06/10/2010

The 12th Bratislava International Film Festival has unveiled the titles in its main feature competition.

Ten titles will compete in the Grand Prix international competition of first and second feature films from directors. Half those titles are European productions or co-productions. Themes of nature and family dominate the competition.

Constantin Popescu will introduce festival audiences to Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man [+see also:
film review
film profile], which portrays fighters in the Romanian anti-communist resistance following World War II. The film previously screened in Berlin and London.

Actor Julien Cottereau and producer Alexandre Perrier will be on hand to support the local premiere of Matías Meyer's film The Cramp, a co-production between Mexico and France. The film tells the story of a young French comedian on a spiritual quest on Mexico's Pacific coast.

Bulgarian director Dragomir Sholev will present his San Sebastian title Shelter, about a young teenager's conflicts with his parents.

Other European films in the main competition include Julie Bertucelli's The Tree [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julie Bertuccelli
film profile] (France/Australia), Michelangelo Frammartino's The Four Times [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michelangelo Frammartino
interview: Savina Neirotti
film profile] (Italy/Germany/Switzerland).

Also competing are 10½ (Canada), Lucia (Chile), Lucky Life (USA), Mama (Russia) and Rail Truck (Japan/Taiwan).

Czech director Jan Švankmajer will be in Bratislava to receive the festival's Artistic Excellence Award in World Cinematography and present his Venice title Surviving Life (Theory and Practice) [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

The international jury is comprised exclusively of festival directors: Mikel Olaciregui from San Sebastian, Mirsad Purivatra from Sarajevo, Kim Dong-Ho from Pusan, Eva Zaoralova from Karlovy Vary, and Aude Hesbert from Paris.