Opening Night Film & More Premieres Announced!

OPENING NIGHT FILM REVEALED…

Moon Hotel Kabul by Romania’s Anca Damian will open SEEfest with its West Coast premiere on May 1, 2019, at 7 PM at the Writers Guild Theater, 135 S. Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills.

Damian won Best Director Award at the Warsaw International Film Festival and the Mirada International Award at the Madrid Film Festival for this gripping mystery/thriller about Ivan, a charismatic but cynical investigative journalist with a sharp sense for story and no time for compassion. Everything changes after a one night stand in a Kabul hotel room with a translator named Ioana. Not long after their encounter, Ioana is found dead, and Ivan sets out on an investigation unlike any he has undertaken.

With all the best qualities of a sophisticated mystery and stellar lead performances, Moon Hotel Kabul will keep you guessing until the end.

“Anca Damian is the Agnès Varda of Romanian cinema: versatile, innovative, and audacious!” said SEEfest founder & artistic director Vera Mijojlić. “We are honored to open the 2019 South East European Film Festival Los Angeles with her latest daring work.”

This event is supported by the Blue Heron Foundation.

This year’s SEEfest, running May 1-8, will explore the theme of cinematic audacity by drawing attention to filmmakers whose works grapple with complex existential, ethical, and historical questions in innovative, and provocative ways. You can secure your festival pass now on Eventbrite.

MORE PREMIERES

See more of the festival lineup online and get your festival pass today on Eventbrite.

DEEP CUTS
World Premiere
Croatia, 2018, 75’
Directors: Dubravka Turić, Filip Mojzes, Filip Peruzović

The thematic framework of the 3-story anthology feature film Deep Cuts is violence in all of its forms: as a destruction of intimacy, family, integrity, trust.

THE NIGHT OF THE BEAR
World Premiere
Romania, 2018, 77’
Director: Paul-Razvan Macovei

Three 17-year olds and would-be friends share emotionally-charged stories of their family life in the course of one summer night. Their often-absurd fights are mediated by the ironical appearance of a giant discarded teddy bear.

In his debut feature director, Macovei employs a unique story technique that will be especially appealing to young adult audiences (16 to 18-year-olds). He breaks the 4th wall to allow his subjects to talk directly to the audience and uses 2D animation featuring bears in lieu of people to illustrate family dynamics.

This screening is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute, New York.

SUNRISE IN KIMMERIA
West Coast Premiere
Cyprus, 2018, 99’
Director: Simon Farmakas

A young villager gets caught in a tragicomic tug-o’-war, when a strange sphere, tracked by a foreign intelligence agency, crash-lands into his potato field.

Avoiding the stereotypical ethnographic comedies of the genre, the storyline intertwines the lives of the local villagers with the intelligence agents, combining the peasant-like naivety with international conspiracies and intrigues, conveying similarities that the latter has with the run-of-the-mill village rivalries and their struggle for authority and ownership.

Screening in the Sci-Fi program — stay tuned for more program announcements.

IRINA
North American Premiere
Bulgaria, 2018, 96’
Director: Nadejda Koseva

Irina is a part-time waitress in a small Bulgarian town. On the same day, she gets fired her husband gets into a serious accident, plunging them even deeper into poverty. To make ends meet, she becomes a surrogate mother.

With her emotions oscillating between disappointing family circumstances and new pregnancy, Irina confronts them with fierce determination and in her own unsentimental way discovers what it means to love and to forgive.

Winner of Best First Film, Best Actress and Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers award at the Golden Rose festival in Bulgaria, Special Jury Award for actress Martina Apostolova and Ecumenical Jury Award at Warsaw IFF, Best Feature Film Award at Tirana FF, Best First Feature Film Award & Best Actress Award at Cottbus FF, and Special mention to the actress Martina Apostolova at Tbilisi IFF.

This screening is supported by Calypso Media.

AUDACIOUS STORYTELLERS: SEEfest CULTURAL AND LITERARY SALON

A historian, a literary critic, an actress, and an author come together for an evening of scintillating cultural exchange. These dynamic panelists draw on their knowledge, experience, and anecdotes to contemplate the theme of audacity in all of its forms.

The SEEFest Cultural and Literary Salon will explore audacity in the literature, history, and cinema of South East Europe, where geopolitical borders act as audacious protagonists in sociocultural affairs.

Presented with the support of the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division. Click here for details and to RSVP.

SEEFEST SPONSORS

SEEfest program and activities are supported, in part, by the California Arts Council, a state agency; Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; and presented with the support of the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division. Special thanks to ELMA for continued support of our programs.

SEEfest Grant Award from Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Fantastic news from SEEfest!

We are proud to share that the 14th edition of the South East European Film Festival LA is a recipient of a festival grant from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), home of the Golden Globes.

“We are greatly honored by this recognition and grateful to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for supporting festivals that bring foreign language films to Los Angeles. This grant will help us provide mentorship for innovative projects and workshops for South East European filmmakers, and expand marketing to local film aficionados, educators, film scholars, and youth audiences, introducing them to cinematic gems from 18 South East European countries covered by the festival.”

-Vera Mijojlić, Founder & Artistic Director

Free screening and director Q&A

If you’re in the Long Beach area on Thursday evening. March 21, join us at California State University at Long Beach for a special free screening with the Jewish Studies Program of Gyula Gazdag’s 1985 documentary Package Tour. Following a group of Holocaust survivors and their children embarking on a tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau, The Package Tour asks why these people have come back – to remember? To try to understand how it could happen, and if it could happen again?

Gyula Gazdag is a director of film, theatre, and television productions and a professor at UCLA. He has served as the Artistic Director of the Sundance Directors Lab since 1997.

Followed by Q&A with director Gyula Gazdag and Vera Mijojlić

Literary Salon

Before SEEfest kicks off on May 1st, join us on April 17th at the West Hollywood Library for the literary and cultural salon Audacious Storytellers, with a thought-provoking interdisciplinary discussion of audacity in all of its forms. Through personal anecdotes, literary perspectives, and geopolitical histories, the panel will discuss the nature of audacity in an area of the world where borders continuously challenge national and cultural paradigms. Presented with the support of the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division. Click here to RSVP.

Stay tuned for more announcements about the Opening and Closing Night films, a new sci-fi sidebar program, full film lineup, and the Business of Film Conference!

SEEfest Sponsors

First Peek at SEEfest Film Highlights!

SEEfest is excited to unveil the first batch of films for the 14th annual festival! This year’s SEEfest, running May 1-8, will explore the theme of cinematic audacity by drawing attention to filmmakers whose works grapple with complex existential, ethical, and historical questions in innovative, and provocative ways. You can secure your festival pass now on Eventbrite.

Just a few of the 56 films in competition:

The Delegation
North American premiere!

Bujar Alimani’s multiple award-winning powerhouse of a film from Albania probes the layers of oppression between a prisoner and his unlikely entourage in what is essentially a first-rate road movie, or as Cineuropa describes, “a dark, absurdist comedy as it depicts how the officials try to uphold a system that is obviously in the process of falling apart.” Winner of the Grand Prix at Warsaw International Film Festival, Trieste Award for Best Feature Film, as voted for by the audience, and the PAG Jury Award at Trieste International Film Festival.

Re-Generation
West Coast Premiere!

Emir Kapetanovic’s documentary about a group of Bosnian adolescents from all ethnic groups in search of a future that is not held hostage by the past.

Crush My Heart
North American Premiere!

The first feature by Slovakian director Alexandra Makarova is an Austrian Romeo and Juliet love story with Roma protagonists. Winner of “Best Screenplay” and “Audience Award” at European festivals, SEEfest welcomes the North American premiere!

Together
North American Premiere!

Emotionally charged story of a gay Slovenian man who fights for custody of his deceased partner’s daughter tackles persistent prejudice and social obstacles facing same-sex couples.

Scopophilia
West Coast Premiere!

From Greece, Natalia Lampropoulou and Ilektra Aggeletopoulou create a slick homage to Hitchcock’s Rear Window, using a webcam app on the computer.

Prisoner of Society
North American Premiere!

Winner of numerous Oscar® qualifying awards and the first Georgian short documentary to be nominated for European Film Academy Awards, Rati Tsiteladze’s Prisoner of Society is a beautiful portrait of a transgender man who can’t leave home.

Pre-Festival Event

Stay tuned for more announcements about the Opening and Closing Night films, a new sci-fi sidebar program, full film lineup, and the Business of Film Conference!

Community Partner Spotlight: International Documentary Association

On March 19th, join the IDA for a special 20th-anniversary of Doug Block’s 1999 documentary Home Page, which explored the emerging culture of the internet and led directly to the formation of The D-Word. The event will begin at 800 Degrees from 5:30 pm with a mixer, continuing with a special screening of Home Page at 8 pm at the historic Linwood-Dunn Theater. Director and D-Word founder Doug Block will be present for a Q&A after the film, moderated by former IDA Board President and longtime D-Word co-host Marjan Safinia. More details and tickets here.

WWII Resistance Hero Immortalized in Iconic Film gets Museum in Sarajevo

During the recent Sarajevo Film Festival (sff.ba) Bosnian Film Center announced plans for a new Museum dedicated to the legendary film about the WWII resistance hero, Vladimir Peric, popularly known by his undercover name Walter. He was killed in the final battle for Sarajevo against the Nazi occupying forces in April 1945.

There is a unique cinematic connection to Walter. Quarter century ago Bosnian and Yugoslav director Hajrudin “Siba” Krvavac made the iconic film Walter defends Sarajevo, the third in his trilogy of WWII movies about partisan resistance fighters. Walter has since gained a cult status even in China (“Some 1.3 billion people now live in China and half of them have seen Walter Defends Sarajevo,”) as well as a reference point for defiant Sarajevans during the siege of the city in the 1990s. The closing line of the film, spoken by a Nazi officer looking down on the city from the hillside vintage point, “Das ist Walter,” (“This is Walter”) has become the defining moment to characterize Sarajevo as the city that will always stand tall in face of aggression and injustice.

Jasmin Durakovic, filmmaker and director of the Bosnian Film Center was joined by Alen Cengic, owner of the Park of the Princes restaurant where the press conference about the Museum was held – at the very spot where the iconic ending of the film took place. “Walter Defends Sarajevo has attained the status of a cult achievement of our cinema,” said Durakovic. “This film is one of the few widely recognized and uniquely Sarajevan reference points which is why the Sarajevo Film Center has decided to create the Museum dedicated to the film.”

The Walter Museum is expected to be completed in two months and will be located in the Film Center’s building (former Sutjeska Film Studio) in downtown Sarajevo. On the site of Park of the Princes restaurant overlooking the city a giant mural backdrop commemorates some of the scenes from the film – with Chinese subtitles. Even before the media event was over groups of Chinese tourists flocked to the site and started taking photographs. Young couples with children instantly recognized the imagery from the beloved film of their parents’ generation and enthusiastically confirmed that Walter still holds his immortal cinematic place in the hearts of the Chinese people. Bathed in the afternoon light the city of Sarajevo was lying below, its spirited citizenry in the party mood for the film festival. Yet quiet echoes of the legendary film live on in Sarajevo where one line of a movie dialogue forever defined its unconquered spirit. After all this is not an ordinary city. Das ist Walter.

: “Walter Defends Sarajevo” poster in China

Editor’s note:

Hajrudin “Siba” Krvavac (1926 – 1992) is best known for his hugely popular trilogy of war movies about WWII partisans whose heroic resistance became the stuff of legends: The Demolition Squad (Diverzanti, 1967), The Bridge (Most, 1969) and Walter Defends Sarajevo (Valter brani Sarajevo, 1972). Krvavac was also a well known documentary director. He was among the internationally acclaimed Bosnian filmmakers whose movies made the name of the production company Sutjeska Film Sarajevo known well beyond the country’s borders. He died in July 1992 during the Siege of Sarajevo. “However, Krvavac lived long enough to see the people of Sarajevo in 1992 chant, “We Are Walter!” in protest of the conflict.” (wiki)

Robert Dornhelm to be Honored with the 2018 SEEfest Legacy Award

Academy Award and Emmy nominated director Robert Dornhelm will receive the South East European Film Festival (SEEfest) Legacy Award during the opening night of the 13^thAnnual Film Festival. The prolific Austrian Film & TV director will receive the award during the red carpet gala event on April 26^th, 7 PM at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills (135 S. Doheny Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90211).

Get your ticket here for the SEEfest Opening Night Gala!

Romanian-born Dornhelm is a symbol of the escape from the communist regime through his film creations and legacy. Destiny would take him to Austria and the United States where his films received international recognition. His 1977 documentary film, “The Children of Theatre Street,” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. He directed the TV miniseries “Anne Frank: The Whole Story” (2002), which received 3 Golden Globe and 11 Emmy nominations including Best Director for Dornhelm and an Emmy win for Best Miniseries. He also directed “Echo Park” (1985), “Requiem for Dominic” (1990), “Sins of the Father” (2002), “War and Peace” (2007), Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy” (2011), and most recently the critically acclaimed international series “Hotel Sacher” (2016) and “Maria Theresia” (2017).

The 2018 SEEfest Legacy Award will be presented to Robert Dornhelm not only for his body of work, but also for his inspiration to young filmmakers and his dedication to telling socially-critical stories.

“It is a special privilege for us at SEEfest to recognize those artists of South East European heritage whose legacies enrich cinema,” says Vera Mijojlic, founder and director of SEEfest. “We are honored to pay tribute to Romanian-Austrian filmmaker Robert Dornhelm for outstanding achievements in cinema and television in Europe and America both.”

SEEfest will screen “The Crown Prince” (2006) on April 28 at the Laemmle Music Hall in Beverly Hills.

For additional information, trailer, movie stills, and tickets, click here.

About Robert Dornhelm

Director Robert Dornhelm, an accomplished filmmaker in many arenas, has been impressing audiences the world over for many years. By winning broad acclaim not only for his Emmy-winning mini-series “Anne Frank: The Whole Story,” but also for his excellent telefilms “Sins Of The Father” and “RFK,”Dornhelm has established himself as a contemporary filmmaker of great range and versatility.

Most recently, the former Academy Award nominee filmed the critically acclaimed TV series “Maria Theresia” and “Hotel Sacher”, which was a rating hit in Europe. In 2011 he directed the Lifetime film “Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy” in Rome, but his subjects have been varied and eclectic.

Born in the provincial Romanian city of Timisoara, Dornhelm began his directing career as a prolific documentary filmmaker in Austria, his adoptive country and home since age 13. His first works to receive widespread international attention were “The Children Of Theatre Street” and “She Dances Alone”, both of which were selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival. “The Children of Theatre Street” chronicles the lives of the young students of the Kirov Ballet and was nominated for an Academy Award, while the strikingly original “She Dances Alone” tells the story of Nijinska, daughter of the legendary Nijinsky. Dornhelm’s bittersweet comedy “Echo Park”, set in the quirky LA neighborhood of the same name, marked his transition into fictional filmmaking. He went on to direct “Cold Feet” for Avenue Pictures before returning to Romania to shoot the docudrama “Requiem for Dominic”. Requiem received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film and was Austria’s Official Selection for the 1991 Academy Awards.

In 1992, NBC & Warner Brothers engaged him to direct “Fatal Deception: Marina’s Story”, for which Helena Bonham Carter received a Golden Globe nomination. Political thriller “The Break” opened the 1995 Dublin International Film Festival and, the following year, his adult fairy tale, “The Unfish,” marked the second time Austria selected a Dornhelm film as its submission for the Academy Awards. Lauren Bacall and Dennis Hopper starred in the quirky Dornhelm comedy, “The Venice Project,” which was selected for competition in the 1999 Venice Film Festival.

Robert’s 2001 mini-series for ABC, “Anne Frank: The Whole Story,” earned 11 Emmy nominations and resulted in a win for Best Miniseries. “RFK,” which he filmed for F/X, received critical acclaim, as did his CBS film “Suburban Madness” and his Lifetime movie “Identity Theft: The Michelle Brown Story”. In 2006, Robert returned to Vienna to film “The Crown Prince,” which told the tragic story of the heir to the doomed Austro-Hungarian Empire, followed by his eight-hour adaptation of Tolstoy’s epic “War and Peace” in Italy, Lithuania, Germany, and Russia.

While helming “Spartacus,” Dornhelm skillfully managed a crew of 400 and a cast of 12,000 extras. His work brought him to the attention of Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks SKG, who hired him to shoot the first episode of their two-hour limited series “Into The West”. The series, a multi-dimensional look at the settlement of the American West circa 1824-1892, began airing in June 2005 and won two Emmy Awards. The six films that make up “Into the West” are the most expensive ever produced by TNT and represent a $100 million investment.

Robert Dornhelm and his wife Lynn split their time between their homes in Malibu, Calif. and Vienna.

About “The Crown Prince”

Rudolf – the true story of a royal rebel and his tragic love. Indelibly linked to the tragedy of Mayerling, the name of Crown Prince Rudolf still evokes mystery and conspiracy, thwarted hopes and unfulfilled love.

Rudolf is raised since his earliest childhood to succeed his father Emperor Franz Joseph to the throne of Austria-Hungary. Well-read and passionately liberal-minded, Rudolf is exactly the kind of man Vienna needs to calm the Empire’s restive nations and maintain peace in Europe. Yet the political establishment and Rudolf’s own father stand between him and the exercise of power. Kept away from political affairs by the Emperor’s conservative councilors, longing for the affection of his constantly traveling mother Empress Elisabeth (“Sisi”), Rudolf begins publishing flaming diatribes against his father’s government under a pseudonym and indulges in many romantic affairs.

In Prague, he falls in love with a Jewish girl; but when she dies mysteriously after Rudolf’s true identity is discovered, he feels responsible for her death and realizes that his role prevents him from ever finding happiness. He thus resignedly agrees to marry Stephanie of Belgium. It is a loveless marriage that brings the dynasty “only” a daughter… Then, a ray of light brightens his life: Mary Vetsera, a ravishing young baroness who has idolized Rudolf since her childhood. Their passionate affair gives Rudolf new strength and courage, yet trouble continues to brew…

Rudolf clearly sees that without a radical change of policy the Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot survive in Europe’s new balance of power. Together with his liberal friends, he is ready to force his father to abdicate. But the emperor’s spies are faster. In a dramatic confrontation, Franz Joseph tells him that he is not fit to succeed him. And he also forbids Rudolf to divorce Stephanie. Seeing no way out of his dilemma, Rudolf plans to commit suicide in his hunting lodge at Mayerling. Mary is with him. Unwilling to live without him, she begs him to take her life before he takes his…

With Max von Thun, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Julia Jentsch, Vittoria Puccini, Sandra Ceccarelli, Omar Sharif and Christian Clavier.

About the South East European Film Festival (SEEfest)

SEEfest presents 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. The 13^thAnnual South East European Film Festival (SEEfest) will take place April 26 – May 3 and will bring a large selection of feature, documentary and short films to the Writers Guild Theater, Laemmle Music Hall, and West Hollywood Council Chambers/ Library campus.

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!

Gyula Gazdag receives Lifetime Achievement Award in Budapest

We are delighted to share with SEEfest fans the news from Budapest where our festival’s long time friend and renowned filmmaker, educator and mentor Gyula Gazdag was honored at the Budapest International Documentary Festival with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Congratulations!

Gyula Gazdag is a professor at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He has served as the Artistic Director of the Sundance Filmmakers Lab since 1997. Gazdag has been a creative advisor at the Maurits Binger Film Institute in Amsterdam since 2002, and at the Script Station of the Berlinale Talent Campus since 2006. Daily Variety selected him as one of the ten best film teachers of 2011. His numerous feature films include A Hungarian Fairy Tale, winner of Best Feature Film of the Year of the Hungarian Film Critics and screened at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, Stand Off, winner of a Special Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Festival, Lost Illusions, winner of Best Screenplay at the Hungarian Film Week, Swap, Singing on the Treadmill, which was banned in Hungary for 10 years, and The Whistling Cobblestone, which was banned from foreign exhibition for 12 years. His documentary work includes The Banquet, Package Tour and The Resolution, which was named one of the 100 best documentaries of all time by the International Documentary Association, and The Selection.The latter two were also banned in Communist Hungary for more than a decade.

SEEfest was honored to have Gyula Gazdag on the jury for Best Documentary Film, and as festival advisor and cultural ambassador. Most recently SEEfest presented Gazdag’s influential documentary, Package Tour at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust in November 2017.

Interview with Greek-American Evan Spiliotopoulos, writer of the 2017 remake of the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

By Anna Spyrou

Los Angeles, July 2017

Greek-American Evan Spiliotopoulos, screenwriter of the 2017 live action remake of Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon and starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, spoke to SEEfest about the Disney hit movie and his writing career in Los Angeles.

SEEfest: Tell us a little about yourself and how you got involved in screenwriting.

Evan: I always wanted to be a writer and I always loved movies, so screenwriting was the natural combination. Growing up in Greece, I would write short stories and watch every movie I could get my hands on. When I finished high school, I attended the university of Delaware and then American University in DC where I got a degree in screenwriting.

SEEfest: What brought you to Los Angeles?

Evan: Greece has no competitive film industry and certainly no structure in place to cultivate screenwriting. Since I wanted to specifically be a screenwriter, my best option was to come to Los Angeles. For theater and some television, it’s New York. But for film and the rest of TV production, it is L.A. The move was intimidating since I didn’t know a soul, but I had won a few writing awards in festivals and had built a portfolio. So, in 1995 I made the trek to California. I was fortunate enough to very quickly get a job writing for the Sci-Fi Chanel, which launched me.

SEEfest: When do you know an idea is worth writing, and what is your process of getting it there?

Evan: If there is a great conflict, an interesting plot and a unique angle into a story – and if it is cinematic – it’s worth pursuing. My process consists of writing a paragraph of bios for the main characters to get to know them, then laying out the screenplay in a beat sheet. Usually I can see plot holes and structural flaws in an outline before I start writing. With this prep, a first draft takes me around three weeks.

SEEfest: How was your experience working on Beauty and the Beast with such a star-studded cast?

Evan: Fantastic. As thrilled as I was with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, it was being associated with the incredible supporting actors like Kevin Kline and Ian McKellen and literally everyone else that blew me away. It also made me feel very confident that with people of that caliber, the script and dialogue would sound golden.

SEEfest: Had you worked with Stephen Chbosky before? How did that writing partnership work?

Evan: I had not, but I loved his work in Perks of Being A Wallflower, which he also directed. We actually did not write Beauty together. But our work, and director Bill Condon’s contributions, overlaps throughout the film.

SEEfest: We get noticed because of our successes, but we create them on the back of our failures. What failures (of your own) have you been able to learn from? How did they change you and your process?

Evan: In film, failure is married to success. Getting a script produced and made into a movie is a success unless the film fails at the box office, in which case the entire experience is perceived as a failure. The catch with applying what I have learned in a bad experience is that there’s very little I can do to avoid it next time. Once the script is done, there are a thousand things that can go wrong that the writer has no control over. That’s why films like Beauty are a bit of a miracle.

SEEfest: Are you on social media and do you use it in your work? Why or why not?

Evan: Not really. I have yet to engage with Instagram and Twitter. Other writers have had bad experiences with social media where strangers will pop up out of the blue and try to push scripts on them. It’s happened a couple of times to me. So my social media presence is sparse.

SEEfest: We are all here because we LOVE cinema. How did your love for movies get sparked and what can we, as a Southeast European community, do to help others discover a similar pleasure?

Evan: As the story goes, my parents took me to see an Asterix and Obelix cartoon when I was three. I stayed absolutely silent during the film and started crying when it was over because I wanted more. That was my addict’s moment. As far as what Greece can do, well I think people have plenty of
opportunity to discover a love for cinema without help. There are theaters and DVD stores all over the place, plus Greece unfortunately has a big piracy problem. So the real question is how to cultivate film production and how to encourage foreign films to shoot in our country. Local film production explodes when both the state and independent producers have a lot of money to invest in films. The way they get a lot of money is by doing everything possible to attract foreign films and get them to spend cash in Greece. Since every consecutive Greek government regardless of political leaning has ignored or discouraged foreign film production, we will not be making a ton of movies in Greece and the success of our filmmakers overseas will be confined to rare examples.

SEEfest: Do you have a project in the works right now? Would you share some details about it?

Evan: I do have a science fiction thriller that seems to be in a good place. But the plot, as they say, is under wraps.

SEEfest: What words of wisdom would you share with an aspiring writer?

Evan: To quote Ray Bradbury: “Writers write”. Every day. Without fail. If it’s one page or ten, write.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Anna Spyrou is an award winning writer-director passionate about storytelling and living in Los Angeles. She has been involved with SEEfest social media team since 2016.

(more…)

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!

On “Defending Cinema in Los Angeles”, the Manifesto of Locarno in L.A.

Los Angeles, 22 April 2017 — Opening night of the inaugural Locarno in Los Angeles film festival at Downtown Independent needs to be recognized for its bold effort to rescue the city from the non-stop, wall-to-wall, suffocating onslaught of ever more commercial glut. We desperately need a revolution of our mental eating habits saturated with the sugary drinks of 80% CGI sprinkled with faux sentimentality that treats us as unsuspecting kindergarteners, an easy prey for inducing a life-long addiction to nonsense.

Los Angeles is at the cutting edge of the 21st century artistic frontier in many creative disciplines and we deserve better in cinema too. This is not a question of “liking” a film. It is healthy to dislike, to critique, to shout at the programmer who put you through the rigmarole of watching “slow film” that is so opaque that it makes you angry – and that provokes you to express your opinion and engage in a heated discussion with your next-seat neighbor, perhaps a nerdy cinephile who drives you crazy with haughty references to movies you have never seen or heard of. It is healthy! As it was healthy when the LA Phil embarked in 1992 on a bold adventure with the young conductor Esa Pekka-Salonen who pushed the orchestra, as well as the audience and sponsors, to experience avant-garde programming with contemporary, experimental, innovative composers. Today LA Phil is the envy of the music world, and a world-class orchestra.

Avant-garde gives new life to everything, even the standard, run-of-the-mill programs. We need cinema that will challenge us, enrage, puzzle and delight in ways we didn’t even know we could be stimulated. It gives health-food nourishment to our poor aneurism-clogged brains and nudges our cerebral power plant to awake from the stupor of the tiresome new age and science-averse pretentious spirituality. We need it to jolt us to a state of wonder by bringing bold cinema to our Hollywood shores.

Vera Mijojlic

Artistic Director of SEEfest

Two SEE films on the LoLA program on Sunday, 4/23: All the Cities of the North, with Serbian director Dane Komljen in person; and Scarred Hearts, by Romanian director Radu Jude.

Locarno in L.A. web site

We invite you to join us NEXT WEEK at the 12th edition of SEEfest, April 27 – May 4. Buy your festival pass today!

*NOTE: SEEfest Cine-Fan Members get a 20% discount on Festival Passes and tickets. Click here to join and get your promo code.

The Constitution Opens the 12th Annual SEEfest on April 27

Nebojša Glogovac. Photo by Hà Kin

The Constitution by Croatian director Rajko Grlic is the Opening night film of the 12th edition of SEEfest on Thursday, April 27 at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills, at 7:00 PM.

Winner of the Grand Prize of the Americas at the Montreal World Film Festival, and Best International Feature Film Award of the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2017, among other awards, The Constitution has enjoyed critical and commercial success wherever it was shown.

Tickets are now available for SEEfest Opening gala and screening of The Constitution.

April 27 at the Writers Guild Theater
135 South Doheny Drive, Beverly HIlls
Doors open at 6:00 pm
Film screens at 7:00 pm
Reception immediately following the film
Tickets – $20 includes screening and reception

*SEEfest Members get a 20% discount on Festival tickets.

(more…)