12th Annual European Union Film Festival
Belgium
BEN X
2007, Nic Balthazar, Belgium, 93 min.
With Greg Timmermans, Laura Verlinden
“Rarely has so much emotion and excitement been compressed into 90 minutes of screen time.”--Denis Seguin, Screen Daily
The fantasy landscape of the computer game “Overlord” dominates reality for a Dutch teenager whose avatar is an invincible sword-wielding prince. Afflicted with Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism, Ben is cruelly bullied by his classmates but lives like a hero in his head until the day his opposing worlds violently collide. The 2008 Dutch submission for Oscar consideration, BEN X won three major awards and a standing ovation at the Montreal International Film Festival. In Dutch with English subtitles. Preview courtesy of Film Movement. 35mm. (BS)
Saturday, March 28, 9:45 pm
Wednesday, April 1, 6:00 pm
ELDORADO
2008, Bouli Lanners, Belgium, 80 min.
With Bouli Lanners, Fabrice Adde
“Funny and melancholy…with widescreen images that suggest the American West and a soundtrack to match.”--Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter
Belgium’s recent history of black-humorous films steeped in profound absurdity is upheld in this gem of a road movie. The roads circle in on themselves in a microcosmic countryside that nevertheless seems limitless and empty when Yvan, a pudgy vintage car dealer, and Elie, the pathetic crackhead he apprehends robbing his house, take Yvan’s prized ancient Chevy for a haunting spin into oblivion. In French with English subtitles. Preview courtesy of Film Movement. 35mm widescreen. (BS)
Saturday, March 7, 9:30 pm
Monday, March 9, 6:00 pm
LEFT BANK
(LINKEROEVER)
2008, Pieter Van Hees, Belgium, 102 min.
With Eline Kuppens, Matthias Schoenaerts
“Atmospheric horror film in the vein of ROSEMARY’S BABY.”--Keith Hennessey Brown, EyeForFilm.com
What looks like a fast-track romance goes down a slippery slope into horror and the occult when a young sports star moves in with her rakish new boyfriend in a high-rise that offers increasingly ominous clues of connection to a satanic underworld. LEFT BANK seduces with plenty of sexy interludes and diverts with disturbing dream sequences until delivering its dark goods on the pagan feast of Samhein. In Dutch with English subtitles. Preview courtesy of IFC Films. DigiBeta video. (BS)
Saturday, March 21, 10:00 pm
Tuesday, March 24, 8:15 pm
RUMBA
2008, Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, and Bruno Romy, France/Belgium, 77 min.
With Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon
With nods to Demy and Tati, RUMBA cobbles together a quirky comic universe out of minimal dialogue, storybook compositions, candy colors, low-tech f/x, and hilarious sight gags. Two happily married schoolteachers, toothy Fiona (Gordon) and gangly Dom (Abel), live to dance, and they dominate local hoofing contests until a freak accident sends them waltzing down a strange and fateful road. As in their previous collaboration THE ICEBERG (screened in the 2007 EU Film Festival), Abel, Gordon, and Romy specialize in mining priceless slapstick from the most unlikely situations. In French with English subtitles. Preview courtesy of Koch Lorber Films. 35mm. (MR)