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EU Film Days 2009 in Kyoto

“EU Film Days” is a series of screenings of recent films from different countries in the European Union (EU) that demonstrate the diversity of European society and culture. Following the screenings of twenty-one films as “EU Film Days 2009” in Tokyo, eleven films (either 35mm films or DVDs)—including Japanese premiers as well as winners and nominees in major international film festivals—have been selected to be shown in Kyoto.; The film screening program at MoMAK has entered its third year. With the cooperation of Goethe-Institut Japan in Kyoto, MoMAK and the EU hereby present “EU Film Days 2009 in Kyoto.”
Related link: EU Film Days: official website; http://www.eufilmdays.jp/index_eng.html
Date: June 17 (Wed.) – 21 (Sun.), 2009; The screening program and schedule for each day can be viewed below.
Admission: 500 yen per screening; tickets available at the door only
Maximum capacity: 100 seats, first come first served; Numbered tickets for each screening will be sold at the reception desk from half an hour before the first screening of the day. Admission to the theater begins 10 minutes before each screening.; Viewers will be admitted in accordance with the numbers on their tickets. Non-reserved seats only.; Tickets are valid only on the day/screening(s) for which they are purchased. No advance tickets are available.; Please refrain from bringing food or drink into the theater.
Organizers: The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; European Union (EU) Delegation of the European Commission to Japan; http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/?ml_lang=en; EU Member State Embassies and Cultural Institutes in Japan
Cooperation: Goethe-Institut Japan in Kyoto; http://www.goethe.de/kyoto; (in German and Japanese only)
Venue: Goethe-Institut Japan in Kyoto; 19-3 Yoshida Kawara-cho, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto 606-8305; (north of Kawabata-dōri and Kōjin-bashi); TEL (075) 761-2188; Directions: http://www.goethe.de/ins/jp/kyo/knt/anf/deindex.htm (in German)
Screening schedule
Film details: Please note that the above programs may be changed without advance notice.
Contact: The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; contact information; Goethe-Institut Japan in Kyoto; TEL (075) 761-2188; http://www.goethe.de/kyoto (in German and Japanese only)
Publicity materials: PDF (1.21MB)

6/17 Wed.	7PM	Perpetuum Mobile (Lithuania)	details
6/18 Thu.	4PM	Rhapsody in White (Bulgaria)	details
7PM	Rabbit without Ears (Germany)	details
6/19 Fri.	4PM	My Brother Is an Only Child (Italy)	details
7PM	Camarón (Spain)	details
6/20 Sat.	11AM	Fighter (Denmark)	details
2PM	Colosssal Youth (Portugal)	details
5PM	Winning Ticket (Hungary)	details
6/21 Sun.	2PM	In the Beginning Was the Eye (Austria) + Tiramisu (The Netherlands)	details
5PM	Defenders of Riga (Latvia)	details

June 17 (Wed.)
7PM	Perpetuum Mobile (Lithuania) Perpetuum Mobile 86 min./35mm/color Lithuanian (English and Japanese subtitles) Ron acts as gofer for a bar and gambling joint run by childhood friend Adi. He wastes his time with drinking and playing cards until one day he meets Dina, an intriguingly beautiful woman who seems to have her own bond with Adi. When Ron is thrown out of the bar for being drunk and in debt, Dina reveals that she has stolen Adi’s money and the two set off on an impetuous adventure, she more determined than he. 2008 Director: Vadas Navasaitis Japan premiere

June 18 (Thu.)
4PM	Rhapsody in White (Bulgaria) Рапсодиявбяло (Rapsodiya v byalo) 80 min./35mm/color Bulgarian (English and Japanese subtitles) A story about a woman who is not completely a woman, because she is funny and plump and because she is a comedienne. Being a female comedienne is very difficult work: being a comedienne gets in the way of being a woman and being a woman gets in the way of being a comedienne. So the question is: will she ever be able to bring these two sides together so that she can finally be “complete”? 2002 Director: Teddy Moskov
7PM	Rabbit without Ears (Germany) Keinohrhasen 115 min./35mm/color German (English and Japanese subtitles) Blessed with a virile bravado and unshakable self-confidence, tabloid reporter Ludo usually gets all the interviews he wants. All goes fine until he lands in big trouble and is sentenced to 300 hours of social work in a nursery school. Expecting it to be child’s play, Ludo is in for a big surprise when he discovers that the place is run by Anna, whom he enjoyed taunting in their primary-school days. A romantic comedy directed by and starring the popular German heartthrob Til Scwheiger. 2007 Director: Til Schweiger

June 19 (Fri.)
4PM	My Brother Is an Only Child (Italy) Mio Fratello è Figlio Unico 100 min./35mm/color Italian (English and Japanese subtitles) In a small town in Italy in the ’60s and ’70s, brothers Accio and Manrico embrace opposing political stances, but share a love for the same woman. Director Daniele Luchetti’s comedy observes the two brothers over the course of 15 years, against the backdrop of Italy’s tumultuous socio-political history. During those years they endure arguments and quarrels, find themselves separated by circumstances and reunited by the wisdom of age. In time, they come to reach a clearer understanding of their differences and similarities. 2007 Director: Daniele Luchetti
7PM	Camarón (Spain) Camarón 119 min./35mm/color Spanish (Japanese subtitles) The life story of the legendary flamenco cantaor, José Monge Cruz, known as Camarón de la Isla (1950–1992). Born into a modest gypsy family, Camarón demonstrated his extraordinary talent in the realm of flamenco at an early age. Over the years he became one of Spain’s most internationally renowned artists only to have his brilliant and successful career cut short by his drug addiction. With the cooperation of Paco de Lucía, Tomatito, and other artists who have worked with Camarón and knew him well, the film both showcases his musical talents and sheds light on his personal side. (Screening cooperation by: The Latin Beat Film Festival) 2005 Director: Jaime Chávarri

June 20 (Sat.)
11AM	Fighter (Denmark) Fighter 100 min./35mm/color Danish and Turkish (Japanese subtitles) Aicha, a high-school student, is a passionate kung fu fighter. Her Turkish parents expect her to get good grades so she can get into medical school, like her brother Ali. But school doesn’t inspire her. Defying her family, Aicha starts secretly training at a professional, co-ed kung fu club. A boy, Emil, helps Aicha train for the club championship and they fall in love. But the rules of life are not as simple as the rules of kung fu, and Aicha is forced to decide who she is and what she wants. (written by Natasha Arthy) 2007 Director: Natasha Arthy
2PM	Colossal Youth (Portugal) Juventude em Marcha 155 min./35mm/color Portuguese (Japanese subtitles) Ventura, a Cape Verdean labourer living in the outskirts of Lisbon, is suddenly abandoned by his wife Clotilde. Feeling lost, Ventura wanders back and forth between the dilapidated old quarter that had been his home for the last 34 years and the stark new low-cost housing complex to which he and his fellow immigrants are being moved as the ghetto undergoes urban renewal. As he travels around, meeting and talking to people, trying to find his own way, all the poor souls he meets seem to become his own children. 2006 Director: Pedro Costa
5PM	Winning Ticket (Hungary) Telitalálat 104 min./35mm/color Hungarian (Japanese subtitles) Set in Budapest during the 1956 rebellion—Béla, a poor factory worker, wins the lottery on the day the riots begin in the streets. After getting caught up in the riots, he finally makes it home only to find that his family has abandoned him. He moves into a nearby pub, which soon becomes a favourite hangout for the local people. But then the Soviet army arrive and the tanks start firing. Although Béla manages to survive, it appears as though fate has even more twists and turns in store for him… 2003 Directors: Illes Szabo & Sándor Kardos

June 21 (Sun.)
2PM	In the Beginning Was the Eye (Austria) Im Anfang war der Blick 45 min./DVD/color no dialogue A fantastic and avant-garde short film in which a writer investigates Austria through images on postcards. As the camera delves in and out of hundreds of postcards, the words on the back of the cards seep into the scene as whispers and the landscapes around Erzberg and Salzburg begin to turn into something between a dream and a nightmare. An unbelievable trip to the border zone between inside and out, culture and nature, regions and the larger world. 2003 Austria/Luxembourg Director: Bady Minck Japan premiere
Tiramisu (The Netherlands) Tiramisu 81 min./35mm/color Dutch (Japanese subtitles) Jacob, an uptight accountant, meets his new client Anne, a flamboyant actress who is past her prime and in financial straits. Deep in debt, Anne is obliged to sell her beloved houseboat, which is also her home. Jacob becomes enthralled with her and the glamorous world she represents that he begins to neglect his own now seemingly boring realities. He thinks of a plan to save her houseboat, while Anne has a different plan in mind…. 2008 Director: Paula van der Oest
5PM	Defenders of Riga (Latvia) Rīgas Sargi 118 min./DVD/color Latvian (English and Japanese subtitles) A historical drama based on the events of November 1919, when in the aftermath of WWI, a part of the defeated German army still based in the newly independent Republic of Latvia, regrouped under a rogue German general. The general, aided by Russians, ordered a renegade army of about 50,000 to attack Riga. Though vastly outnumbered, the Latvian army together with many non-military volunteers totalling some 11,000 men, miraculously managed to defend Riga, pushing back and defeating the Germans. 2007 Director: Aigars Grauba Japan premiere

(2009/05/20)

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