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CROSSING EUROPE 2017

Crossing Europe readies this year’s panorama of Continental cinema

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- 160 European fiction films and documentaries, including 74 Austrian premieres, will be shown at the 14th edition of the gathering in Linz from 25-30 April

Crossing Europe readies this year’s panorama of Continental cinema
The Bar by Álex de la Iglesia

The focus of the rich and varied line-up of the 14th edition of Crossing Europe, which takes place in Linz from 25-30 April, will primarily be on issues of identity politics, simultaneously engaging with the realities of life in Europe today.

The gathering boasts no fewer than five hand-picked opening films across its various venues (all of which are having their Austrian premieres), presenting a representative cross-section of this year’s festival programme and reflecting the issue of “fear and insecurity, which dominate our everyday life, the world of media and political action”. And so, on the opening night, audiences will be able to enjoy the French-Belgian co-production This Is Our Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucas Belvaux
film profile
]
by Lucas Belvaux, Close Relations [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Russia’s Vitaly Mansky, the Camus-inspired Polish-Swiss co-production The Sun, The Sun Blinded Me [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal
film profile
]
by Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal, Clair Obscur [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Turkey’s Yeşim Ustaoğlu (who will also be in focus in the Spotlight section) and The Bar [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex de la Iglesia
film profile
]
by Spaniard Álex de la Iglesia.

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A total of 160 European fiction films, documentaries and shorts hailing from 43 countries will be screened at the Austrian gathering, across three different competitions: fictions, documentaries and local artists. The festival will unveil 74 films having their Austrian premieres and 24 having their world premieres. 

Twelve features, comprising ten debut films and two sophomore efforts, will compete in the fiction section (many accompanied by their directors or actors), among which we find titles such as Ralitza Petrova’s Godless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ralitza Petrova
film profile
]
 (Golden Leopard at Locarno 2016), A Taste of Ink [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Morgan Simon
film profile
]
by Morgan Simon (San Sebastián 2016), the Venice-premiered Heartstone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
film profile
]
by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson and Quit Staring at My Plate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hana Jušić
film profile
]
by Hana Jušić, In the Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elliott Crosset Hove
interview: Rasmus Heisterberg
film profile
]
by Rasmus Heisterberg (Toronto 2016), and House of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rusudan Glurjidze
interview: Salome Demuria
film profile
]
by Rusudan Glurjidze, which won the East of the West Grand Prix at Karlovy Vary in 2016.

The documentary competition includes ten well-travelled and well-received titles, including the hard-hitting Depth Two [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Ognjen Glavonić, the Venice-screened The War Show [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andreas Dalsgaard
film profile
]
by Andreas Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon, and Robert Kirchhoff’s Roma Holocaust-centred A Hole in the Head [+see also:
trailer
interview: Robert Kirchhoff
film profile
]
.

In its Panorama Fiction section, Crossing Europe will focus on the common thread of strong, self-determined women, unveiling renowned recent titles such as A Date for Mad Mary [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Darren Thornton (Karlovy Vary 2016), Sámi Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amanda Kernell
interview: Lars Lindstrom
film profile
]
by Amanda Kernell (Venice 2016, winner of Best Nordic Film at Göteborg this year) and María (and Everybody Else) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nely Reguera
film profile
]
by Nely Reguera (San Sebastián 2016). Meanwhile, the Panorama Documentary section will entice audiences with such movies as Atelier de conversation [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Bernhard Braunstein (Cinéma du Réel 2017), the Berlinale-screened Loving Pia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Joseph Borgman
film profile
]
by Daniel Joseph Borgman and Gogita’s New Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Levan Koguashvili (IDFA 2016).

The festival will also feature parallel sections dedicated to fantastic films (dubbed Night Sight), the younger generations (Cinema Next Europe), education and professional training at a time of globalisation and economic crises (Working Worlds), and an Architecture and Society sidebar, this year exploring the relationship between gender roles and space, and centring around Sofia Exarchou’s multiple award-winning Greek debut film, Park [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sofia Exarchou
film profile
]
. A tribute to Polish directorial duo Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal will also be organised, encompassing a complete retrospective of their body of work.

To learn more about the festival’s line-up, please click here.

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