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Variety Critics’ Choice will once again feature films from all genres – British horror, Hungarian musical, and even a Czech Little Red Riding Hood

May 26, 2009, 9:05 AM

Variety magazine has published more film reviews than any other magazine in the world, so why not ask their film critics to put together a program representing new European filmmakers? This simple notion motivated the organizers of the Karlovy Vary IFF to establish the Variety Critics’ Choice section years ago and to take European Film Promotion (EFP) as main partner on board. “2009 marked the 12th anniversary of this fruitful partnership. Crowded cinemas have approved this successful program over the years,” says Renate Rose, Managing Director of EFP, which directly is involved in the presentation of the films and directors. “Variety Critics’ Choice has become one of the festival scene’s most important showcases of emerging filmmaking talent,” asserts Steven Gaydos, Executive Editor – Variety Features. As in previous years, directors will present their movies to the public and press during two festival days (July 5-6, 2009).

The ten films include three debuts and five second movies. The program was put together by Variety critics and coordinated by senior international critic Derek Elley. “We try to highlight movies that are fresh and entertaining, not necessarily typical of their country’s image, and may have fallen beneath the radar, “says Elley. “Unlike many festival programmers, we don’t discriminate between commercial and arty stuff.” This is reflected in the selection of films, which among other things demonstrate that successful generic movies aren’t just the privilege of the American film industry.

After a hiatus, a Czech film is once again part of the selection. Maria Procházková has celebrated success internationally with the tender film Who’s Afraid of the Wolf (Kdopak by se vlka bál), screened in the Generation K plus section at the Berlinale where it was warmly received by the public. “Being included as part of Variety Critics’ Choice has made me very happy because I myself like seeing the movies in that section when I go to Karlovy Vary,” says director Maria Procházková. At the same time, she considers being included in the lineup an excellent recommendation for international audiences. She adds: “Personally just being part of the section is a certain acknowledgment.”

Nine other emerging directors from all over Europe will join Maria Procházková to round out Variety’s selection. Swede Fredrik Edfeldt’s haunting, poetic portrait of childhood in The Girl (Flickan) took Best Debut at the Berlinale this year. It features an introverted nine-year-old living isolated in the country, who takes the first lonely steps toward adulthood. A local blockbuster, the Hungarian movie Made in Hungaria by Gergely Fonyo is a rock ’n’ roll musical set in the sixties. It tells of a boy who, after spending time in the USA, returns with his parents to communist Hungary to learn how difficult life is under socialism. The end of a love affair from 25 angles is taken up by Dutch director Noud Heerkens in Last Conversation. In this experimental film, well-known actress Johanna ter Steege plays Anna, a lawyer who, during a telephone conversation with her ex, is observed by 25 cameras mounted on her moving car.

The dryly ironic Here and There (Tamo i ovde) by Serbia’s Darko Lungulov follows two stories playing out on two continents – dejected and in debt, a New Yorker named Robert finds himself in chaotic Serbia, while Serbian immigrant Branko ends up in New York. The film costars 1980s American singer Cyndi Lauper. Gory horror awaits in The Children from Britain’s Tom Shankland. Two families are spending Christmas vacation together when the kids make a horrific change for the worse. When they begin to attack their parents, the fight for survival is on. Flemish director Pieter Van Hees’ engaging love story, Dirty Mind, is a tragicomedy about an insecure man who suddenly gains self-confidence after an accident through his newfound identity as stuntman Tony T. Another comedy, Small Crime (Mikro eglima), from Greek-Cypriot director Christos Georgiou tells the tale of a frustrated policeman investigating the death of a drifter on a remote Greek island. Catalan director Patxi Amezcua offers suspense and thrills in the detective story 25 Carat (25 Kilates) involving an encounter between debt collector Ábel and car thief Kay. Croat Goran Rušinović’s road movie Buick Riviera transfers old Bosnian conflicts to the snowy roads of North Dakota where two former Yugoslavs meet. Featured in Kusturica’s Life Is a Miracle, Slavko Štimac takes one of the lead roles.

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