13/01/2020 - Eastern European film will take centre stage between 17 - 23 January in Trieste, with Corneliu Porumboiu presenting his eccentric noir The Whistlers and heading up a masterclass

Having reached its milestone thirtieth edition last year, the Trieste Film Festival (17 -23 January) is turning its gaze towards the new decade with a focus on various issues affecting the Old Continent. The event directed by Fabrizio Grosoli and Nicoletta Romeo will open with the Italian premiere of Terrence Malick’s new film, A Hidden Life [+see also:
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film profile], shot entirely in Europe (and a competitor in the recent Cannes Film Festival), whilst the closing slot falls to Corneliu Porumboiu, a cutting-edge director of “new Romanian cinema”, who will be presenting his eccentric noir The Whistlers [+see also:
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interview: Corneliu Porumboiu
film profile] - which also competed in Cannes - as well as delivering a masterclass open to the general public.

The International Feature Film Competition will consist of eleven films - all of which Italian premieres - set to be judged by the festival audience. Nationalism and economic migration are two of the main themes. Specifically, Brexit and its impact on the Bulgarian protagonists of Cat in the Wall [+see also:
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interview: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
film profile] is the focus of Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova’s work, whilst Let There Be Light [+see also:
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interview: Marko Škop
interview: Milan Ondrík
film profile] by Marko Škop sees a Slovakian bricklayer returning home from Germany only to discover that his son is involved with a paramilitary group; Oleg [+see also:
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interview: Juris Kursietis
film profile] by Juris Kursietis focuses on a Latvian butcher who finds himself entangled in the Polish crime world in Brussels, while a more intimate window is opened by Ivana the Terrible [+see also:
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interview: Ada Solomon
film profile] where we see Ivana Mladenović bringing her own weaknesses to the big screen, as well as by the Serbian film Asymmetry [+see also:
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film profile], Maša Nešković’s first work which explores the transformation over time of a loving relationship. The same can be said of the Bulgarian title The Father [+see also:
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interview: GoCritic! Interview: Kristi…
interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
film profile] by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, where we follow the journey of a father and a son in mourning, and a similarly intimate look is cast at the failing marriage at the heart of Monsters. [+see also:
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interview: Marius Olteanu
film profile] by Romania’s Marius Olteanu; at the clandestine love recounted in Once in Trubchevsk [+see also:
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film profile] by Larisa Sadilova, and; at the pain felt by an entire village over the disappearance of Oroslan [+see also:
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interview: Matjaž Ivanišin
film profile] in this work directed by Slovenia’s Matjaž Ivanišin. Last but not least in this category, we find two incredible female portraits: Lillian [+see also:
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interview: Andreas Horvath
film profile] by Austria’s Andreas Horvath, inspired by the true story of Lillian Alling, and Zana [+see also:
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interview: Antoneta Kastrati
film profile] by Antoneta Kastrati, which explores the patriarchal society continually governing women’s lives in Kosovo.

Screening out of competition, meanwhile, are the two detective films Heidi [+see also:
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interview: Cătălin Mitulescu
film profile] by Cătălin Mitulescu, and Rounds [+see also:
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interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile] by Stephan Komandarev, the comedies Paradise [+see also:
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interview: Davide Del Degan
film profile] by Italy’s Davide Del Degan and The Last Serb in Croatia [+see also:
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film profile] by Predrag Ličina - the Balkans’ very first “zombie comedy” – and two first works: Stories from the Chestnut Woods [+see also:
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film profile] by Gregor Božič and My Thoughts Are Silent [+see also:
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film profile] by Ukrainian director Antonio Lukič.

Special Events include the world premiere of Tadeusz Śliwa’s (Nie)znajomi - a Polish remake of Italian film Perfect Strangers [+see also:
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film profile] – starring Kasia Smutniak, an actress set to receive the Eastern Star Award. Three tributes, meanwhile, are in the offing: Juraj Herz’s masterpiece The Cremator, restored by Prague’s Cinematheque; W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism, one year on from the passing of Dušan Makavejev, and; The Night of the Shooting Stars by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, in honour of Omero Antonutti who passed away in November.

The International Documentary Competition, for its part, will consist of nine titles: The Euphoria of Being [+see also:
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film profile] by Hungary’s Réka Szabó; Marek Edelman ...and There Was Love in the Ghetto [+see also:
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film profile] by Jolanta Dylewska; Mother and Son by Hilal Baydarov; BATAstories [+see also:
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film profile] by Peter Kerekes; Exemplary Behaviour [+see also:
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film profile] by Audrius Mickevičius and Nerijus Milerius; Heat Singers [+see also:
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interview: Nadia Parfan
film profile] by Nadia Parfan; Immortal [+see also:
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interview: Ksenia Okhapkina
film profile] by Ksenia Okhapkina; Transnistra [+see also:
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film profile] by Anna Eborn and; The Wind. A Documentary Thriller [+see also:
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interview: Michał Bielawski
film profile] by Michał Bielawski. Screening out of competition, meanwhile, are Giuliano Fratini’s The Gift and Giampaolo Penco’s Vittorio Vidali - Io non sono quello che fui.

(Translated from Italian)