The Annual European Union Festival of Toronto (EUFF) will present a powerful line-up of unique multicultural films from all 28 EU member countries. It will run from November 9 – 23, 2017 at the Royal Cinema. Hosting this festival is a great opportunity for Toronto, which is one of the world’s most diverse and multicultural cities. These award-winning, critically acclaimed selections will address some of the most pressing topics affecting European and Canadian society today.
The Festival opens with the emotionally gripping feature film, Gozo, directed by Miranda Bowen (Malta). Gozo is the tragic tale of a young British couple who move to Gozo, a tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Malta, where cracks begin to destroy their homespun paradise.
Ten feature films will also be making their Canadian premieres at EUFF, notably the 2016 Sundance Award-winning Belgica by Felix van Groeningen (Belgium), the story of two brothers, who learn that running a business is more complicated than they realized and their personal lives begin to suffer; Les Ogres, the critically acclaimed debut film by Léa Fehner (France), based on the director’s own childhood and starring her father, mother, and sister, along with movie greats Marc Barbé and Adèle Haenel; Night of a 1000 Hours by Virgil Widrich (Austria), winner of the Busan 2016 Flash Forward Audience Award, about a murder, an illicit love affair and a game of false identities; Boy on the Bridge directed by Petros Charalambous (Cyprus), the Hellenic Film Academy 2017 Best Newcomer and Los Angeles Greek Film Festival 2017 Best Performance winner, about a murder investigation in a small Cypriot village that exposes a dark family secret; Germany’s critically acclaimed Goodbye Berlin by Fatih Akin, the story of an unlikely friendship between two young boys dealing with the current realities of poverty and immigration; and The Citizen by Roland Vranik (Hungary), which follows Wilson Ugabe, who, after losing his entire family in Guinea-Bissau to the horrors of war and making the perilous journey to Europe as a political refugee, settles for a sedate life as a security guard in a shopping center.
Eight films will be premiering in Toronto for the very first time, including the Award-winning Adult Life Skills by Rachel Tunnard (UK), winner of the Nora Ephron prize at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival and winner of the 2016 London Critics Circle best debut film Award; Emilia directed by Donatas Ulvydas (Lithuania), about the fight for freedom in Soviet-repressed Lithuania in the spring of 1972; and Holy Mess by Helena Bergström (Sweden), about an unusual three-way couple expecting a child.
Other highlights include the North American premiere of the Polish romantic comedy Volta, by iconic Polish director Juliusz Machulski and starring Robert Wieckiewicz; Slovakia’s The Teacher, which received 9 nominations and winner of Best Score at the Gijon International Film Festival 2016; Finland’s critically acclaimed Little Wing by female director Tyttö nimeltä Varpu, about the solo road trip of a 12-year-old girl.
Closing this year’s Festival is The Dissidents by Jaak Kilmi (Estonia), about three Estonian men who flee the Soviet Union in search of a better life, but quickly realize that reality is different from what they have seen on TV.
Rounding out the selection, and for the second year in a row, EUFF will feature six compelling student short films from the EU and screened in front of select features, including A Night in Tokoriki (Romania), My Friend the German (Germany), Suriyan (France), Schoolyard Blues (Sweden), About the Birds and the Bees (Finland), and A Long Shot (Ireland).
“LA TENEREZZA/HOLDING HANDS” (2017) directed by Gianni Amelio, will be screened at this year’s edition of the European Union Film Festival in Toronto.
Friday, 10 November, 2017 at 6:00pm
Royal Cinema, 608 College St, Toronto
Free admission at the door – Click here for Advance Reservation: $10
The festival runs through November 23, 2017
Cast: Elio Germano, Micaela Ramazzotti, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Renato Carpentieri, Greta Scacchi
Genre: Drama
Language: Italian
Runtime: 103 minutes
Cesare is an old, cynical widower with two children. One day, the enigmatic Emma moves into his building, a woman married to a shady individual who doesn’t seem compatible with her. Cesare suspects that there is something wrong; what he finds out about his neighbors, and about himself, are the essence of this terrific tale, where Cesare shows us the most ferocious cynicism and deepest humanity at the same time.
Golden Ciak Awards 2017 – Best DirectorGolden Globes Italy 2017 – Best Actor
Click here to watch the trailer of the movie.
Click here to watch the Festival trailer.
The European Union Film Festival is an annual showcase of the best of contemporary cinema produced in the European Union.