European Film Festival

Whenever I mention Cinema Nouveau I get mixed reactions from friends. Some are huge fans, others just think it’s another version of trying to be too alternative, but with the emergence of more and more independent film producers, it’s definitely gained popularity in the past couple of years.

Admittedly, I’ve always seen adverts for Cinema Nouveau’s film festivals and haven’t really paid them much attention. That’s about to change, because I really feel like I’ve been missing out. I was invited to attend the media launch of the European Film Festival recently and we all sat in the dark and went through previews of the films that are being included for this festival. Honestly, some of them made me feel downright uncomfortable (in that weird foreign film way), but there’s a really great selection of films from recent years centring around the theme ‘Beyond Love’. All of the films depict a different angle to the common love theme in films, and they’re all award winners in their own right.

I got invited to watch one of the films last night, The Hunt. It’s quite an intense film centring around a man who is accused of being a paedophile when in fact he isn’t. The films shows a very real and painful depiction of the reality of the situation and how the central character, Lucas, and all of his family and friends react in their own different ways. It’s not meant to be happy in any way whatsoever, which is what makes it so utterly great. It was nominated for an Oscar in 2014 in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

One of my favourite trailers was for Paradise: Love. The story of two women who head to Kenya for a holiday romance. It is just so incredibly awkward that it makes me want to see it! Here’s the trailer:

The Festival runs from 9-18 May 2014 at Cinema Nouveau branches across the country. To download the full brochure including films synopsis, dates and times, click here.