From Europe with Love

Prince Charles Cinema, Fri 9th – Sat 10th May

Celebrate Europe Day 2008 with a night of European cinema. After an overdose of treaties and legislation, it’s time to put it all aside, relax and enjoy our shared culture with the continent.

Plus a selection of short films from the Betting on Shorts archive.
Celebrate Europe Day 2008 with a night of classic and contemporary European cinema. After an overdose of treaties and legislation, it’s time to put it all aside, relax and enjoy our shared culture with the continent.

The programme combines classic and contemporary European films, including the UK premiere showing of Hungarian comedy, “Tamara”, as well as a Q&A with ‘Tamara’ director, Szabolcs Hajdu and fellow director, Elijah Moshinsky at 7pm.

From Europe With Love takes place on Friday 9th May 2008 (Europe Day) at the Prince Charles Cinema, just off Leicester Square.

Programme Schedule

AFTERNOON MATINEE

2.30 pm – La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast)

France, 1946. Jean Cocteau 96 min (cert. PG) Starring Jean Marais, Josette Day

Cocteau’s 1946 take on the fairy tale Beauty of the Beast is breathtakingly stylish. For those unfamiliar with the story, it has all the hallmarks of a classic fairy tale – bewitchment, deception and all-conquering love. With its visual richness and magical use of 1946 movie technology, this film is a must-see for children and adults alike.

Print Source: BFI Distributors

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4.15 pm – 8½

Italy, 1963. Federico Fellini 138 min (cert. 15) Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale

Convoluted and self-reflexive, 8½ comes on as the ultimate art-movie (regularly featuring on “top ten of all time” lists), but is above all an extraordinary evocation of unbearable restlessness finally giving way to the joy of going with the flow.

Print Source: BFI Distributors

FEATURE PRESENTATION

7pm – 8pm

Q&A with Szabolcs Hajdu and Elijah Moshinsky

Szabolcs Hajdu (director of ‘Tamara’) will be joined by fellow director Elijah Moshinsky to discuss the influence of European cinema on modern filmmaking, as well as sharing with us their personal favourites.

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8 pm – In association with the Hungarian Cultural Centre – Tamara (UK premiere)

Hungary 2004, Szabolcs Hajdu 75 min (cert. 12) Starring Orsolya Török-Illyés, Domokos Szabó

Shown here for the first time in the UK, this beautiful and brightly coloured film comes from one of Hungary’s most original directors, Szabolcs Hajdu. With painted animals providing an underlying sub-plot, this humourous look at the Hungarian countryside looks set to be an unmissable treat.

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10 pm – In association with the Goethe-Institut London – Rhythm Is It!

Germany 2004, Thomas Grube & Enrique Sánchez Lansch 100 min (cert. PG)

Rhythm Is It! follows an educational project which undertook the training of 250 Berlin youngsters, previously unfamiliar with classical music, to perform Stravinsky’s ‘Le Sacre du Printemps’. The award-winning documentary culminates with a stunning performance of music and dance with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

ALL NIGHT FILMFEST

Just before Midnight – In association with Betting on Shorts – Foby

Dir. Katica Gönc, Urska Juric, Darko Masnec, Slovenia, 2007, 5.46 min
“Foby” is the story of today’s average individual and how our often sterile and loveless contemporary environment turns us into the product of that reality… but in the spirit of animation, the unhappy future that awaits us, is presented in a comical, sarcastic way.

In association with Betting on Shorts – Georg wächst (Georg grows)

Dir. Martin Schmidt, Germany, 2007, 2.24
Little Georg is just a year old when he experiences the shock of his life. A tongue-in-cheek animation about man’s life from infancy through boyhood to manhood and its aftermath.

Midnight – Don’t Look Now

Nicolas Roeg (1973) 110 min (cert. 15) Starring Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland

Based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier, Don’t Look Now is arguably one of the most influential UK horror film of all time. The beautifully eery streets of Venice make an ideal setting for Roeg’s striking Anglo-Italian thriller.

Print source: Optimum Releasing

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In association with Betting on Shorts – Mechanically Recovered Chicken

Dir: Rob Munday, UK, 2007, 3 min
The story of a worried chicken and his salvation through the wonder of modern processed meat manufacture.

In association with Betting on Shorts – Eat Dog Cat Mouse

Dir. Kwok Fung Lam, UK, 2005, 3 min
Before Mouse finds a way to the delicious cornfields Cat eats him… with dire consequences for the food chain… “Eat Dog Cat Mouse” links the classic paradigm of a cat eating a mouse to the somewhat racist joke of Chinese people eating dogs. It is a twisted folk tale about revenge and relentless eating.

In association with Betting on Shorts – Death by Scrabble

Dir: Katie Steed, UK, 2007, 5.53 min
A disillusioned husband expresses himself through the medium of scrabble – with unexpected consequences.

2.10 am – Persona

Denmark, 1966 Ingmar Bergman 85 min (cert. 15) Starring Bibi Anderson, Liv Ullman

Considered by Bergman to be one of his most important pieces of work, Persona follows the developing relationship between mute actress Elisabeth and Alma, the young nurse who takes care of her. As Alma begins pouring her secrets to the silent Elisabeth, the boundaries between the two women’s personas begin to blur.

Print source: Winstone Distributors

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4 am – Nóz w wodzie (Knife in the Water)

Poland 1962, Roman Polanski 94 min (cert. PG) Starring Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka

Polanski’s first feature film, Nóz w wodzie (Knife in the Water), is a masterful study of sexual tension and paranoia. With an unnerving jazz score from Krzysztof Komeda perfectly fitting the increasingly menacing mood, this gripping movie will keep you at the edge of your seat until it’s time for the first tube home.

Print source: BFI Distributors

Tickets

Afternoon matinée £ 8 / £6

Feature presentation £15 / £12

All-night filmfest £12 / £10

Whole event £30 / £24

(Full price / PCC members, NUS, seniors, U16s)

Buy tickets directly through the Prince Charles Cinema, either by telephone, on 0870 811 2559 (between 1:30 pm and 8:30 pm) or in person, from the box office in the cinema foyer.