Film Festival SEE Fest 2017

The 12th annual South East European Film Festival

SEEfest, the South East European Film Festival in Los Angeles has pioneered the concept of regional, cross-border programming with issue-driven films about the Balkans and South East Europe, where borders of all kinds are fluid and porous just as often as poisonous. 
Every spring, we partner with SEE Fest, which presents films from 18 countries of the region. These films tell a larger story about this part of the world, and take you on a journey across borders and cultures.
Join us for an exciting trek to these cinematic crossroads!

For tickets, extensive program details, trailers and a complete screening schedule please visit the official SEEFest website:  SEEfest 2017


SEE FEST 2017 programs at the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles April 28th – 30th 2017: 

Friday, April 28th 2017 

7:00 PM HOME SWEET HOME

Home Sweet Home
Slovenia, 2016, 93 minutes, Director/Producer: Maja Prettner, North American Premiere
Profiling a youth home in Slovenia, this observational documentary gives the children an opportunity to tell their stories, and the results are an engrossing and enriching account of their joys and struggles.
Q&A with director Maja Prettner after the screening. 

8:30 PM SHORTS PROGRAM 4: RESISTANCE

Forgiveness
Bulgaria, 2016, 30 minutes, Director: Vania Jekova, Producer: Vita Start, North American Premiere
An exploration of the hardships that a family goes through in communist Bulgaria. A story about cruelty and love, the footprints they leave, and about the choices we make.

The Other Side of Home
USA/Armenia, 2016, 40 minutes, Director: Naré Mkrtchyan, Producers: Naré Mkrtchyan, Robert N. Fried, Iliana Guevara, Cristina Malavenda
A close-up look at how Turkey's denial of the Armenian genocide affects two women on opposite sides of the conflict 100 years later.
 
City of Walls
Albania, 2016, 22 minutes, Director/Producer: Eneos Çarka, World Premiere 
An insight into the vibrant street art and graffiti culture in Tirana, Albania, and how it clashes with authorities.

 

Saturday, April 29th 2017

Focus on: Cinematography
The 2017 SEEfest business-of-film panel will explore the impact of the technological revolution on moving images and the ways movies are made today. What are the best practices in approaching the visual aspect of the project? How the DP prepares to channel director’s vision? Which camera fits your specific project, and what to look for when making your choice? The panelists will offer insights, trade tips and specific advice about the workflow and gear that can be tremendously helpful for indie filmmakers. Learn from experts how the right combination of talent, equipment, and tech wizardry advances visual storytelling and enriches our viewing pleasure.
Panelists: Joachim Zell, VP of Imaging Science, EFILM, Svetlana Cvetko, award-winning Cinematographer, Stephan Ukas-Bradley, Director, Strategic Development and Technical Marketing, ARRI, Inc., Moderated by Carolyn Giardina, Contributing Tech Editor, The Hollywood reporter
 
9:00 am – 11 am Business Of Film Conference Panel of Industry Experts 
11:30 pm – 12:30 pm  Networking Luncheon 

With special thanks to Duarte High School Culinary Arts, the Latino International Film Institute’s Cinema Project, Open Perspective Media, and West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. 

Admission is free, but RSVP mandatory. 
Registration Information forthcoming: REGISTRATION

 
Pet
Greece, 2016, 11 minutes, Director: Chris Moraitis, Producer: Christos Liakouris
Ten-year-old Dimitris is the only child of a rich family. When his parents decide a cruel future for him, Dimitris cripples the most pure side of himself in order to survive.
 
Limbo
Greece, 2016, 30 minutes, Director: Konstantina Kotzamani, Producer: Maria Drandaki
The leopard shall lie down with the goat, the wolves shall live with the lambs and the young boy will lead them, in this beautifully artistic film.
 
Lost Exile
Bulgaria/Kosovo/Serbia, 2016, 28 minutes, Director: Fisnik Maxhuni, Producer: Britta Rindelaub, North American Premiere
Emir, a family man, works for the local underworld as people smuggler between Serbia and Hungary to repay its debts. Hana, a young woman from Kosovo wants to flee an arranged marriage meets Emir to bring her to Hungary.


2:45 PM SHORTS PROGRAM 2: GOODBYES

128
Turkey, 2016, 7 minutes, Director/Producer: Onur Atalay Şenol, World Premiere 
In a countryside of Turkey in the 90's, a boy and his friends are waiting for the start of class at their school.
 
Magda Mozarka
Croatia, 2016, 15 minutes, Director/Producer: Bojana Momirovic, West Coast Premiere
Magda awaits the  return of her fiancé on the small island of Sipan, Croatia, in the 1930's.  Every day she goes down to the port and sings at the pier. The villagers mock her. She waits.
Q&A with director and two actresses!
 
You Didn't Forget
Slovenia, 2016, 15 minutes, Director: Simon Intihar, Producer: Jani Virk, West Coast Premiere
An elderly woman's day is turned upside down when she sets out to find her missing husband, who's been struggling with memory loss.
 
One Night
Serbia, 2016, 17 minutes, Director: Strahinja Savic, Producers: Vukota Antunović, Jovan Vukašinović, Igor Vranjković, North American Premiere
Lasting friendship between two girls is put to the test when one of the girls is preparing to move abroad.
 
A New Home
Slovenia, 2016, 14 minutes, Director: Žiga Virc, Producer: Boštjan Virc 
What is the biggest danger Europe faces: the crisis on its borders, or its own paranoia and fear?


4:00 PM SHORTS PROGRAM 3: HUMOR, KINDNESS, HOPE

Fighting For Death
Macedonia, 2016, 15 minutes, Director: Eleonora Veninova, Producer: Goce Kralevski, West Coast Premiere
Two aging inhabitants of a remote village lead a bitter fight over who dies first and gets the only remaining grave in the village.
 
Letter to God
Azerbaijan, 2015, 17 minutes, Director: Maria Ibrahimova, Producer: Emin Ibrahimov
A lonely widower discovers that he is dying and after a series of mysterious encounters decides to do the only thing he can think of: write a letter to God. A film about the power of faith - irrespective of belief or religion.
 
Minus One
Greece, 2016, 16 minutes, Director: Natassa Xydi, Producer: Fenia Cossovita, North-American Premiere
Summer in Athens and everything is grey except of the fuchsia hair of the teenage Elsa, who is in love. But what about dreams? Do dreams have color?
 
About Arif
Turkey, 2016, 12 minutes, Director/Producer: Hasan Kalender
Arif lives with his mother. Arif helps his mother with chores. He tidies up, washes the dishes, and takes his mother for a walk. His neighbors, however, know a different truth.
 
Donkey Xote
USA/ Hungary, 2016, 24 minutes, Director: Ottó Bánovits, Producer: Tamás Joó, US Premiere
Sometimes, falling is the only way to get Home.

 

 

 

Sunday, April 30th 2017

1:00 PM SHORTS PROGRAM 5: DREAMS AND REALITIES

Carousel (Merry-Go-Round)
Serbia, 2015, 15 minutes, Director/Producer: Luka Popadić
The Singing Women of Požega, a choir group of enthusiastic elderly women full of life, share their daily routine with us in this poetic and humorous documentary.
 
Little Bucharest
Belgium, 2016, 21 minutes, Director: Sam Geyskens, Producer: Laikin Chang, North-American Premiere
A tragicomic documentary portraying one of the many rest stops where Eastern European truck drivers gather to spend their time off during the weekends, to make their home sickness more bearable.
 
Baba Usta: Where We All End Up
Turkey, 2015, 22 minutes, Director/Producer: Abdurrahman Bastug, West Coast Premiere
Baba Usta is a graveyard worker. When his office is threatened, he has to face both the municipality and a mysterious rival with powerful connections.
 
Dynamic Plane
Serbia/Croatia, 2016, 10 minutes, Director:Saša Pančić, Producer: Architectural association of Istria (Dai Sai), Croatia, North-American Premiere
With an act of filling the soil over the foundations of archeological remains, one enters the active intervention of ""putting asleep"". A certain plane is being created, a visual field of memories, with deposited inner content which connects the present with the past over imaginary space.
 
I Want to Fly
Azerbaijan, 2016, 22 minutes, Director: Maria Ibrahimova, Producer: Emin Ibrahimov, West Coast Premiere
Kamal has a dream: he wants to fly, but many say paragliding is an impossible dream for a man in a wheelchair. An inspiration in the Paralympic community, he's helped many beat the odds. Now it's his turn to try.


3:00 PM HOTEL SACHER

Hotel Sacher
Director: Robert Dornhelm Production:MOOVIE, Constantin Film and MR Film in co-production with Beta Film. Historical Drama/Mini-series, Austria, Germany, 210 min. in German with English subtitles. Starring: Ursula Strauss, Josefine Preuss, Julia Koschitz, Laurence Rupp, Florian Stetter, Peter Simonischek, Nina Prol.

LUXURY. PRIVACY. SECRECY. The imperial era is about to end; but what will come in its place? One key, or rather many keys, lay in the hands of Anna Sacher, the domineering proprietor of the Hotel Sacher, the most distinguished hotel in Vienna. The city is the center of Europe, where the aristocracy still sets the tone and servants still know where they belong. And Anna, the unchallenged “Queen of Vienna,” makes sure that the “upstairs” and “downstairs” folk will each keep to themselves. They know they can rely on her discretion.
This screening is made possible courtesy of BETA Film, and with the support of the Austrian Consulate General in Los Angeles, and is presented in two parts, with a brief intermission between each segment.A wine reception follows the screening.

 
For tickets, extensive program details, trailers and a complete screening schedule please visit the official SEEFest website:  

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