The Debut Film Competition Again Focuses on Adolescent Heroes.
We've gathered 10 films for this year's collection and four of them – perhaps symbolically – bear traces of France.
The French film “My Revolution” (France, 2016) follows 14-year-old Marwann, who finds himself at the heart of the Arab Spring celebrations in the streets of Paris. But Marwann, despite his Arab roots, is too involved in his own adolescent life to care. Of Tunisian origin, the French director Ramzi Ben Liman gives his film a light peek at adolescence during political events. The film had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.
A Czech representative in the competition is the co-production film “I, Olga Hepnarová” (Czech Republic, Poland, France, Slovakia, 2016), which tells the story of the short life of an extremely lonely young woman who became a mass murderer when she was 22 years old. This biographical historical drama directed by Tomáš Weinreb and Petr Kazda had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The film won numerous awards at festivals in Sofia and Vilnius, Lithuania.
Another festival hit is a drama by Portuguese director João Salaviza called “Montanha” (Portugal, France, 2015). It had its premiere in Venice. This visual and poetic film of French co-production tells the story of 14-year-old David, who is forced to become the man of the house when his grandfather dies.
The last film of French involvement is a film by British director Andrew Steggall called “Departure” (France, Great Britain, 2015). The lyrical story of 15-year-old Elliot takes place in the French countryside. Elliot has to deal with the collapse of his parents' dysfunctional marriage and, more importantly, his new-found sexuality. The film was awarded at the BFI London Film Festival.
The Irish film “My Name is Emily” (Ireland, 2015) interests us for two reasons. Firstly, for the star Evanna Lynch, known from the Harry Potter films, and secondly, for the director's story. Director Simon Fitzmaurice is afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which has completely immobilized him. He made his feature debut using special software that reacts to the movement of his eye and iris. The film tells the story of 16-year-old Emily, who decides to save her father from a life in a psychiatric hospital.
The German film “Sanctuary” (Freistatt, 2015) introduces us to the hostile environment of a correctional facility. A movie based on true stories about the merciless fight of 14-year-old Wolfgang to save the last bit of humanity and dignity in an oppressive system of society. Director Marc Brummund won the German Film Awards for the screenplay and the main actor, Louis Hofmann, was awarded at the Bavarian Film Awards for best actor.
Without a doubt, the Russian punk tragicomedy “Rag Union” (Rebelská unie, 2015) is an interesting work of art. The life of an ordinary teenager, Vanya, changes after meeting three strange guys. They are athletes, artists and dreamers who call themselves "Rag Union", and they believe they can change the world. Film director Mikhail Mestetský had his premiere at the Kinotavr festival in Sochi, where the actor who played Vanya, Vasily Butkevich, won the award for best actor.
The youngest protagonist in this competition is 9-year-old Rauf from the Turkish film of the same name (Rauf, Turkey, 2016). Directors Bariş Kaya and Soner Caner offer up a story about the first love of a 9-year-old boy from a Kurdish village in the middle of inhospitable mountains. Young Rauf falls in love with the 20-year-old daughter of the carpenter he's apprenticed to. The melancholy visual drama Rauf premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. In addition to being nominated for the European Film Prize, it has been awarded at festivals in Sofia and Istanbul.
Two women directors and Bulgaria – these are the common elements of the last two films in the competition.
The first is a film by Eliza Petkova, a German director of Bulgarian origin, called “Zhaleika” (Zhaleika, Germany, 2016), which introduces us to a small Bulgarian village where time has stopped. Seventeen-year-old rebel Lora must cope with the death of her father and, in the tradition of her family and the whole village, is expected to be in mourning. This art film that captures such beautiful scenery won an award at the Berlin Film Festival in the Generation section and the Grand Prix “Sofia City of Film” (main award) at the festival in Sofia.
The competition concludes with the Bulgarian film “Thirst” (Jajda, Bulgaria, 2015) by fledgling filmmaker Svetla Tsortsorkova. A married couple live with their 16-year-old son in arid solitude earning a living doing laundry service for local hotels. Their ordinary life gets turned upside down upon the arrival of a well-digger and his daughter. Popular Bulgarian actor Ivan Barnev has a smaller role on screen; he's well-known from the film by Jiří Menzel I Served the King of England. A strong family drama Thirst won the Award for Best Bulgarian Feature Film at the festival in Sofia and it was awarded in the category of films for young people at the festival in Minsk, Belarus.
