The festival screens at Museum of the Moving Image from May 5-May 21.
The ninth edition of the festival of new and exciting European cinema, co-presented by Museum of the Moving Image and European Union National Institutes for Culture, returns to the Museum and the Bohemian National Hall with 17 exceptional new films–two of them exploring compelling lesbian themes.
With Europe currently in a state of change and turmoil, fearing both home-grown terror and forces from outside, this festival presents a mix of narrative and documentary-style films that attempt to balance the anxieties Europe of today, including its past problems, with hope about future forces. Two films in particular, both with lesbian themes, reflect a sense of crisis and the psychological factors that historically have led to the European persecution of minorities. As the film Sick mentions in its prologue, The past is never dead. it's not even past.
I, Olga Hepnarova screens on Sunday May 7. This film feature co-production from Czech Republic/Poland/Slovakia/France is based on a shocking true story of a young lesbian Czech woman who was quite literally driven to commit the crime of mass murder. Abused at home and bullied and tormented at school, Olga plans revenge on the society that scorns her. Set in Prague in the summer of 1973, this black and white films recreates the mood and interior psychology of an outcast woman driven to the edge.
The Croatian documentary Sick, which screens on Sunday May 14, won Best Documentary Feature Film Award at the Toronto Arthouse Film Festival Croatia. The harrowing film follows a year in the life of Ana Dragicevic, a young Croatian lesbian who was subjected to years of conversion therapy when she was a teen. She suffers from psychological trauma and PTSD even as she tries to build a new life with her girlfriend. Gay conversion therapy is practiced all over the world and in the United States in one form or another, and this movie shows that not only does it not work; it leaves permanent scars that is reflective of the dominant cultures attitude toward minorities in general. The question raised is: Who is actually sick…the nonconformist or the culture that insists on conformity at all costs?
Watch the trailer for I, Olga here.
VENUES AND TICKET INFORMATION:
Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue (at 37 Street), Astoria, NY 11106.
Telephone: 718 777 6888 (recorded information).
Unless otherwise noted, tickets are $15 ($11 seniors, students / free or discounted for Museum members). Advance tickets are available online at www.movingimage.us.
Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street (between 1st and 2nd Ave), New York, NY 10021. Subway: Q to 72nd Street, 6 to 68 Street Hunter College or 77 Street. Visit www.czechcenter.com for more information.
Tickets for Panorama Europe at the Bohemian National Hall are free with RSVP on www.eventbrite.com