The 26th edition of the European Union Film Festival kicked off today with an online programme that includes 60 films in 37 languages. The festival will run till November 30. This is where delegates can register for free: https://www.festivalscope.com/page/euff-india-a-window-to-europe/.

Among the noteworthy titles: Phillipe Lacote’s Night of the Kings, Jessica Hausner’s Little Joe, Shorta by Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Olholm, Farid Bentoumi’s Red Soil, Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s The Father, Sonja Tarokic’s The Staffroom, Pilar Palomero’s Schoolgirls, Amanda Kernell’s Charter, Olmo Omerzu’s Bird Atlas, Ina Weisse’s The Audition, Nikos Labot’s Her Job, Juris Kursietis’s Oleg, Andrius Blazevicius’s Runner and Darko Sinko’s Inventory.

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Night of the Kings (2020).

One of the sections is dedicated to restored classics. Organised in collaboration with Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival, this section includes Marta Meszaros’s The Girl, Jiri Menzel’s Closely Watched Trains, Roberto Rossellini’s Rome, Open City, and Wanda Jakubowska’s The Last Stage.

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Rome, Open City (1945).

A special screening of Claude Chabrol’s 1991 adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, starring Isabelle Huppert, will mark the French writer’s bicentenary.

Satyajit Ray’s birth centenary will be celebrated with a screening of Pather Panchali. Dancer and choreographer Uday Shankar’s only feature Kalpana will also be streamed.

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Pather Panchali (1955).

Festival programmer Veronica Flora said in a press note, “The screen is a window. Cinema is a journey. Thanks to this extraordinary form of art, we have the opportunity to look out over the theatre of the world into the abyss of the human soul. Cinema gives an insight into our generation and lets us glimpse into the future.”

Valerio Caruso, Director of Cineuropa and EUFF India, added in the note, “EUFF India offers again to its audiences a great multi-sensorial cinematographic experience, immersing it in the musical mosaic of different languages spoken in Europe: sounds and intonations resulting from the historical, mutual influences between cultures. In their amazing intertwining of similarities and differences, we can again find the reflection of the wealth and strength of our societies.”