Friday, August 30, 2013

Hungary joins Cine Europa’s Sweet 16


September 5-15, 2013
Shang Cineplex (Cinema 2), Shangri-La Plaza
Mandaluyong

As Cine Europa celebrates its 16th edition, the festival welcomes Hungary as it participates for the very first time with its entry Made in Hungária. The Shangri-La Plaza will once again be home to Cine Europa 16 this September 5-15, 2013 at the Cinema 2 of the Shang Cineplex. A varied selection of 21 films from 17 participating European nations will be screened for ten days. Drama, comedy, musical, thriller, documentary and films for children and the whole family will be represented in this year’s film selection.

During the press conference held at the Premiere Cinema of the Shang Cineplex, Julian Vassalo, the Political Counsellor of the EU Delegation to the Philippines, proudly announced that last year’s edition showed a 24% increase in attendance, from 29,500 in 2011 to 36,500 in 2012. He attributes the increase in audience to the additional venues of the festival made possible through the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ cinematheques located in key cities around the country. After its Manila leg, Cine Europa will once again travel to various parts of the country. As always, admission to the festival is for free in all locations.

The films to be screened this year are Austria’s Das Pferd auf dem Balkon/The Horse on the Balcony, Belgium’s A Pas de Loup/With a Wolf’s Gait, Bulgaria’s Стъпки в пясъка/Footsteps in the Sand, Czech Republic’s Musíme si Pomáhat/Divided We Fall, Denmark’s A Royal Affair, France’s Les Bien Aimes/Beloved, Germany’s Barbara and In Almanya - Wilkommen in Deutschland, Greece’s O xenagos/The Guide, Hungary’s Made in Hungária, Italy’s Pranzo Di Ferragosto/Mid-August Lunch and La Stanza Del Figlio/The Son’s Room, the Netherland’s Achtste-Groepers Huilen Niet/Cool Kids Don’t Cry, Norway’s Kautokeino-opprøret/The Kautokeino Rebellion, Romania’s Tatal Fantoma/Phantom Father, Slovakia’s Nedodržaný Sľub/Broken Promise, Spain’s Silencio en la nieve/Frozen Silence, Sweden’s Svinalängorna/Beyond, Switzerland’s Operation Libertad and the United Kingdom’s Project NIM and Dreams of a Life.

Vassalo also mentioned that there will be an increased educational component happening this year through the resources of the Independent Film Cooperative (IFC). Round table discussions with prominent film personalities and experts exploring the links between European and Filipino films will be held at the Premiere Theatre of the Shang Cineplex. This will be done alongside the screening of selected Filipino films that have strong European connections.

After the press conference, the film Achtste-Groepers Huilen Niet/Cool Kids Don’tCry, the entry from the Netherlands was screened. Prior to the screening, Ms. Ank Willems, the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands introduced the film and gave a brief background of the film while trying not to reveal major spoilers.

Achtste-Groepers Huilen Niet/Cool Kids Don’t Cry


Consider me an uncool kid since this film brought me to tears. The film directed by Dennis Bots tells the story of Akkie (Hanna Obbeek), a soccer obsessed twelve year old girl. She, along with her friend Elize, Lauren and the rest of her eight grade class prepare for an upcoming soccer tournament. But a life threatening illness not only spoils Akkie and her friends’ tournament preparations but also shakes up their lives as well. Akkie remains positive despite undergoing arduous treatment and her optimism spills over to her class, even the bully Joep (Nils Verkooijen) who earlier believed that girls like her shouldn’t be playing soccer. Since Akkie was very well liked by everybody, it was hard seeing her go through what she had to go through in the film. What I really liked about this film was how it had the coolest teacher, Juf Ina (Eva van der Gucht) and doctor, Dokter Snor (Loek Peters) ever. I have to admit that I had to fight back tears earlier on in the film when Miss Ina had to explain to her students Akkie’s situation. She is everything what I wanted a teacher to be since she not only taught academics to her students, but she also guided them through life the proper way. Dokter Snor aka Doctor Moustache also had a brilliant way of explaining to Akkie the nature of her illness without resorting to a lot of medical jargons. The film is based on the best-selling novel by Jacques Vriens but I am not sure if an English translation is available locally. Seeing the film made me curious to see if I can get myself a copy of the novel.

Here is the Cine Europa 16 screening schedule at the Shang Cineplex:

September 5, 2013
12:00 PM A Royal Affair (Denmark)
3:00 PM Barbara (Germany)
5:30 PM Almanya - Wilkommen in Deutschland (Germany)
8:00 PM O xenagos/The Guide (Greece)

September 6, 2013
1:30 PM Made in Hungária (Hungary)
3:30 PM Pranzo di Ferragosto/Mid-August Lunch (Italy)
5:30 PM La stanza del figlio/The Son’s Room (Italy)
8:00 PM Les bien aimes/Beloved (France)

September 7, 2013
1:00 PM Achtste-Groepers Huilen Niet/Cool Kids Don’t Cry (The Netherlands)
3:30 PM Tatal Fantoma/Phantom Father (Romania)
5:30 PM Silencio en la nieve/Frozen Silence (Spain)
8:00 PM Nedodržaný Sl'ub/Broken Promise (Slovakia)

September 8, 2013
12:30 PM Svinalängorna/Beyond (Sweden)
3:00 PM Project NIM (UK)
5:30 PM Dreams of a Life (UK)
7:30 PM Kautokeino-opprøret/The Kautokeino Rebellion (Norway)

September 9, 2013
12:30 PM Operation Libertad (Switzerland)
3:00 PM Musíme si pomáhat/Divided We Fall (Czech Republic)
5:30 PM A Pas de Loup/With Wolf’s Gait (Belgium)
7:30 PM Стъпки в пясъка/Footseps in the Sand (Bulgaria)

September 10, 2013
12:30 PM Das Pferd auf dem Balkon/The Horse on the Balcony (Austria)
2:30 PM O xenagos/The Guide (Greece)
5:30 PM Almanya - Wilkommen in Deutschland (Germany)
8:00 PM A Royal Affair (Denmark)

September 11, 2013
12:30 PM Made in Hungária (Hungary)
2:30 PM Les bien aimes/Beloved (France)
5:30 PM Pranzo di Ferragosto/Mid-August Lunch (Italy)
7:30 PM Achtste-Groepers Huilen Niet/Cool Kids Don’t Cry (The Netherlands)

September 12, 2013
1:00 PM La stanza del figlio/The Son’s Room (Italy)
3:30 PM Barbara (Germany)
6:00 PM Tatal Fantoma/Phantom Father (Romania)
8:00 PM Silencio en la nieve/Frozen Silence (Spain)

September 13, 2013
1:00 PM Svinalängorna/Beyond (Sweden)
3:30 PM Kautokeino-opprøret/The Kautokeino Rebellion (Norway)
6:00 PM Das Pferd auf dem Balkon/The Horse on the Balcony (Austria)
8:00 PM Operation Libertad (Switzerland)

September 14, 2013
1:00 PM Dreams of a Life (UK)
3:00 PM Стъпки в пясъка/Footseps in the Sand (Bulgaria)
5:00 PM A Pas de Loup/With Wolf’s Gait (Belgium)
7:30 PM Nedodržaný Sl'ub/Broken Promise (Slovakia)

September 15, 2013
12:00 PM Les bien aimes/Beloved (France)
3:00 PM Project NIM (UK)
5:30 PM Made in Hungária (Hungary)
7:30 PM Musíme si pomáhat/Divided We Fall (Czech Republic)

Cine Europa 16 Educational Component Schedule

September 8, 2013
10:00 AM Archiving Filipino Film Heritage
2:00 PM Genghis Khan
4:00 PM Oro, Plata, Mata

September 14, 2013
10:00 AM New Pinoy documentaries
2:00 & 4:00 PM Jazz in Love

After the Shangri-La Plaza leg, the film festival continues at these venues:

September 17-22, 2013
Cinematheque Baguio City

September 22-29, 2013
Cinematheque Iloilo City

October 4-6, 2013
Ayala Center, Cebu City

October 10-13, 2013
Liceo de Cagayan University

October 15-20, 2013
Cinematheque Davao City



Cine Europa 16 is organised by the European Union Cultural Group in Manila which gathers together the Embassies and Cultural Institutes of the European Union (Representations in Manila including the Embassies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines and the European cultural institutes (Alliance Française, British Council, Goethe-Institut, Philippine-Italian Association, and Instituto Cervantes de Manila, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, the Independent Film Cooperative, the Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Arts Council of Cebu and Liceo de Cagayan de Oro. Porsche Design supports Cine Europa 16.

Tickets:
Free admission. First-come, first-served basis.

For inquiries:
Shangri-La Plaza 370-2597, 370-2598

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