EUNIC Film Festival 2024

24 September 2024 - 29 September 2024
 
 
This year’s EUNIC Film Festival theme is “United in Diversity”, the motto of the European Union. 
 
Held over 6 days, 24 – 29 September, the film festival shows 14 screenings, celebrating diversity in all its forms.
 
12 members and partners are taking part: the embassies of Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, as well as the Alliance française, Arts Council Malta, the British Council, the European Commission Representation and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura
 
24 September 2024 - 29 September 2024
Free, booking required
Spazju Kreattiv Cinema, Valletta
https://kreattivita.org/en/event/eunic-film-festival-2024/ 
 
 
 
Carmen
 
Carmen' Review: You Will Live in Bliss - The New York Times

Inspired by true events, Carmen is a charming story set in a village in the Mediterranean island Malta. Carmen (Natascha McElhone) has looked after her brother, the priest at the local church, since she was sixteen years old. Now almost fifty, she is suddenly left to start a new life. Facing her past, Carmen brings colour to the lives of the villagers in this compelling story about a woman finding her voice.

Date and time: Friday, September 27, 2024, 5pm

Duration: 1hr 30mins

Certification: 12A

Language: Maltese and English

EUNIC Festival- Malta

 
 
Waltzing Matilda
Waltzing Matilda - Film starring Regina Rázlová, Karel Roden

A story of Karel Jaroš, an emotionally arid man, whose mother suffers from Alzheimer disease. It is not love, but the sense of duty that stops him from sending his mother to a mental institution. On the other hand, this way he can finally connect with her. And not just with her but also with his teenage son and with himself.

Date and time: Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 5pm

Duration 1hr 53mins

Certification: 15

Language: Czech with English subtitles

EUNIC Festival – Czechia

 
When will it be again like it was never before
 
When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before

A tale of growing up under unusual circumstances, featuring a fantastic cast, directed by Sonja Heiss, who helmed award-winning “Hedi Schneider is Stuck” and wrote the bestselling novel “Rimini”. Camille Loup Moltzen plays young Joachim, Arsseni Bultmann 14-year-old Joachim and Merlin Rose plays Joachim as a young man. Star Devid Striesow is his psychiatrist father, while Laura Tonke, who won the German Film Prize for “Hedi Schneider is Stuck”, plays his mother, a very unique woman. The quirky supporting cast consists of professional actors and lay actors with and without psychiatric conditions.

Date and time: Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 7:30pm

Duration: 1hr 56mins

Certification: 15

Language: German with English subtitles

EUNIC Festival – Germany

 

Perfect as You Are

Perfect As You Are

A dramedy about the lies we tell, where a burnt-out advertising man tries to boost his own literary career by faking a romantic relationship with the author of a bestselling self-help book.

Date and time: Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 5pm

Duration: 1hr 45mins

Certification: 15

Language: Hungarian with English subtitles

EUNIC Festival – Hungary

 

Murina

Murina (Blu-ray) - Kino Lorber Home Video

Tensions rise between restless teenager Julija and her oppressive father Ante when an old family friend arrives at their Croatian island home. As Ante attempts to broker a life-changing deal, their tranquil yet isolated existence leaves Julija wanting more from this influential visitor, who provides a taste of liberation over a weekend laid bare to desire and violence.

Date and time: Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 7:30pm

Duration: 1hr 32mins

Certification: 15+

Language: Croatian with English subtitles

EUNIC Festival – EC Commission

European Commission Representation in Malta

 

More Films for Freedom – 4 short films

WePresent | May Ziadé's film “Neo Nahda” explores queer Arab histories

Building on the success of Five Films For Freedom, More Films for Freedom is a commissioning programme from British Council’s Film team, working in partnership with BFI Network, the British Film Institute’s talent development initiative. As a result, there are now ten short films available to screen for free, made by UK teams in collaboration with Palestinian, South African, Syrian, Nigerian, Kenyan, French/Lebanese and Libyan filmmakers. Together the films showcase distinctive filmmaking voices and explore diverse themes including gender, sexuality and conflict, inter-generational gay culture, migration and family ties. As part of this programme the following films, produced as part of 2022 commissions will be presented:

  1. Neo Nahda, UK with French/Lebanese collaboration, 2022 Writer/Director: May Ziade; Producer: Antonia Luxem
  2. The Enchanted Day of the Eres, UK with Brazilian collaboration, 2022 Writer/Directors: Coraci Ruiz, Julio Matos; Producers: Zan Barberton, Scott Radnor
  3. Shee, UK with Kenyan collaboration, 2022 Director: Lia Campbell; Writer: Anita Ashley; Producers: John McIlduff, Anna Callan
  4. A Bird Called Memory; UK with Brazilian collaboration Writer/Director: Leonard Martinelli; Producers: Rafael Manuel, Naomi Pacifique, Rafael Texeira, Leonardo Martinelli

Date and time: Thursday, September 26, 2024, 5pm

Duration: 48 minutes (total)

Certification: 15

Language: English

EUNIC Festival – British Council

 

Kafkas letzte Reise

Kafkas letzte Reise – Filmpremiere - SBB aktuell

To this day, Kafka, who was born in Prague and died in Austria, remains one of the most enigmatic figures of literary modernism. On the 100th anniversary of his death, this new, exclusive documentary follows the last stages of Franz Kafka’s life from Prague to the sanatorium in Kierling near Klosterneuburg, Austria. It shows letters and documents that express the tuberculosis sufferer’s desperate search for improvement. Interviews with Kafka researchers focus on getting closer to the writer’s last phase of his life.

Date and time: Thursday, September 26, 2024, 7:30pm

Duration: 1hr 5mins

Certification: 15

Language: German

EUNIC Festival – Austria

 

 

Mi Vida

Mi Vida - watch online at Pathé Thuis

After an eye-opening trip to Spain, a retired hairdresser from the Netherlands wants to start over — away from home and the expectations of others.

Date and time: Friday, September 27, 2024, 7:30pm

Duration: 1hr 28mins

Certification: 12A

Language: Dutch, English, Spanish with English subtitles

EUNIC Festival – Netherlands

 

My Grandfather’s Demons

Film Review: My Grandfather's Demons (2022) - THE DAILY ORCA

Rosa’s a successful designer living in a big city. After the unexpected death of her grandfather, she realises she hasn’t been in a place where she felt connected or loved since she left her homeland, and returns to her native village on the border between Northern Portugal and Galicia in Spain.

Date and time: Saturday, September 28, 2024, 11am

Duration: 1hr 20mins

Certification: PG

Language: Portuguese with English subtitles

EUNIC Festival

European Commission Representation in Malta

 

Tadeo Jones 3: The Emerald Tablet

Tad the Lost Explorer and the Emerald Tablet | Official Trailer

Tad would love to be seen as just another archaeologist amongst his colleagues but, as always, he blows it: this time he ruins an Olmec Pyramid only to unleash a spell that threatens the lives of his friends. When everyone turns against him, Tad embarks on an adventure-filled journey that will take him from Mexico to Chicago and from Paris to Egypt to find a way to end the curse of the Mummy.

Date and time:

  • Saturday, September 28, 2024, 5pm 
  • Sunday, September 29, 2024, 11am

Duration: 1hr 29mins

Certification: PG

Language: Spanish

EUNIC Festival – Spain

 

3 nuits par semaine

Trois nuits par semaine

Baptiste, 29, is in a relationship with Samia, when he meets Cookie Kunty, a young drag queen of the Parisian nightlife. Driven by the idea of a photo project with her, he immerses himself in a world he knows nothing about, and discovers Quentin, the young man behind the drag queen.

Date and time: Saturday, September 28, 2024, 7:30pm

Duration: 1hr 43mins

Certification: Not specified

Language: French

EUNIC Festival – France

 

Cosmos

Cosmos | Movie review – The Upcoming

Cosmos, a loose adaptation of Witold Gombrowicz’s phenomenal novel of the same name, is a metaphysical noir thriller that tells the story of two friends who spend time at the countryside guesthouse where they discover mysterious and frightening signs.

Date and time: Sunday, September 29, 2024, 5pm

Duration: 1hr 43mins

Certification: 15

Language: French with English subtitles

EUNIC Festival – Poland

 

Mi fanno male i capelli

Mi fanno male i capelli, Alba Rohrwacher racconta la sua Monica Vitti:  «Un'attrice intensa e sublime, è entrata nei miei sogni»

Monica is losing her memory and it’s tearing her life apart. It’s Korsakoff’s syndrome, the doctor says. It’s irreversible. But then something unexpected happens: she finds a way to give what’s happening meaning by borrowing the memories of another Monica, one she has always admired: Monica Vitti. She dresses like her, imitates her, acts out scenes from her films and identifies with her characters, until the line between film and reality starts to blur. Her husband Edoardo, who loves her deeply, lets this game become their new life.

Date and time: Sunday, September 29, 2024, 7:30pm

Duration: 1hr 23mins

Certification: PG

Language: Italian with English subtitles

EUNIC Festival – Istituto Italiano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2nd July 2021 marked a significant occasion for a number European Embassies and Cultural Institutes active in Malta, who, over the previous several months, had been working together to set up the EUNIC Malta Cluster.

The EUNIC Malta Cluster envisages to facilitate people-to-people exchanges, European cooperation, and the integration between the EC Representation and local cultural partners, building upon the national cultural policy and Arts Council Malta’s strategy. It will pool together the resources and expertise of its members, and it aims to strengthen cultural dialogue, exchanges and sustainable cooperation in order to promote cultural diversity and understanding in the Mediterranean region. Its mission is to contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals and to reflect and give value to the diversity of European cultures and common values through joint European events and projects.

Currently, the EUNIC Malta cluster comprises of the following members:

Embassy of Austria for Malta (EUNIC Malta Cluster co-President)
Italian Cultural Institute (EUNIC Malta Cluster co-President)
British Council in Malta (EUNIC Malta Cluster Vice President)
Arts Council Malta (EUNIC Malta Cluster Vice President)
Embassy of Spain in Malta
Alliance Francaise de Malte – Mediterranee
Embassy of Poland in Malta
Embassy of Hungary
French Embassy in Malta
Czech Cultural Centre/Embassy of the Czech Republic
EU Commission Representation in Malta

EUNIC European Film Festival at Spazju Kreattiv 2022

The Embassies of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK, as well as Arts Council Malta, the Czech Cultural Centre, and the EU Commission have been working together for the past few years to set up the EUNIC Malta Cluster. EUNIC, the European Union National Institutes for Culture, is the European network of organisations engaging in international cultural relations.

The EUNIC Malta Cluster seeks to facilitate people-to-people exchanges, European cooperation, and representation of local cultural partners. The mission of EUNIC is to contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals and to reflect and give value to the diversity of European cultures and common values through joint European events and projects.

EUNIC Malta, in cooperation with Spazju Kreattiv Valletta, will be presenting movies with the main theme focussing on sustainability, whether social, economic or environmental; a theme in light of environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, climate change, overconsumption, population growth, and societies’ pursuit of unlimited economic growth in a closed system.

The EUNIC film festival is also supported by the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade and the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government of Malta.

Arts Council Malta:

Series of short films, 75 minutes duration

Screening Thursday 13th October 2022 @ 8.30 pm

To celebrate the 2022 European Year of Youth, Arts Council Malta, in collaboration with Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, will show short movies produced by Maltese youths: Lost Kid Wanderer, Orrajt, Rabbit Stew, Son, The Black Pebble, and The Soapbox. In Lost Kid Wanderer by Chelsea Muscat, a lone wanderer must decide her future fate while life is coming to an end. Son, by Ryan Zammit Pawley, is a coming-of-age story that revolves around Sonny, a Maltese boy in his late teens. After a night of partying, Sonny is abruptly awoken as he needs to sober up in order to get to his grandmother's birthday party. Embrace the Grind by Keith Dimech is a short film about an inspirational basketball player Mason Vires and a story of what goes through a professional's mind to reach the pinnacle of success. Rabbit Stew by Francesca Zammit tells the story of lifelong friends at the ages of 13 and 10. Gianni escorts Sarah home from school across their colourful village. To Sarah, the village is the whole world, but by the end of this feminist fairytale, her childish beliefs are shattered by the realisation that adults are not as perfect as she thought. The Soapbox by Bruce Micallef Eynaud is about the last weekend of lockdown when a mysterious virus causes a young man to doubt his own sanity. Orrajt by Jeremy Vella shows a bilingual battle that George needs to face, being both an English and Maltese speaker. In The Black Pebble by Chris Zarb, Vincent learns a lesson of self-forgiveness.

Embassy of Austria:

Film Alpenland, duration 88 minutes

Screening Sunday 16th October 2022 @ 6pm

The Embassy of Austria will present the movie Alpenland by Robert Schabus. The movie deals with two opposing worlds: the world of prestigious ski tourism with its impressive Alps and the world of the simple farmer—which reflects the daily and arduous work—which seem to collide. The fantastic nature shots especially give a hint that climate change, with its effects on humans and nature, plays a vital role in this film. Alpenland takes several countries into focus. Different generations are shown, and since the alpine business is profitable, the film is also highly political since other protagonists are presented, from the real estate agent to the daughter of a simple farmer; she is to take over the alpine farm. The movie accurately shows the reality of people's lives.

Czech Cultural Centre:

Film Living Water duration 77 minutes

Screening Saturday 15th October 2022 @ 6pm

The Czech Cultural Centre will present Living Water. Ever since Jordanian nomads settled in the spectacular landscape of Wadi Rum, they grew dependent on complex water infrastructure. The source is right below their feet, yet they struggle to meet basic needs. In the meantime, deep water extraction feeds private large-scale farms, animates visionary development, and secures a growing urban population. Bedouins, farmers and city dwellers all expect to have their fair share but digging for “blue gold” unleashes an environmental timebomb. Living Water tells the story of power, exploitation, and changing ecological circumstances in one of the most water-poor countries in the world.

Embassy of France/Alliance Française:

Film Rouge, duration 88 minutes

Screening Wednesday 12th October 2022 @ 8.30pm

The Embassy of France and Alliance Française de Malte will launch the movie Rouge by Thomas Lilti which tells a story about the nurse Nour who has just been hired in the chemical plant where her father, a union delegate and a long-time company leader, works. While the factory is undergoing a health inspection, a young journalist is investigating waste management. The two young women gradually discover that this factory, a pillar of the local economy, is hiding many secrets.

German Embassy:

Film Toubab, duration 96 minutes

Screening 15th October 2022 @ 8.30pm

The Embassy of Germany will show Toubab which tells the story of the criminal Babtou. The only thing that can save the petty criminal Babtou from being deported to Senegal is to marry a German. Because in Frankfurt's high-rise settlement there isn’t a woman who would be willing to marry the macho, Babtou's best buddy Dennis steps in. The two ghetto boys spend their "wedding night" with half-naked women in a striptease shack, but before the immigration authorities come to the door to check whether a fake marriage could be involved, a queer lifestyle has to be simulated as quickly as possible. Rainbow flags and a lamp in an obvious shape are just the improvised beginning, because soon a world beyond their stereotypes of homosexuality opens up for the two; but they also get to experience the intolerance and narrow-mindedness of their previous environment. For all its pointed satirical sharpness, this "buddy movie", told with a lot of wit and street credibility, never loses sight of its serious background: its examination of migration policy and racist and sexist prejudices.

Italian Cultural Institute:

Film L’Ombra del Giorno, duration 125 minutes

Screening Friday 14th October @ 8.30pm

The Italian Cultural Institute La Valletta—which is also the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Italy in Malta—will introduce…L'Ombra del Giorno. This movie is set in a provincial town (Ascoli Piceno) in the late thirties. Luciano, a sympathizer of fascism like the vast majority of Italians, is the owner of a restaurant who nevertheless believes he can live according to the rules he has given himself, in a sort of isolation from the outside world. But on the window overlooking the ancient square, together with the worrying signs of something that is about to happen in the world, a girl appears carrying a secret with her. Her name is Anna and she manages to get hired in the restaurant. Since then, life will never be the same for Luciano and together with the dangers he faces, there is the greatest of all: love.

Embassy of Poland:

Film The Balcony Movie, duration 100 minutes

Screening Friday 14th October 2022 @ 6pm

Can anyone be a movie hero? Can the world be locked in one film frame? Director Paweł Łoziński is watching people from his balcony as they are passing by: sad, thoughtful, glued to their phones, young and old. Neighbours, random visitors or simply passers-by. The filmmaker accosts them, asks questions, talks about how they deal with life. Standing there with his camera for over 2 years he has created a space for dialogue, a lay confessional of sorts, where everyone can stop by and tell their story. The protagonists carry secrets and mysteries, and are not easy to label. Every story is unique, and life always surpasses imagination.

British Council Malta:

Series of short films, total duration 75 minutes

Screening Sunday 16th October 2022 @ 8.30pm

The Embassy of the UK and the British Council will show the short movies The Elvermen, Eve, The Promise, Samaritan and Songs of the Earth. The Elvermen by Isla Badenoch is an atmospheric short film shot over a moonlit night that reveals a hidden community hunting an endangered fish. Eve by Natalie Portman tells a story about a young woman called Kate visiting her grandmother to talk about her mother "Eve", but instead she surprisingly ends up as both chauffeur and chaperone on her grandmother's romantic dinner date with a widower named Joe. Samaritan by Dustin Curtis Murphy is about an immigrant doctor fearing deportation who lives off the grid and stumbles upon the body of recently kidnapped politician. Songs of Earth by Soumik Datta follows Asha, a young climate refugee from Bengal as she searches for her missing father through the floodbanks of the Sundarban delta.

EU Commission Malta:

Series of short films, total duration 66 minutes

Screening Wednesday 12th October 2022 @ 6pm

The EU Commission will introduce the short movies A Sunny Day, Olmo, Hungry Seagull, Kokota, Thermostat 6 and Tuã Ingugu. A Sunny Day by Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi is about how men and women survive under the impact of a changing climate in a distant and near future, both fantastic and absurd. Hungry Seagull by Chinese director Leon Wang focuses on the lives of a family of seagulls living on an island not far from the mainland, and how they survive amidst the threat of offshore overfishing and the pollution of the marine environment.

Olmo by Italian director Silvio Soldini is about an 80-year-old grandfather and his grandson Giulio who read an article from a newspaper about melting glaciers, the greenhouse effect, methane and CO2. Instead of going to school, the two go on an adventure looking for an old tree. Tuã Ingugu, by Brazilian director Daniela Thomas, captures the relationship between the Xingu community and their river, and the emotions of one of them when he is taken to see the Sao Paulo rivers. Kokota: The Islet of Hope by Craig Norris tells a story about a man who visits a tiny neighboring islet called Kokota and tries to help after seeing the island teeter towards a collapse due to climate change and deforestation. Thermostat 6 by Maya Av-Ron is a humorous French-language animated movie which examines attitudes around climate change as well as introducing the topic for younger learners.

Since EUNIC Malta would like to provide general access to culture for all people, visitors of the film festival will not have to pay a fee in order to watch the movies. However, registration for visit the film festival is required.


EUNIC European Film Festival at Spazju Kreattiv 2021

The EUNIC Malta Cluster's first event consists of a film festival, in collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv at St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta. The festival presents nine films whose main theme revolves around sustainability, whether social, economic or environmental.

Luzzu is the local film which was showcased at this film festival. Following the screening, the public had the opportunity to interact with film director Alex Camilleri through a live Q&A session.

Read more here.