Thu 01.06.2023 | 18:30Victim (2022)
Section: New Czech Films and TV Programmes
Directed by: Michal Blaško
Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Germany, 2022, 92 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
InfoIrina is a single mother from Ukraine who lives in a small Czech town. When her son is attacked, the entire town stands with her family in condemning the Roma neighbours who allegedly committed the crime. After Irina's son wakes up in the hospital, it becomes hard to tell the difference between truth and lie… The story of a woman's emotional journey to find justice in a racist society and, despite all the stereotypes, to stay true to herself.
Thu 01.06.2023 | 19:30Girl (2023)
Section: Festival Laurels from around the World
Directed by: Adura Onashile
United Kingdom, 2023, 87 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Eleven-year-old Ama and her mother, Grace, take solace in the gentle but isolated world they obsessively create. But Ama’s thirst for life and her need to grow and develop challenges the rules of their insular world and gradually forces Grace to reckon with a past she struggles to forget.
Thu 01.06.2023 | 20:00You Can Live Forever (2022)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films in the Youth Category (over 15 years of age)
Directed by: Sarah Watts, Mark Slutsky
Canada, 2022, 96 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
After the sudden death of her father, Jaime is sent to live with relatives, members of a devout Jehovah's Witness congregation. The daughter of an apostate from the faith, she's at the mercy of the community if she again integrates herself among the believers. At a meeting, she meets the charming Marike, the daughter of the congregation's leader. At first glance, they make a connection, which they must hide from everyone. Despite all the do's and don'ts of their faith, their relationship focuses only on their mutual love, which becomes a source of tension and inevitable condemnation. This sensitive queer drama from the 1990s premiered at New York's Tribeca Film Festival and is a sought-after title by festival programmers. Audiences will be reminded of Danish director Niels Arden Oplev's magnificent drama Worlds Apart (2008), which also sets a story of forbidden love in a mysterious yet attractive religious setting.
Fri 02.06.2023 | 10:30Dounia & The Princess of Aleppo (2022)
Section: World Children´s Film Panorama
Directed by: Marya Zarif, André Kadi
Canada, 2022, 72 min
Projection place: Congress Centre
Score:
Dounia, a cheerful little Syrian girl full of dreams, loses her mother prematurely. Then the regime arrests her father. With her grandparents, she has to leave her beloved country to find a new home. Despite the obstacles that stand in her way, she knows that she can count on the few magic nigella seeds she holds in her hand and on the help of the princess of Aleppo…
Fri 02.06.2023 | 15:00Sweet As (2022)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films in the Junior Category (over 11 years of age)
Directed by: Jub Clerc
Australia, 2022, 87 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
Aborigine teen Muura's life is like the landscape in which she lives with her alcoholic mother: lonely, boring and even pathetic. In her remote part of Australia, she has no friends and prefers to spend time away from home, which is beginning to lack any meaning. One day she runs out of patience and goes to her uncle. To keep his niece from getting lost in the welfare system, he signs Muuru up for a photography trip to the Australian outback with three other troubled teens. Their task is to find stories through the viewfinders of their small cameras. This fresh road movie tells the story of growing up and finding unexpected friendship, first love, new challenges, responsibility, and the truth about yourself. We sit next to Muura in the seat of a rundown bus and embark on a journey into the depths of the breathtaking Australian outback and the souls of broken young people who are taking a chance.
Fri 02.06.2023 | 17:30You Can Live Forever (2022)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films in the Youth Category (over 15 years of age)
Directed by: Sarah Watts, Mark Slutsky
Canada, 2022, 96 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
After the sudden death of her father, Jaime is sent to live with relatives, members of a devout Jehovah's Witness congregation. The daughter of an apostate from the faith, she's at the mercy of the community if she again integrates herself among the believers. At a meeting, she meets the charming Marike, the daughter of the congregation's leader. At first glance, they make a connection, which they must hide from everyone. Despite all the do's and don'ts of their faith, their relationship focuses only on their mutual love, which becomes a source of tension and inevitable condemnation. This sensitive queer drama from the 1990s premiered at New York's Tribeca Film Festival and is a sought-after title by festival programmers. Audiences will be reminded of Danish director Niels Arden Oplev's magnificent drama Worlds Apart (2008), which also sets a story of forbidden love in a mysterious yet attractive religious setting.
Fri 02.06.2023 | 20:00The Kings of the World (2022)
Section: Festival Laurels from around the World
Directed by: Laura Mora
Colombia, Luxembourg, Mexico, France, Norway, 2022, 104 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
Rá, Culebro, Sere, Winny and Nano, five street kids from Medellin, five kings without a kingdom, with no law and no family, looking for The Promised Land. The five embark on a trip to claim a piece of land that Rá inherited after a long process of land restitution. A subversive tale about a savage and lovely clan that transits between reality and delirium. A journey to nowhere where anything can happen.
Sat 03.06.2023 | 10:30My Father´s Secrets (2022)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films in the Junior Category (over 11 years of age)
Directed by: Véra Belmont
Belgium, France, 2022, 74 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 2
Score:
"I was 12 years old. I loved chocolate ice cream and hated cabbage. We were an average Belgian family. But if you looked closely, we weren't quite like other families." So begins the story of Michel Kichka's Jewish family. He plays pranks on his younger brother Charly, teases his sister, who can't wait to get out of her parents' sight, and talks back to his mother at the dinner table. It introduces us to the environment of the Jewish community in a Belgian town in 1959. Through his childlike perspective, he also tries to figure out what it means when people talk about his father's stay in a war camp. What does the number on his forearm mean? What scared him when their tickets were checked on the train? What happened in a place called Auschwitz? This animated film is another cinematic reflection on the Holocaust, this time based on Michel Kichka's autobiographical comic The Things I Didn't Tell My Father.
Sat 03.06.2023 | 15:00Scrapper (2023)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films in the Junior Category (over 11 years of age)
Directed by: Charlotte Regan
United Kingdom, 2023, 83 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
When her mother dies, 12-year-old Georgie does everything she can to avoid going to an orphanage. She has a lot on her mind for her age. She must to both grow up quickly to be able to take care of herself, and use her child's ingenuity and innocence to deceive local authorities and others. She and her best friend Ali make money stealing bikes and she pretends to live with an “uncle”. But this fake family member is soon replaced by her real father, who’s been gone so long that she doesn't recognize him. Not happy with his intrusion, she tries to find out why her father has reentered her life. This great British dramedy combines elements of the social film genre, fresh formal flavors, memorable scenes (especially the interaction between Georgia and her father), funny lines and talking spiders. The film won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema section at this year's Sundance.
Sat 03.06.2023 | 18:30Ademoka´s Education (2022)
Section: Festival Laurels from around the World
Directed by: Adilkhan Yerzhanov
France, Kazakhstan, 2022, 90 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
This is the story of a teenage illegal migrant girl Ademoka who lives in Kazakhstan and is forced to be a beggar to survive. But at the same time, she’s bright and talented and dreams of studying all the time. Her illegal status and absence of citizenship is a serious obstacle for that. At some point, Ademoka gets a chance to receive an education and help comes from the unexpected side. The one least believable to be supportive, an alcoholic loser, Ahab, stretches out a helping hand…
Sat 03.06.2023 | 20:00Autobio-Pamphlet (2022)
Section: Festival Laurels from around the World
Directed by: Ashish Bende
India, 2022, 90 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
A satirical story about Ashish, a so-called “lower caste” boy from the Dalit community in 1990s Maharashtra, who falls in love with his classmate Srushti, a girl from the so-called “upper caste” Brahmin community. We follow their story and the story of the dramatic socio-political transformations around them, their families, city, and India.
Sun 04.06.2023 | 11:00Sea Sparkle (2023)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films in the Junior Category (over 11 years of age)
Directed by: Domien Huyghe
Belgium, Netherlands, 2023, 98 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Twelve-year-old Lena rides a skateboard, listens to Angèle, is quite good at sailing and loves the ocean. She enjoys a carefree childhood by the sea, with her feet in the water and her head in the clouds. On her sailboat, she fights the winds and waves as passionately as her father did on his fishing expeditions. When he and the rest of his crew don't return one day, some say it was an accident, others say he was reckless. Lena is sure it couldn't have been her father's fault. It must have been a giant sea creature that overturned the ship. She just needs proof to prove everyone wrong. Lena's rage focuses her on a single task: to hunt down the underwater monster she believes is responsible for the disaster. This story of a teenager against a background of sadness, is based on the director's own experience. It was the opening film of the Generation Kplus section at this year's Berlinale.
Sun 04.06.2023 | 13:30Dounia & The Princess of Aleppo (2022)
Section: World Children´s Film Panorama
Directed by: Marya Zarif, André Kadi
Canada, 2022, 72 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
Dounia, a cheerful little Syrian girl full of dreams, loses her mother prematurely. Then the regime arrests her father. With her grandparents, she has to leave her beloved country to find a new home. Despite the obstacles that stand in her way, she knows that she can count on the few magic nigella seeds she holds in her hand and on the help of the princess of Aleppo…
Sun 04.06.2023 | 19:30Mountain Onion (2022)
Section: Festival Laurels from around the World
Directed by: Eldar Shibanov
Kazakhstan, 2022, 90 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Eleven-year-old Jabai sells mountain onions alongside the highway and one day he catches his idol trucker having sex with his mom. Jabai and his sister, Saniya, embark on a journey from their small village in Kazakhstan to China, to obtain the only thing that will save their father and help him become a strong man, the ‘Golden Viagra’.
Mon 05.06.2023 | 08:50Sea Sparkle (2023)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films in the Junior Category (over 11 years of age)
Directed by: Domien Huyghe
Belgium, Netherlands, 2023, 98 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 4
Score:
Twelve-year-old Lena rides a skateboard, listens to Angèle, is quite good at sailing and loves the ocean. She enjoys a carefree childhood by the sea, with her feet in the water and her head in the clouds. On her sailboat, she fights the winds and waves as passionately as her father did on his fishing expeditions. When he and the rest of his crew don't return one day, some say it was an accident, others say he was reckless. Lena is sure it couldn't have been her father's fault. It must have been a giant sea creature that overturned the ship. She just needs proof to prove everyone wrong. Lena's rage focuses her on a single task: to hunt down the underwater monster she believes is responsible for the disaster. This story of a teenager against a background of sadness, is based on the director's own experience. It was the opening film of the Generation Kplus section at this year's Berlinale.
Mon 05.06.2023 | 09:00Dounia & The Princess of Aleppo (2022)
Section: World Children´s Film Panorama
Directed by: Marya Zarif, André Kadi
Canada, 2022, 72 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 3
Score:
Dounia, a cheerful little Syrian girl full of dreams, loses her mother prematurely. Then the regime arrests her father. With her grandparents, she has to leave her beloved country to find a new home. Despite the obstacles that stand in her way, she knows that she can count on the few magic nigella seeds she holds in her hand and on the help of the princess of Aleppo…
Mon 05.06.2023 | 11:00My Father´s Secrets (2022)
Section: International Competition of Feature Films in the Junior Category (over 11 years of age)
Directed by: Véra Belmont
Belgium, France, 2022, 74 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
"I was 12 years old. I loved chocolate ice cream and hated cabbage. We were an average Belgian family. But if you looked closely, we weren't quite like other families." So begins the story of Michel Kichka's Jewish family. He plays pranks on his younger brother Charly, teases his sister, who can't wait to get out of her parents' sight, and talks back to his mother at the dinner table. It introduces us to the environment of the Jewish community in a Belgian town in 1959. Through his childlike perspective, he also tries to figure out what it means when people talk about his father's stay in a war camp. What does the number on his forearm mean? What scared him when their tickets were checked on the train? What happened in a place called Auschwitz? This animated film is another cinematic reflection on the Holocaust, this time based on Michel Kichka's autobiographical comic The Things I Didn't Tell My Father.
Mon 05.06.2023 | 17:00Metronom (2022)
Section: Festival Laurels from around the World
Directed by: Alexandru Belc
France, Romania, 2022, 102 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 5
Score:
Bucharest, 1972. Ana (17) dreams of love and freedom. One night, while partying with her friends, they decide to send a letter to Metronom, the musical program which Radio Free Europe broadcasts clandestinely in Romania. It is then that the Securitate, Ceausescu’s secret police, arrives...
Mon 05.06.2023 | 17:30The Quiet Girl (2022)
Section: Festival Laurels from around the World
Directed by: Colm Bairéad
Ireland, 2022, 95 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 6
Score:
Cáit is a 9-year-old girl from an over-crowded, dysfunctional and impoverished family. When her pregnant mother’s due date approaches, Cáit is sent to live with distant relatives. Without knowing when she will return home, she is left at the strangers’ house with only the clothes she is wearing. In the care of the Kinsellas, Cáit blossoms and discovers a new way of living. But in this house where affection grows and there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one painful truth.
Mon 05.06.2023 | 19:00No Dogs or Italians Allowed (2022)
Section: Festival Laurels from around the World
Directed by: Alain Ughetto
Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, 2022, 70 min
Projection place: Golden Apple Cinema 4
Score:
It’s the start of the 20th century in Ughettera, Northern Italy. Living in the region had become very difficult and the Ughetto family’s dream of a better life abroad. Legend has it that Luigi Ughetto crossed the Alps starting a new life in France, thus changing the destiny of his beloved family forever. His grandson travels back in time revisiting their history.