Central and Eastern Europe in Ningbo
08-12 June 2016

List of selected films:

• “Bal Kan”, dir. Kriks Dumo, Albania, 18:21.

Two young boys, a Serbian and an Albanian, raised together in a small town of Kosovo. As they grow up they find themselves in a war between two countries and on different fronts.

• “Breath”, dir. Artur Gorishti, Albania, 14:50.

A young boy and his father. Life and death. The conscious and the unconscious. Brave and scared in front of life... a metaphor coming in life through the eyes of this young boy. He learns a life lesson and becomes a man overnight.

• “Bektachis”, dir. Manuel Poutte, Albania, France 05:00.

• “Blossom”, dir. Tarik Hodzic, Bosnia and Herzegovina 11:07.

Children play on the playground. People trade on the market. People live in the city... Timeless, totally ordinary day in a little town... east Bosnia...

• “Damaged goods”,  dir. Nermin Hamzagić, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 20:00.

Tarik lives alone and works as a stockman in a supermarket. He is lonely and killing his time in the company of two colleagues. Small shop near by the supermarket employs new girl. Tarik is fond of her, and under cover of darkness he starts secretly to draw on a store window. He is hidden from the prying eyes of the society that sees every emotion as a sign of weakness.

• “Some of us”, dir. Anja Kavic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 08:58.

When a relationship between two sisters turns into resentment accumulated over the years of growing up together, must come to the breaking point. The decisive confrontation is painful and revele discover the great secrets. If at all to interfere unbridled youthful compulsion, the outcome can be a tragic. The entire story takes place at the railway station, between the abandoned trains. This place is the best indication of their attitude, and their inner state. ,, Some of Us " is a story about a time when you finally say everything you ever wanted, a story about anger, attention, and a gun.

• “How I met Neji and Mad Bor”, dir. Georgi Svetlomirov, Bulgaria, 13:40.

Young traveler - Niki, comes across a camp fire in a forest. There he meets Bor - former boxing champion who has lost his mind, who introduces him to his friend Neji - refugee. After losing control, Bor attacks Niki, but Neji saves him and explains what made him mad.

• “Solveig”, dir. Yana Titova, Bulgaria, 14:19.

Anya has a good reason for her high self-esteem - only 17 she is a highly praised violinist. At her second solo concert Anya must prove there is more to her talent than perfect techniques. This very day she accidentally witnesses the goodbye between a mother and her soldier son - a scene that leaves her speechless minutes before the performance.

• “ViewPoint”, dir. Dima Proykova, Bulgaria, 09:00.

There's no reality except the one contained within us. Hermann Hesse create internal images about the others, about people who we have never met and even about those who we believe we know well. Do our internal images represent reality or are they just projections of our attitude towards the world, a world that is created by ourselves?It is a summer morning sunrise at the beach. A couple sit to enjoy the moment. The two notice a female figure in the distance. Within a few minutes each one of them creates a series of completely different ideas of who that person might be and how this person relates to them. The imaginations of the two will create two different imaginary worlds, provoking a variety of attitudes toward the figure in the distance.ViewPoint ends to reveal that neither of the ideas about the unknown female were even close to who she really was.

• “Wishing Bar”, dir. Kiril Totev, Bulgaria, 11:00.

While trying to lose the men chasing them, Steve and Jake stumble upon the Wishing Bar. Will they find a safe haven or a new challenge? The chasers are no longer in sight, but the adventure is just about to begin.

• “Karma”, dir. Dina Cvek and Kristian Došen, Croatia, 17:38.

Tin thinks that his life is followed everywhere by bad karma. And everything he tries to fix, only makes things worse.

• “Picnic”, dir. Jure Pavic, Croatia, 13:00.

Sarajevo, rush hour. EMIR (15), accompanied by a SOCIAL WORKER, is on his way to meet his father SAFET for a weekend picnic at Igman, a semi-open penitentiary. Due to the heavy traffic they are late...

• “Old King”, dir. Kilián Vrátník, Czech Republic, 15:30.

One day, one party, three people. A father and his two sons are trying to find reconciliation after they were separated by the communist regime. An intimate view into the relationships of one family that were damaged by the disease of old people. The Alzheimer disease is although not the only problem. Also finding grace, forgiveness and silver lining seems beyond this family members' reach.

• “The pit”, dir. Damian Vondrasek, Czech Republic, 03:59.

A young man is facing indifference of the society.

• “The room 113”, dir. Filip Kilián, Czech Republic, 05:21.

At first sight, we are watching the man who relaxes in a hotel room. His past, however, provides many secrets which finally rise to the surface.

• “Three words”, dir. Stepan Etrych, Czech Republic, 24:36.

A story of an old man, Jake, remembering his love from old times when he was a student. He met Agnes when studying at the university, at the end of 60s. Jake felt in love with her immediately, but he was not able to find a way to tell her about his feelings.

• “121”, dir. Dénes Ruzsa, Hungary, 10:02.

Short film based on Pascal’s 121th thought : „Nature always begins the same things again, the years, the days, the hours; in like manner spaces and numbers follow each other from beginning to end. Thus is made a kind of infinity and eternity. Not that anything in all this is infinite and eternal, but these finite realities are infinitely multiplied. Thus it seems to me to be only the number which multiplies them that is infinite.”

• “Intercosmos”, dir. Bela Banhegyi, Hungary, 20:48. 

Bandi is a 51-year old sci-fi geek who lives in a small Hungarian village where he ekes out a lonely existence as a self employed electrics repairs man. The film lets us follow him one Sunday around his world of devoted science fascination, and offers an insight into the outward urge which pushes him to reach the stars in his own unique way.

• “A call in the night”, dir. Trifun Sitnikovski, Macedonia, 04:05.

Late in the night, a young man calls his best friend, fearing that he might not be alone in his apartment.

• “Pepi & Muto”, dir. Georgi M. Unkovski, Macedonia, 17:00.

When clumsy cadet (Mirce) joins forces with an old grumpy detective (Pepi) Skopje gets its own crime-fighting duo. Will the unlikely partnership of detectives Pepi and Mirce bring the local criminals to justice and put the city of Skopje at peace? Probably not, but their friendship might still have a chance.

• “The Grey Forest”, dir. Gjorgji Lazov, Macedonia, 08:14.

A boy is trapped in the world of addiction. He is torn apart by two forces: the light, a force that is calling him back to his nature, and the dark, a force that is calling him to continue with his addiction and fall into the void.

• “Home”, 13min, dir.: Tanja Todorova, Macedonia, 13:36.

• “Mary round trip”, dir. Zharko Ivanov, Macedonia, 09.46.

• “Falling girl”, dir. Vladimir Lukash, Macedonia, 10:26.

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• "Elliptical Mill", dir. Andrei Moraru, Moldova, 19:30.

​A cinematic essay about simple, mill-related things. The wheel spins in several interconnecting places. Light, Shadow, Wheat, Earth, Water, Mill, Time, Death, Child, Ladder, Moon, Jesus, Lamb, Coin on the eye, Death staff, Ursa Major, Belfry, Pinhole, Oven, Kneading, Bread, Easter eggs.

• “Memories”, dir. Radoje Burzan, Montenegro, 10:00.

Marko is completely ordinary guy with unusual love story. Train station in Podgorica became to him the only place where he can remember time that is gone, but the time he can never forget. The question is, how much time should pass before he faces the truth…

• “The last gift”, dir. Aleksandar Vujovic, Montenegro, 07:00.

Film about a young mother, who is tempted to abandon her child, due to a set of different life circumstances.

• “All of that”, dir. Branislav Milatovic, Montenegro, 27:00.

Danilo's friend from classroom passed away. Father wants to draw the boy's attention away from the funeral and from his obligations as class president by taking him on a day trip. For the father, protecting his own child from unkind experience as the funeral by going on fishing becomes much more difficult a task than he expected.

• “A matter of will”, dir. Dušan Kasalica, Montenegro, 23:44.

A Matter of Will follows a group of chubby children in a weight loss camp, located on a seaside resort. Far from the city, their authoritarian instructor tries to teach the kids his “Men’s Health” ideology.

• “Untouched by the sun”, dir. Andro Martinovic, Montenegro, 10:32.

The worry and the fear of a mother whose son is in the war take her into delusion in which the distinction between reality and fiction is blurred.

• “A long time ago in Silesia”, dir. Tomasz Protokowicz, Poland, 15:40.

Twin brothers, Rysiek and Stefan live in an orphanage run by nuns. The orphanage is situated in a small Silesian town, where the Poles and the Germans live next to one another. The boys are unlucky to grow up in one of the worst periods in the history of the place - during the Third Reich. They will soon be parted only to meet again in extremely unpleasant circumstances a dozen or so years later.

• “Fury”, dir. Paulina Wyrt, Poland, 03:30. 

Does an animated film that deals with the widely unknown incidents may have any documentary value? This animation has been produced within a poetic cinema pardigm. Despite documentary aspirations, its ephemeral form corresponds with the transience of the event itself. The intimate reconstruction of some dramatic developments becomes an attempt to answer the question of the limits and reliability of an animated document. This film was created as a basis for the Master thesis defended at the University of Arts in Poznan.

• “The Glove”, dir. Vlad Dorofte, Romania, 12:15.

A homeless with his right hand only finds an expensive leather glove that fits his hand. One year later, when he accidentally tears the glove, replacing it appears to be harder than expected. Just when he resigns to the facts he finds a glove identical with the previous. In another part of the city a wealthy man and is trying to pair a recent leather glove with an old unpaired one of the same kind but ... they are both for the left hand.

• "My friend is a cloud", dir. Anton Octavian, Romania  4:30.

On a floating island a small boy is lost in a vision of the future.

• “Voyage”, dir Poiana Marian, Romania, 08:18.

A short movie about a war veteran coming back to his changed and different life.

• “Infernum”, dir. Filip Markovic, Serbia 07:20.

Nikola wakes up and starts his usual daily routine. But nothing is same - streets and places he usually visit is deserted, there is no other people...

• “Razor”, dir. Rajko Ristanović, Serbia, 09:02.

Vlada is a happy barber, the best in his town. One day, an unexpected visitor of his barbershop triggers a traumatic childhood memory...

• “Stalemate”, dir. David Jovanović, Serbia, 10:11.

The film is about personal integrity. A father's love for his son and the son's love to his father. About the relationship that is so complicated . The film breaks the stereotype of the Serbian countryside and presents it as a modern place with perspective.

• “Mus(e)icians”, dir. Růžena Rausová, Slovakia, 26:23.

Listen...How does the love sound like? And friendship? Emotions expressed through the melodies of one night. The night that has rebuilt our friendship, that helped us to regain the freedom of our spirits. Now, here we are. Stronger, wiser and ready for the show. Mus(e)icians!

• “Green line”, dir. Martina Buchelová, Slovakia, 12:07.

Picture of an overworked woman, living alone with her son and old father. She struggles with everyday problems until fantasy wins over her. Or not?

• "Gardeners", dir. Mira Fornayova, Slovakia, 20:00.

An albino African refugee saves the life of a woman. She thanks him by welcoming him in her house for a while. The two opposite characters develop a bond, despite their differences. However the neo-Nazi son of the woman pushes him to continue his journey.

• “Mario was watching the sea with love”, dir. Svetlana Dramlic, Slovenia, 12:15.

Mario operates a crane in a small shipyard on an idyllic island. On a windy and gloomy day he gets struck by a thought that the sea could be something different in his eyes. He decides that he will run away from his loneliness and routine. He will remember this day as stunningly beautiful.

• “Mouldy Memories”, dir. Edina Csüllög, Anti Naulainen, Helen Unt, Estonia 12:02.

To see a world in a grain of sand. And a heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand. And eternity in an hour.

• “Ring (Circle)”, dir: Ksenia Chimali Voronchikhina, Estonia, 05:15.

Free yourself by widening your circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

• “The Butterfly Man”, dir: Edina Csüllög, Estonia, 15:42.

Master magician Ernesto, the circuses big attraction, disappears. All is lost and director starts firing people. But Anselm, Ernesto’s assistant has other ideas. He already knows some tricks and can save the day. Director finds out that Anselm has a secret that makes him perfect for his circus. In his first performance Anselm gives his all – and everyone gets what they deserve.

• Died 100 Times, Director: Ruah Edelstein, Lithuania, 12:52. 

An intuitive contemplation on how we die many times during our life and through that become more alive.

• The Loops of Emptiness, Director: Gabrielė Labanauskaitė, Lithuania, 09:38.

It is a visual poem, where words are translated into cinematographic language. This short film invites into forgotten rooms of subconsciousness. Every person strays into those rooms in their dreams or memories. Sometimes we can't unlock the most secret territories of ourselves with any kind of keys, but other times doors just opens up.