3th  Session Eastern Europe Stories
Tuesday, February 15th at 6:pm

AUSTRIA
PunschNoël (Austria, 2008) / Director: Marie Kreutzer  / Runtime:10 minutes
Theres, 21, returns home on Christmas Eve. Her father expected her later, and her brother Jacob doesn't show up at all. He doesn't know that Theres especially came to see him.

FINLAND
Late Fragments (Finland, 2009) / Director:Aku Louhimies / Runtime:15 minutes
Rome is not forever. Nothing is forever. A story inspired by Raymond Carver’ poem. An encounter. Two lonely people in a big city.

SPAIN
Señor X (Spain, 2009) /Director:Julio Soto / Runtime:13 minutes
He has the perfect woman and the perfect life. He has everything except what he desires the most. She hasn’t cared for a while. He on the other hand, cannot stop insisting. She promises the following night will be very special. She won’t be wrong, it will be very special.

SERBIA
Who Guards the Guardians (Serbia, 2007) / Director:Goran Stankovic / Runtime:15 minutes
A soldier travelling inside an army truck headed to the battlefield, inspired by the happenings surrounding him, begins to have flashbacks of his early childhood.
Awards: Official Selection at World-Fest Houston International Film Festival 2007

BELARUS
Fanya (Belarus 2009) / Director: Vladimir Piskunovich / Runtime:15 minutes
1939, western Belarus. A young girl falls in love with a young officer of the Polish army. She allows herself to be carried away by this new feeling without realizing that the situation is becoming increasingly dangerous. She ignores all warnings until her lover’s life is in danger. This causes her to look at the situation from a new angle.
Awards: Goethe Institut International Short Film Competition
 
POLAND
Poste Restante (Poland, 2008) / Director: Marcel Łozioski / Runtime:14 minutes
Letters whose addressees are unknown end up in the Undeliverable Parcels Department of the post office in Koluszki. About a million such letters travel across Poland each year,among them a dozen or so addressed to God. This is the story of one of these letters.
Awards: EFA 2009
 
SCOTLAND
The Flyer (Scotland, 2007) / Director: Andrea Harkin / Runtime:16 minutes
Polish student Anna struggles to establish a new life in Scotland, while trying to save her long-distance relationship with childhood sweetheart Pawel. Caught between her life in Edinburgh and the demands of home, Anna faces her new reality.

4rd Session Eastern Europe Stories
Tuesday, February 22 at 6:pm

BELGIUM WALLONIE
Alice and I (Belgium, 2004) / Director: Micha Wald / Runtime:19 minutes
Simon is charged with driving his aunt Mala and her friends Lydia and Colette to the beach. He starts arguing with his girlfriend Alice over the phone while driving. The three women slowly but surely interfere.

CATALUNA
Baby! (Nene!) (Catalunya, 2007) / Director: Lluís Segura / Runtime:16 minutes
A girl and a boy play “mom and dad” in a park.

TURKEY
Roots (Turkey, 2008) / Director: Eileen Hofer / Runtime:18 minutes
An unemployed Turkish widower wants to celebrate his child's birthday. His 9-year-old son dreams of flying like his heroes Superman and Spiderman. On that day he is informed that the long planned dam will finally be constructed, resulting in his village disappearing underwater.

TURKEY
My Mother learns cinema (Annem Sinema Ogreniyor) by Nesimi Yetik, 2007 / Director: Nesimi Yetik  / Runtime:3 minutes
How can a young Turkish director bring home to his old-fashioned mother the significance of the great names of cinema history? It's not a bad idea to start by teaching her how to pronounce their names: 'Rainer', 'Werner', 'Fassbiner', 'Jean', 'Luc', 'Goddard',... Before long, however, it's his mother who turns out to be the real film buff in this clever little three-act film.

MACEDONIA
At Daybreak (Macedonia, 2009) / Director: Gjorce Stavreski / Runtime:15 minutes
One morning, the old janitor in a mountain hut finds a scared, young woman hiding in the kitchen. A few moments later, a middle aged man - her lover, enters the hut, introduces himself as her uncle and starts asking about her. The old man decides to protect her and lies, saying he hadn't seen anyone around. As the film approaches its wild end, that decision costs him dearly.

WALES
Running Pains (Wales, 2008) / Director: Anthony James / Runtime:12 minutes
A coming-of-age comedy that follows Rhys, a high school track star and the favorite to win the Inter-School final. However, his path to success is complicated by love, friendship and a pair of Valley Commandos

AZERBAIJAN
With the Back to Qiblah (With the Back to Qiblah, Arzebaiján, 2009) /Director: Asif Rustamov  / Runtime: 12 minutes
Young Ali is the subject of ridicule in his village. Even his closest friends and relatives they call him "little coward." To get rid of that offensive nickname, he has no alternative but to prove his courage.

ESTONIA
Frank and Wendy: The Parade of Polar Bears (Frank and Wendy: The Parade of Polar Bears, Estonia, 2009) / Director: Kaspar Jancis, Ulo Pikkov and Pritt Tender  / Runtime: 10 minutes
Frank and Wendy have a plan to modernize their apartment. On the surface it seems like a simple effort, but soon events take a frightening turn. Wiru Street holds a dark secret; beneath the winter snow lies evidence of cannibalism. When Frank and Wendy see retirees and American tourists being served snacks, they cease to be mere spectators.

LUXEMBURG
Routine (Routine, Luxemburg, 2008) / Director: Dragomir Sholev   / Runtime: 25 minutes
Mark is a bus driver who has lived with the same routine for a long time. He drives the same bus every day at the same time on exactly the same route, and the constant rain makes every day seem the same as the last. Tonight, however, will drastically change his routine. Seeing a girl with a red rain coat, alone in the forest, Mark offers to help her, beginning his contact with an unknown world...

NORWAY
Varde (Varde, Norway, 2008) / Director: Hanne Larsen /Runtime: 15 minutes
Johan, a boy of 11, is facing a moral dilemma after being involved in a seemingly innocent joke. The story shows turbulent transition between childhood and adulthood, going deep into the psychology of a boy on the brink of manhood.

ICELAND
Hotel Earth (Hotel Earth, Iceland, 2009) / Director: Baldvin  / Runtime: 8 minutes
Three children take their grandfather to the cemetery to visit their grandmother’s grave. They discover that their grandfather is tired of life and waiting for death, an idea which confuses the children, especially the younger ones.

GALICIA/ SPAIN
Freud & Co (Freud & Co, Galicia/Spain, 2009) / Director: Xabier Marqués Solla /Runtime: 7 minutes
This film illustrates the secret, behind-the-scenes world of Human Resources in a large company. The teachings of Freud and psychoanalysis play a prominent role in this unusual business.