The British film and television producer Duncan Kenworthy, whose successes include the cult film Love Actually, is coming to the International Film Festival Febiofest in Prague. Among the other 30-plus international guests will be the leading Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen and the Serbian actor Lazar Ristovski, known for roles including the lead in Kusturica’s Underground.
Febiofest takes place this year from March 23rd to 31st with a program which includes close to 20 pre-distribution premieres. This year the accompanying program will take place, for the first time, at the Radlická Kulturní Sportovna, an arts and sports complex.
The Northern Lights section, focused on Scandinavian cinema, will include In Embryo, the noir directorial debut of Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen. After beginning his career in the theatre, Thomsen won the attention of the international film world for Festen as well as playing a Bond villain in The World Is Not Enough. In his career to date he has been cast in many roles, from independent films to TV series to action movies to European thrillers. He appeared in the award-winning Danish dramas Adam’s Apples and Flickering Lights and has worked with such famous directors as Ridley Scott, Kathryn Bigelow, and Susanne Bier.
Viewers can look forward to the pre-premieres of nearly 20 foreign titles, which they will see at a discounted festival price. The distribution pre-premieres include films in all genres, from The Zookeeper’s Wife, a drama set in WWII Warsaw, to the courtroom drama Denial with Rachel Weisz, to the northern black comedy Small Town Killers, to the action film Trespass Against Us, starring Michael Fassbender.
The industrial arts and sports complex Radlická Kulturní Sportovna, located near Febiofest’s main venue at CineStar Praha – Anděl, will, for the first time this year, host the festival’s accompanying programme, “Off”, for all of the Festival’s seven days. From 4 pm to midnight from March 24th to 30th, it will offer the public workshops, special screenings, discussions with filmmakers, and performances by bands, music projects, and DJs. Among other events, visitors can look forward to concerts by the songwriter Never Sol and the band Smola a Hrušky, as well as a set from DJ Pierre Urban.
On March 25th, 26th, and 27th the Off program will include screenings of the unique interactive film Late Shift, which allows viewers to decide on the action via a mobile app. The Swiss-UK film allows for countless plot turns, a total of seven different endings, and several hundred opportunities for viewers to decide on the protagonists’ fates. The venue will feature a digital cellar for lovers of new technology, virtual reality, and audio-visual installations, including the festival’s youngest visitors. Admission to the entire accompanying programme at Radlická Kulturní Sportovna is free of charge.
Febiofest will also offer visitors two exhibitions bringing together film and art. Czechoslovak posters for American films of the 1970s and 1980s will be on display from March 24th to April 2nd at the Portheimka gallery, while an exhibition titled The Second Muse, or When Actors and Singers Paint and Take Photographs, will be held at the Strahov Monastery Winter Refectory from March 25th to April 30th.
The last week of March will be heaven on earth for Prague’s movie lovers.
To name a few, here are five tips about movies worth watching at Febiofest.
Late Shift
From the “Off“ segment of the program here is a tip for an interactive movie from the workshop of Tobias Weber. The viewers will decide by an application in their smart phones about the steps the main character is going to take in the process of proving his innocence.
Trespass against Us
From father to son and from son to grandson – three generations of criminals are getting away with it, until the youngest member finds himself questioning whether to follow in his family‘s footsteps or improve the lives of his own offspring.
On the Milky Road
Emir Kusturica presents his new movie – a wonderful story, partly true and slightly more a fantasy – about the milkman Kosťa (starring Kusturica), who supplies the front line during the War with milk and falls in love with a beautiful woman (Monica Bellucci). The movie was recognized at the Venice IFF.
In Embryo
A dark and tragic romance of dependence between a Los Angeles criminal and a heroin addict called Lilly. His enchantment with her soon changes to obsession.
The Zookeeper’s Wife
Based on a true story from occupied Warsaw. A local Zookeeper and his wife see the Nazi atrocities and by joining the forces of the resistance try to help to save hundreds of lives.
Photo: CSFD
Co-author of the article is Martina Advaney.
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