Trieste Film Festival in Tour, the initiative conceived by the Trieste Film Festival and Lo Scrittoio, returns to Italian theaters for its 8th edition with a selection of 4 titles, from some of the leading international festivals and representing a lucid cross-section of Central Eastern European society and its vibrant film scene.
My Late Summer, by Danis Tanović (Oscar winner for No Man’s Land), which had its world premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tanović, with his now familiar sometimes comic and sometimes dramatic approach, talks about the past and coming to terms with what has been left behind by talking about legacy, forgiveness and finding one’s identity. A dramatic comedy centered on a young woman, Maja, coming to terms with her past.
Lesson Learned, by Bálint Szimler, which won the Leopard for Best Female Performance for Anna Mészöly and a Special Mention at the last Locarno Film Festival as well as a Special Mention at the Trieste Film Festival as well. A realistic portrait of Hungary’s extremely rigid, conservative school system steeped in nationalism, it explores the difficult adjustment of Palkó, a boy who has moved from Germany. At his side is Juci, an idealistic young teacher who tries to introduce new educational methods and support him but faces hostility from colleagues and students. The film offers a social critique of intolerance and rejection of change, reflecting the tensions of contemporary society.
Under the Volcano, by Damian Kocur, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was Poland’s nominee for the Oscars. Inspired by a real-life news story, the director decides to stage through the eyes of a teenage girl a middle-class Ukrainian family that, during a stay in Tenerife, goes from being carefree and happy to finding itself stranded and with refugee status due to the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine. The new situation challenges everything within their family and brings up old unresolved conflicts, painting a portrait that highlights guilt toward themselves and their country.
Meat, by Dimitris Nakos, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Discovery section, is a film with strong noir overtones that takes its inspiration from Greek tragedy and sets it in the present day, telling the story of a patriarch who finds himself deciding on the fate of his son and the boy he has raised all his life as such when an old feud between neighbors escalates into violence.
On this year’s edition of the #TSFFinTour, festival artistic director Nicoletta Romeo said, I am delightedə to bring to Italian theaters four films that differ in themes, styles and geographical latitudes. Four feature films from Central and Eastern Europe whose narrative ability to capture the contemporary makes us reflect on the challenges and contradictions of today’s society.
From the point of view of circulation in Italian theaters, Lo Scrittoio’s managers have accepted this complex challenge again this year. In fact, fewer and fewer are – underline the same managers of this independent distribution – the spaces of freedom that are left to initiatives such as the #TSFFinTour in the context of a market that is more and more homogenized and controlled by large distribution realities. Even stronger, therefore, we feel the duty to work so as not to disperse that fundamental human capital represented by viewers interested in this kind of work.
All films will be presented in the original language with Italian subtitles.
