NEW DELHI: Sixteen new feature films are being screened at the ongoing Panorama Europe 2015 in New York, the seventh edition of new European cinema (formerly known as Disappearing Act).
Presented by Museum of the Moving Image and the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), the Festival commenced at the Museum and the Bohemian National Hall on 29 May and will conclude on 14 June.
The festival includes films from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Spain.
The Closing Night film is Bas Devos’s award-winning VioIet (Belgium, 2014), which is screened as part of this year’s New Directors/New Films series. The screening will be preceded by live music by the Flemish band St. Grandson in the Museum’s courtyard and followed by a reception.
"This year's Panorama Europe lineup is exceptional,” said Chief Curator David Schwartz, who programmed the festival. “Many of the films are fascinated with questions of identity and history, on both personal and national levels. And this year, many films use humor, often dark, to explore their subjects.”
The festival continues its mission of showcasing the best in European filmmaking by introducing a wide-ranging selection of contemporary cinema in varying genres that cover many current social and cultural themes. Panorama Europe offers New York audiences what may be their only chance to see these acclaimed films on the big screen.
Some of the highlights of this year’s edition include Petr Václav’s 2015 Czech Lion best film The Way Out, Panos H. Koutras’s multiple award-winning Xenia (Greece), Virág Zomborácz’s Afterlife (Hungary), Ignas Jonynas’s The Gambler (Lithuania), with star Oona Mekas attending, and Breathe (Respire) (France), the sophomore feature directed by the actress Mélanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds, Beginners).
The festival Board, headed by Kristýna Milde and chaired by the Czech Center, is comprised of the Austrian Cultural Forum, the Czech Center, the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Goethe-Institut New York, the Hungarian Cultural Center, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Onassis Foundation (USA) and Consulate General of Greece, and the Polish Cultural Institute New York.
Additionally, festival partners include the Albanian Institute, the Arte Institute, the Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia and Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Consulate General of Estonia, the Consulate General of Spain, the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania, the General Representation of the Government of Flanders to the U.S., the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia and Slovenian Film Centre, and Instituto Cervantes.
