Inspired and curated by the Sydney Film Festival, a selection of this year’s EUROPE! VOICES OF WOMEN IN FILM programme will be presented as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival At Home - Online in the "Widescreen" and "Spotlight" sidebars from 24 July to 2 August.
"We are thrilled that, for the first time, our programme EUROPE! VOICES OF WOMEN IN FILM is going on tour, reaching out to wider audiences, proudly showing new exciting works by outstanding female directors from all over Europe, and taking a stand for gender parity and inclusivity," says EFP’s Managing Director Sonja Heinen.
And Marten Rabarts, Festival Director of Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival, adds: "We are delighted to be able to present this collection of exceptional films from women filmmakers as part of our 2020 online edition of the festival. Through these seven diverse, beautiful and enlightening stories from Estonia, Germany, Kosovo*, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland, our programme is profoundly enriched. Thanks to all the gifted filmmakers, EFP, and each member country for bringing the EUROPE! VOICES OF WOMEN IN FILM programme to New Zealand for the first time."
The selected films are:
A YEAR FULL OF DRAMA (Estonia) by Marta Pulk Widescreen
CHARTER (Sweden, Denmark, Norway) by Amanda Kernell Widescreen
KIDS RUN (Germany) by Barbara Ott Spotlight
LESSONS OF LOVE (Poland) by Małgorzata Goliszewska, Kasia Mateja Widescreen
MY LITTLE SISTER (Switzerland) by Stéphanie Chuat, Véronique Reymond Widescreen
THEY CALL ME BABU (The Netherlands) by Sandra Beerends Spotlight
ZANA (Kosovo*, Albania) by Antoneta Kastrati Widescreen
As part of a special programme for the Wellington City Contemporary Art Museum, Marta Pulk’s film A YEAR FULL OF DRAMA will also be shown to an audience at this official Festival venue.
EUROPE! VOICES OF WOMEN IN FILM was successfully launched at the Sydney Film Festival (SFF) in 2016. In close cooperation with SFF, the programme recognises new works by some of Europe’s most exciting women directors and presents them in a dedicated section of the festival. Suggested by the respective EFP member organisations and selected by festival director Nashen Moodley, the programme highlights the virtuosity and strength of innovative European cinema by women film artists and features their work to Sydney’s enthusiastic audience, press and Australia’s welcoming and promising market.
The national film promotion institutes supporting this year’s edition of EUROPE! VOICES OF WOMEN IN FILM are: Danish Film Institute, Estonian Film Institute, Finnish Film Foundation, German Films, Kosova Cinematography Center, Polish Film Institute, Screen Ireland, SEE NL (The Netherlands), Swedish Film Institute and Swiss Films.
EUROPE! VOICES OF WOMEN IN FILM is supported by the Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union and Eurimages and presented for the first time in cooperation with European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA) and Festival Scope. The media partners are Screen International, Fade to Her and Fred Film Radio.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the lCJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.