From 25-29 July 2017, more than hundred films will be screened in the picturesque Istrian village of Motovun.
This year’s main programme abounds with movies by female authors, which hints that the film industry is no longer reserved exclusively for men. Coming from Berlin with the new film and honorary award, Agnieszka Holland will be the first female author to be awarded the Maverick, Motovun’s honorary award for films that successfully bend the rules and resist modern film trends and tendencies.
Agnieszka Holland
This year’s partner country is Iceland, the smallest European film giant whose films are regularly screened and awarded at major world festivals. Having in mind the that the country produces only a dozen films per year, its cinematic success is even more astounding.
Having joined efforts with the Icelandic Film Center, Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Visit Iceland, some of the great figures of Icelandic film will visit the hilltop village of Motovun, such as Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, also known as the father of Icelandic film industry, whose fruitful career spans from the 1980s and whose film Children of Nature from 1991 won him an Oscar nomination. Rúnar Rúnarsson, whose film Sparrows, a Croatian minority co-production, won awards in San Sebastian and Warsaw will also be joining him as well as one of the best known Icelandic actors, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, the protagonist of the films Sparrows. The programme Iceland: Small Country for Great Films will feature an overview of the Icelandic cinema – not just its contemporary films, such as Of Horses and Men, but also some of the classics which are now very hard to come by.
Of Horses and Men
The main programme of the festival includes films from all over the world; from Argentina to Georgia, from Iceland to Motovun, where one of the short movies (Kratki izlet by Igor Bezinović) was filmed. There are all kinds of movies for everyone’s taste: from low-budget documentaries to genre hits such as El Bar, from amazing unknown independent movies, such as A Date for Mad Mary to award-winning hits, such as The Square, which won the Palme d’Or this year in Cannes.
Other films in the main programme include: The Distinguished Citizen, a pleasant Argentinan comedy which will open the festival, Bright Sunshine In, the newest film by the prominent French director Claire Denis, which was awarded a prestigious SACD award at this year’s Cannes, Western, a movie by a German director Valeska Grisebach, which deals with the issue of European xenophobia in the predominantly male genre of western, Zoology – movie that critics described as a touching and unusual Kafka-meets-Cronenberg film, which won a special jury prize at Karlovy Vary festival.
Croatian documentary film about the Croatian patriotic songs from the Homeland War, Louder than Guns, by the award-winning author Miroslav Sikavica, will have its world-premiere at the Motovun film festival on Wednesday, 26th of July.
Louder than Guns
So make sure not to miss this cinematic treat under the stars among some of the friendliest people, and join the big party as Motovun celebrates its 20th birthday!
For more details visit the official website here.
All photos by Motovun Film Festival
