea, coffee, and green drinks from our generous sponsors:

Pete’s Coffee in Tarzana – @PeetsCoffee

David’s Tea in Woodland Hills – @davidstea

Troy Casey in Los Angeles – @Mr.Healthnut

5:30pm – Panel Discussion on Programming + Screening of Selected Shorts

7:30pm – More networking over pizza, courtesy of The Valley Film Festival (@valleyfilmfest), and salad donated by Stonefire Grill (@stonefiregrill)

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Whether you are a professional in the film industry, a student of the arts, or a lover of foreign films, SEEfest is your cultural hub. 

Become a Cine-Fan and engage with other SEEfest members, make new friends and join the journey of cinematic and cultural discovery.

Annual General Membership is $55. Student membership is $30. Click here to join today.

 

 

Watch SEEfest movies online

Take advantage of one more week to watch the latest movies online. We partnered with Films2C to bring a great selection of this year’s festival films straight to your home. The selection includes features, documentaries and shorts – short fiction, short docs and animation shorts. Check out award winners and discover new, talented filmmakers. SEEfest films are available online for rental VOD, but only until June 3rd! Don’t miss out! Go to SEEfest on VOD and enjoy the wonderful selection of 2017 festival films. And please, send us your reviews and recommendations and post them on SEEfest facebook page (and while you’re there, please like and follow our page!) THANKS from all of us at SEEfest!

You can also catch online two acclaimed 2016 SEEfest films: Losers, an award-winning and irresistibly charming satire from Bulgaria; and Turkish unusual romance between two misfits, The Half

 

Love movies? Become a Cine-Fan and engage with other SEEfest members, make new friends and join the journey of cinematic and cultural discovery.

Annual General Membership is $55. Student membership is $30. Click here to join today.

Whether you are a professional in the film industry, a student of the arts, or a lover of foreign films, SEEfest is your cultural connection and bridge to discover the lands, people, arts and history of the countries at the crossroads of South East Europe. With Cine-Fan membership program you will be the first to learn about upcoming programs and opportunities to shape them. Join today, and thanks!  

An Invitation to Join SEEfest’s New Membership Program

Movies are a great way to travel,’ was a sentiment expressed by one of our earliest champions who has circumnavigated the globe many times over, and became interested in the Balkans and Caucasus thanks to SEEfest.

This journey we take with you every year over the first weekend in May has changed the perception of many American moviegoers about the region and the richness of its cinema. In over a dozen years South East European Film Festival has presented more than 500 internationally acclaimed films, including Oscar-winners and nominees. If fact, Kristof Deak’s Hungarian live action short Sing, which had its American premiere at SEEfest last year, won the Oscar this year!  

We take pride in the cultural heritage of the 18-country region, its rich cinema and artistic diversity. In addition to the annual festival serving as the main platform of promotion, SEEfest organizes special screenings throughout the year, retrospectives of classic films, educational workshops, conferences and collaborative cultural programs including literary salons and book fairs, and serves as the cultural hub and resource for scholars and filmmakers. 

Our activities are designed to create opportunities for cultural exchange between Southern California and South East Europe, and together with you, we have come a long way over the course of a dozen years. (more…)

TWO PROJECT AWARDS IN BERLIN TO DERYA DURMAZ, AND VLADIMIR PERISIC

SEEfest Staff Writer | February 13, 2017, 10:35 AM

News flash from Berlin 2/13/2017: The project by Derya Durmaz, Bus to Amerika, which got its start at SEEfest Project Accelerator in 2016, just won the “VFF Talent Highlight Award” at the Berlin Film Festival! We congratulate Derya on this success, and share with her this great joy. 

Vladimir Perisic, LOST COUNTRY

Serbian director Vladimir Perišić won the prestigious ARTE International Prize for is project Lost Country. ARTE Prize is given for an “artistically outstanding project” from the Berlinale Co-Production Market. Big congrats to Vladimir!  

SEEfest will continue to support new projects, especially first films, and nurture talent. If you have a story to tell and a new project you are working on, submissions for 2017 Project Accelerator are open till March 26, midnight Pacific Standard Time. Go to review Guidelines, and to submit, go to https://filmfreeway.com/submissions . 

 

Berlinale press release can be viewed here

 

 

 

 

 


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A LOOK AT…INTERNATIONAL FILMS AT U.S. SPECIALTY BOX OFFICE

SEEfest Staff Writer | February 12, 2017, 12:13 PM

      

Hindi-language comedy/satire Jolly Llb 2 was leading at the specialty box office this week with $800,000, ahead of Oscar-nominated shorts compilation which took second place with $660,000. Iranian drama The Salesman, frontrunner among the five nominees for the Best Foreign Language Film, grossed $725,000. 

The box office numbers are well below mainstream films, but for non-English language movies these are excellent results. Specialty (arthouse) audience is very much alive and proves that there is a market in the U.S. for international cinema and American independents.

Among English-language independents Oscar-nominated Moonlight grossed $20 million, while A United Kingdom, about a real-life romance between Prince of Bechuanaland and an English woman grossed $70,000. To put everything in perspective, Danish film Land of Mine, WWII drama nominated for Best Foreign Language Oscar and distributed in the U.S. by Sony Classics, grossed $23,510.

Finally, if you’re looking at the big picture, La la Land which tops all other movies with 14 Oscar nominations, grossed $126 million domestically which puts it in the 23rd place in 2016. The top-grossing film of 2016? Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with over $527 million domestically (over $1 billion worldwide). They don’t call it show biz for nothing…

 

 

 

 

 


Support international cinema in Los Angeles and new film talent from South East Europe. Donate here!

THE OSCARS: HOLLYWOOD STREET CLOSURES

The Academy released this week the plans for street closures leading to the Oscars® on Sunday, February 26 at the Dolby Theater. First to close on February 5 (21 days prior to the Oscar show) was Orchid Alley. Subsequent closures will gradually encircle the Hollywood & Highland Center to accommodate the construction of press risers, fan bleachers and pre-show stages along the Oscars red carpet on Hollywood Boulevard. Read more about maps, closures, and metro train schedule. 


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SEEfest Project Accelerator Alumna selected for First Films First at the Berlin Film Festival

Vera Mijojlic | February 10, 2017, 7:00 PM
 
 
At the 2016 SEEfest Accelerator, young Turkish filmmaker Derya Durmaz presented her project for a feature film entitled The Bus to Amerika. This February her project is among only 8 selected for the 2017 First Films First at the Berlin Film Festival. The program was conceived by the Goethe-Institut as a Young Directors´ Academy, aimed at supporting young Southeast European film directors to develop their first feature-length fiction film. We are so happy for Derya and congratulate her on this success!

“After taking the great 1st step at SEEfest, thanks to the great program you put together The Bus to Amerika went on to be selected for a number of international co-production markets and programs,” says Derya. “The project also received development grant from the German Turkish Co-production Development Fund. Now it is selected for the Berlinale Talent Project Market, and is one of 3 projects nominated for the VFF Talent Highlight Award (German copyright agency for film and TV producers)! I would like to take this opportunity to thank you again for providing me with a good start.”

And we hope to see you again at SEEfest, and to show your film!

 

 

 

 

 


Submissions for the 2017 Accelerator Program for Film Projects in Development are open until March 26. To request detailed guidelines for the Accelerator program, email us at [email protected].

Oscars Governors Ball Menu 2017

If you’re wondering where the stars go after the show…they go to the Governors Ball held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom, on the top level of the Hollywood & Highland Center.

Per Academy’s press office, there the glitterati are treated to an Oscar-worthy menu by Wolfgang Puck catering that includes new items such s Moroccan spiced Wagyu short rib topped with a parmesan funnel cake; taro root tacos with shrimp, mango, avocado and chipotle aioli; gnocchetti with braised mushrooms and cashew cream; lobster corn dogs; made-to-order sushi, custom poke bowls and an array of shellfish; plus a selection of Puck’s signature dishes such as smoked salmon Oscars, chicken pot pie with shaved black truffles, and baked macaroni and cheese. The evening ends with the pièce de résistance: Puck’s 24-karat-gold chocolate Oscars.

Staff of 900 is hired for the event.

 


Support international cinema in Los Angeles and new film talent from South East Europe. Donate here!