International film festival Febiofest kicks off

CzechNews
27. 3. 2009 22:00
Films from around the world on display in Prague now
Eco-friendly Win Wenders came to Prague by train saving the nature and energy and money
Eco-friendly Win Wenders came to Prague by train saving the nature and energy and money | Foto: Febiofest.cz

Prague - International film festival Febio has kicked off today. From Friday 27 March until April 3 film fans will have a chance to see a range of films coming to Prague from all corners of the world.

Among the exclusive guests this year are German director Win Wenders, British film maker Mike Leigh, Danish director Thomas Vinterberg and Iranian film maker Amir Naderi.

At the opening ceremony of the 16th Febiofest Win Wenders was awarded an honorary prize Kristián for his contribution to the Czech film audience.

Both Wenders and Havel saw the film The Citizen Havel Is Rolling Barrels, which is a new documentary film by Jan Novák. It tells the story of the dissident Havel in the 1970s when he was forced by the communists to work in a brewery in Turnov. His famous play The Audience is based on his work experience in the brewery.

Mapping the movies worldwide

The ambition of Febiofest is to map contemporary cinema virtually in all countries around the globe. The festival traditionally features British-American, Asian and Latin-American films.

Since the festival management fell out with Czech TV, this year’s Febiofest will co-operate with new digital TV stations: BARRANDOV TV and Z1. Both TV stations will screen the last year‘s festival profile “Looking Back at Febiofest 2008” directed by Linda Jablonská.

Foto: Febiofest.cz

As usual, also this year’s festival will screen films outside the traditional cinema halls in Anděl. These are the Prague Main Train Station and the Shopping Centre Černý Most. The admission in these halls is free.

French, Danes, Chilean and Italian

The section 50 YEARS OF THE FRENCH NEW WAVE will remember the beginnings of a phenomenon, popularly known as the French New Wave.

Films like Handsome Serge and The Cousins, both by Claude Chabrol or The 400 Blows by Fr. Truffaut premiered in 1959.

“We have decided to introduce the more averted side of the New Wave, and we included in our selection less known titles shot by the key directors like Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Jacques Rivette, Agnès Varda as well as by authors practically unknown in the Czech Lands (Alain Cavalier, Roger Leenhardt, Jacques-Doniol Valcroze),” says the program director Hana Cielová.

A special retrospective will focus on contemporary Danish film. “The exceptionality of this block, comprising some ten films, is the fact that all the titles originated practically during the course of a single year, which points to an unusual creative potential of this small Scandinavian country,” festival program director  Hana Cielová says.

Youtube video
Youtube video | Video: youtube.com

Moreover, the Febiofest will introduce a Chilean-Italian filmmaker Marc Bechis through his new, thoroughly impressive, and authentic drama „Birdwatchers“  about the sad lot of the native inhabitants of rain forests.

Although the Febiofest is nearly as popular as the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, it does not attract as many international movie stars Vary does. Most of the films screened in the Febiofest get support from embassies and cultural institutions.

 

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