From football to U2

If you are looking forward to the Cannes Film Festival or are just in the mood to watch quality films, starting this Thursday, the European Union Film Festival is sure to reach out to the cinephile in you with its broad range of films from the Union

How films and sports bring a nation together cannot be better known than by 1.2 billion Indians who go bonkers when it comes to Bollywood and cricket. Such is a scenario in the German film, Lessons of a Dream that will inaugurate the European Union Film Festival (EUFF) in the city.

Daniel Brühl stars in the film, Lessons of a Dream. Brühl has been lauded for his brilliant performance as Niki Lauda in the film Rush

The film is based on how the English sport football was introduced in Germany to bring Germans and the British closer. EUFF, in its gesture to bring India and the Union closer, will tour 10 cities in India. This time around, Ritesh Batra, director of the film, Lunchbox will be the chief guest. Starting this Thursday, the festival that commenced in Delhi has already been to Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai and Goa.

A movie still of You Am I

With a stellar array of films such as the mentioned — Lessons of a Dream, Breathing, Snowboarders and more — the festival should not be missed. Pavel Svitil, Deputy Head of European Union (EU) Delegation, shares on why the Voices of Youth theme has been chosen for this year’s film festival, “Every year, we try to find a common theme for the film festival. Last year, the EUFF was focused on women, this year we decided to dedicate the EUFF to the young generation as they represent our future and yet, in the beginning of their adult lives, encounter problems similar to the ones faced by previous generations. We felt that showcasing young people from the EU would help our mutual understanding.”

Keeping its focus of selecting one film from each member of the EU, one can catch films in Hungarian, Irish, Danish and Lithuanian — that are rare and not easily available. The films have been selected keeping the fact that they overtly focus on issues that the youth are facing worldwide along with two other parameters that Svitil relates, “They must have won awards in other film festivals and they must be successful in their country of origin.”

From: May 8 to 15
At: Max Mueller Bhavan, K Dubash Marg, Kala Ghoda.
Call: 22027710
Log on to: www.facebook.com/EUinIndia

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