European Film Festival brings an assortment of cinema to Atlanta

Shonda Hoffmeyer, head of business and programs at Goethe Zentrum Atlanta, is one of this year’s artistic directors, alongside Valérie Ibarra, communications and public diplomacy officer at the Consulate General of Belgium in Atlanta. Since Belgium assumes the presidency of the European Union, Atlanta consulate officials take the lead on many aspects of the festival, but Ibarra and Hoffmeyer work in partnership with other consulates to plan the four-day event and its opening. night.

The opening film is “The Poet’s Bride” by Yolande Moreau. of Belgium, in which a single woman inherits a family home but must take in three tenants to help her pay her expenses. A reception at 6:45 p.m. will precede the screening of Tara at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Two recent Oscar winners are also in the spotlight. From Ukraine comes Mstyslav Chernov “20 Days in Mariupol,” which won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and follows Ukrainian journalists determined to tell the truth about the Russian invasion and all the atrocities wrought by the war. “The anatomy of a fall” in France stars the exceptional Sandra Huller as a wife suspected of her husband’s murder. It won Justine Triet, who also directed, the Oscar for best original screenplay earlier this season.

Credit: Courtesy of the Atlanta European Film Festival

Credit: Courtesy of the Atlanta European Film Festival

Other gems on the schedule include Germany’s İlker Çatak’s “Teachers’ Lounge” – in which a young teacher takes an in-depth look at her school to determine whether a student accused of theft was racially profiled – as well as the astonishing Irish film. “The quiet girl“, Colm Bairéad’s drama about a 9-year-old girl, circa 1981, who spends the summer with her in-laws instead of her dysfunctional family.

The Atlanta European Film Festival is the first such collaborative event Hoffmeyer has seen in the United States. She believes that it has become an essential way for consulates to showcase their culture and their country.

“It helps people better understand that there are different European communities, and even though they face similar situations to the United States, some are different,” she said. “It’s good to move away from what one might consider a typically Hollywood vision of Europe. It opens people’s eyes to better understanding each other and realizing that we can come together.

Last year, the festival opened with Evgeny Tandieevsky’s “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom,” a sequel to “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.” Freedom” from the Oscar-nominated director. This topical theme continues with “20 days in Mariupol” and part of the profits from the screening will go to Ukraine.

“(Offering this screening) is an opportunity to show the public that the war in Ukraine is still ongoing, and we are all working to bring attention to it and hopefully put an end to it,” Hoffmeyer said.

MOVIE PREVIEW

Atlanta European Film Festival

Wednesday through Saturday, May 8-11, at the Plaza (1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE) and Tara (2345 Cheshire Bridge Road NE) theaters. Individual screenings, $12 to $15; full festival pass, $100; four-film package, $45; three-film package, $35. eurofilmfestatl.com

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Jim Farmer is the recipient of the 2022 National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award for Best Drama Feature and a nominee for the Online Journalist of the Year Award. A member of five national critics’ organizations, he covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has been writing about the arts for over 30 years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival, and lives in Avondale Estates with his husband, Craig, and dog, Douglas.

Credit: ArtsATL

Credit: ArtsATL

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