The Festival (17-24 October), which is set to screen over 150 titles from more than 30 countries including several films from Spain, Germany, Africa, Iran, Greece and Ukraine, welcomes filmmakers and features special introductions and Q&As during the eight days at venues across the city, including the Cambridge Picturehouse, The Light Cinema, Emmanuel College, Kettle’s Yard and The Heong Gallery.
[[{"fid":"281840","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","alignment":"right","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"SYSTEM CRASHER at the 39th Cambridge Film Festival (kineo Film…nus Roy Imer)","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"SYSTEM CRASHER at the 39th Cambridge Film Festival (kineo Film…nus Roy Imer)"},"link_text":false,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default","alignment":"right","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"SYSTEM CRASHER at the 39th Cambridge Film Festival (kineo Film…nus Roy Imer)","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"SYSTEM CRASHER at the 39th Cambridge Film Festival (kineo Film…nus Roy Imer)"}},"attributes":{"alt":"SYSTEM CRASHER at the 39th Cambridge Film Festival (kineo Film…nus Roy Imer)","title":"SYSTEM CRASHER at the 39th Cambridge Film Festival (kineo Film…nus Roy Imer)","style":"float: right;","class":"media-element file-default media-wysiwyg-align-right","data-delta":"1"}}]]Highlights from international film festivals include Czech director Adam Sedlak's directorial debut DOMESTIQUE. Fresh from the Czech film festival, Karlovy Vary, this is a fascinating and unusual domestic drama that looks at a couple increasingly lost in their own obsessions. From Berlin International Film Festival comes the horror comedy STITCHES as well as the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Award Winner SYSTEM CRASHER (right), a drama of how the ‘system’ fails a troubled 9-year-old with psychotic episodes whose trauma goes deeper than anyone can reach.
At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award was presented to Alejandro Landes, for the stunning MONOS. As visually splendid as it is thought-provoking, this film tells the story of eight teenaged guerrillas with guns who watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow. Playing games and initiating cult-like rituals, the children run amok in the jungle.
Leading the lineup for the ever-popular CAMERA CATALONIA strand at the Festival is Laura Jou’s feature debut, the romantic comedy LIFE WITHOUT SARA AMAT. Well received by critics and audiences alike in Spain, the film beautifully and effortlessly captures the transition from childhood to adulthood. In addition, Elena Trapé’s second feature DISTANCES, approaches the friends’ reunion genre with a direct, naturalistic style. Four Catalan university friends travel to Berlin to surprise another for his birthday, but the passing of time and the different circumstances test the relationships within the group. The agile camera work carries the audience on this emotional journey through the streets of Berlin, where conventions and appearances start falling to pieces to reveal the characters' true feelings.
The powerful HUMAN RIGHTS strand returns with ZERO IMPUNITY, a call to action to join a growing global movement that demands zero tolerance for sexual violence in warzones, and ON THE INSIDE OF A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP, the gripping tale of Myanmar’s disastrous transition from military dictatorship to democracy. In addition, Francois Ozon's drama, BY THE GRACE OF GOD follows three men who band together to dismantle the code of silence that continues to protect a priest who abused them decades ago. Based on events from the 2019 conviction of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon for concealing the conduct of Father Bernard Preynat, the film compassionately illustrates the varying effects of trauma on survivors and their families in this urgent portrait of resistance, the power of mobilisation, and the mysteries of faith.
WORLD DOCUMENTARIES shines a light on diverse subjects with HI, A.I. - LOVE STORIES FROM THE FUTURE (pictured), asking how robots and artificial intelligence will change our lives and FILMFARSI offering up a meticulously assembled treasure trove of pre-revolution Iranian popular films, one of the richest genres, a cinema full of passion, low-budget thrillers, macho films and melodramas.
RESTORATIONS & REDISCOVERIES, a collection of rare silent and archive features from across Europe with live music accompaniment returns to the Festival and includes the much-anticipated UK premiere of Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum’s 2013 restoration of THE LIGHT OF ASIA, a stunning adaptation of Edwin Arnold's 1861 epic poem on the life of Buddha, and DOCKS OF HAMBURG, a rare silent gem and witty updating of the story of Carmen set in 1920s Hamburg.
The MICROCINEMA strand also returns with a screening of American Director James Benning’s GLORY, a film about the present, about America and its history of abuse to be screened at the Heong Gallery, as well as three programmes at Kettle's Yard including a new film by Cambridge-based filmmaker Sarah Wood.
As part of the “BFI Musicals! The Greatest Show on Screen” the Festival is also presenting a MUSICALS strand. Dramatist, composer and author Neil Brand introduces this strand during a special event at Emmanuel College on Friday 18th October. Classics such as CALAMITY JANE (1953), GUYS AND DOLLS (1955), SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952) and ON THE TOWN (1949) are set to be screened among many other favourites.
Bringing emerging talent, established stars, and captivating stories together, the very best of short filmmaking is represented in the Festival’s SHORT FUSION strand. There are shorts to debate, elate, thrill, fear, connect, inspire and ponder in these bite-sized collections of fiction, documentary, and animation. Notable among the 36 strong films set to be screened are: THE DEAD ONES, the latest from filmmaker Stefan Georgiou; four films with local connections SURFACE NOISE, ROLLING, ANTEROS: LOVE RETURNED, and DARK LIGHTS; MADAME is a horror short directed by Garth Jennings, known for among others the children’s film SING; and THE SEA stars both Anna Friel and Russell Tovey.
The above eclectic selection makes up only a small part of this year’s programme, which also includes the CAMBRIDGE AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL and the FAMILY FILM FESTIVAL, both standalone events within the wider Film Festival. Further strands at this year’s Festival include PREVIEW HEAVEN, LONGING AND BELONGING, NEW FICTION BY WOMEN DIRECTORS, and an ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMME.
Further details of the 39th Cambridge Film Festival will be available over the coming weeks on the official website here.
Image: Still from HI, A.I. - LOVE STORIES FROM THE FUTURE which will feature at the 39th Cambridge Film Festival
The Cambridge Film Festival is made possible by BFI’s Film Audience Network, with the support of The National Lottery.
Cambridge Film Festival’s Principal partners: TTP and Studio 24. Co-Partners Vodafone and Grosvenor.
The Cambridge Film Trust is an independent charity founded to promote film culture in the East of England. Established in 2007, the Trust's main event is the annual Cambridge Film Festival, attracting thousands of admissions every year.
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