Now in its 29th year, the AFI’s Annual European Union Showcase may well be the best film festival in a town that is full of them. DCist staff previewed just a fraction of the 47 titles featured this year, some of which you may not get another chance to see, and others of which promise to be art house favorites in 2017. All screenings are at the AFI Silver. See the full schedule and purchase tickets here.
The setting of this Belgian Oscar pick’s climactic scenes, the Ardennes region is best known as the site of the Battle of the Bulge, one of the bloodiest battles of WWII. Keep this in mind when you watch this film, which starts out as a family drama and quickly morphs into a massacre. When brothers Dave and Kenny mess up a robbery, Dave and Sylvie—Kenny’s girlfriend—flee, leaving Kenny to take the blame. Four years later, Kenny gets out of jail, wanting to pick up where he left off, but things have changed. His brother is now dating Sylvie, and the couple looks forward to leading a “boring” life. Needless to say, Kenny brings a lot of chaos into their lives, along with Tarantino levels of violence. —Elena Goukassian
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Tuesday, December 6 at 7:15 p.m. and Wednesday, December 7 at 9:45 p.m.
Richard Johnson and Raquel WelchHollywood glamour unexpectedly came to the small town of Karmi in Cyrpus in 1970 when sex symbol Raquel Welch arrived to make the Greek drama Beloved. Through interviews with people who were there, as well as reenactments, this modest documentary observes people who may well have transformed Welch and her crew more than she transformed their charming home. The 75-minute film seems best suited for a DVD supplement, but the stark landscape of Cyprus will be impressive on the Silver’s big screens.—Pat Padua
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Tuesday, December 13 at 7:15 p.m.
On a luxury yacht, a group of competitive men spend a long weekend together, diving, fishing, dining, and lounging. Their relationships with each other are varied: business associates, friends, a father and son-in-law, brothers. On the last night of their trip, during a moment of boredom induced by a power outage, a new game is conceived that asks, “Who is the best?” Not the best at one thing, but the best overall. A series of challenges (some charming, some intrusive) devised by the men reveals their insecurities as the group alternately turns on each other and forms alliances. Emotive and engaging, Chevalier builds tension as it sheds light on its competing men, balancing the human urge to judge with the love between friends.—Elisabeth Grant
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Thursday, December 8 at 7:00 p.m.
(Kino Lorber)
HIERONYMUS BOSCH: TOUCHED BY THE DEVIL
Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, who died 500 years ago, is known for intricately chaotic scenes of the depths of hell, his paintings are a Where’s Waldo? of man-eating bird creatures and giant disembodied ears, with levels of surrealism that even Dali couldn’t muster. This documentary follows a group of art historians from the artist’s home town of Den Bosch—which owns none of his works—who traverse Europe and the U.S. to borrow enough paintings for an anniversary exhibition at the local museum. Along the way, they look at the history of individual paintings through x-rays and infrared cameras, separate the real Bosch works from those of his students, and speculate as to the life and inspiration behind one of art history’s great visionaries.—Elena Goukassian
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Tuesday, December 6 at 7 p.m.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, the latest from director Ken Loach is a Dickensian story of welfare bureaucracy in contemporary Britain. Middle-aged carpenter Daniel Blake has just suffered a heart attack, and although doctors advise him to rest, the state declares him fit for work, denying him hardship benefits unless he learns to use a computer, goes to resume workshops, and applies for jobs he has no intention of taking. In the midst of all this, he meets Katie, a single mom in a similarly Kafkaesque mess. Together they attempt to navigate the system…to little avail. Although heavy-handed at times, I, Daniel Blake reminds us of the many well-meaning, hardworking poor people that get stuck in this bureaucratic hell.—Elena Goukassian
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Saturday, December 10 at 5:20 p.m. and Wednesday, December 14 at 7 p.m.
Adriana Ugarte
The short stories of Alice Munro have a quiet drama that would seem unsuited to their latest adaptor: director Pedro Almodóvar. But after the comic misstep of I’m So Excited!, the master of the outrageous returns to intensely colorful form with this time-shifting drama about a woman whose adult daughter abandoned her. As usual, the director gets great performances from his actresses, and Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte both shine, playing Julieta in her middle age and as a young woman in the ’80s, respectively.—Pat Padua
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Saturday, December 3 at 7:30 p.m. This screening is already sold out, but those who purchase an all-access Passport to the AFI European Union Film Showcase will be admitted.
The art of Polish painter Zdzisław Beksiński is surreal, gruesome, and haunting. But the man we meet in this documentary has a demeanor that is at odds with the dark creative forces within. Despite living in a dull and soulless Soviet-era apartment complex, navigating life’s hardships, and dealing with an emotionally erratic son, Beksiński has a downright sunny disposition. The film observes the artist’s daily life with his family, many scenes taken from obsessive recordings (audio, photography, video) he made throughout his life. His sweet and patient wife Zofia is unruffled by her husband’s constant documenting, her son’s mental health issues, and her mother and mother-in-law’s continuing care. Director Jan P. Matuszyński shifts focus from the art to the artist’s close-knit family, who accepted and celebrated each other’s eccentricities. —Elisabeth Grant
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Monday, December 5, 7:00 p.m.
In this three-hour-long family gathering filmed in real time, Romanian New Wave director Cristi Puiu (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu) takes us to an at-home memorial service where a dozen disparate family members gather in a tiny apartment. While waiting for the late arrival of the priest, they discuss everything from dark family secrets to 9/11 conspiracies, the camera jumping from room to room to reflect the different conversations happening at once. Sieranevada—the nonsensical title is never explained—is oddly captivating for a long film where nothing actually happens. The dialogue and mannerisms of the characters ring true and are relatable for any family—with the grandmother talking about how everything was better in the old days (in this case communism), the college-age niece inviting a drunk friend in off the street, and everyone speculating, commenting, and gossiping about the personal life of someone in the next room.—Elena Goukassian
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Saturday, December 17 at 4 p.m.
(Karlovy Vary Film Festival)
Czech director Jan Hřebejk and writer Petr Jarchovský—the team that brought us the Oscar-nominated Divided We Fall in 2000—present a dark comedy about a corrupt schoolteacher on the outskirts of Bratislava in the early 1980s. Ms. Drazděchová starts every school year with student introductions; the teens each tell the class their names and what their parents do for a living. Drazděchová, the untouchable chairwoman of the local branch of the Communist Party, uses this information to extract personal favors from the parents in return for good grades for their children. The favors are often small—haircuts, rides, picking up something from the store—but when a parent simply can’t, or refuses to be blackmailed, it’s the child who suffers. Hřebejk says the story is 80 percent true, based on a tyrannical educator Jarchovský himself suffered through in high school. Synonymous with totalitarian rule, such seemingly insignificant power grabs are often what tears a community apart at the seams. —Elena Goukassian
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Friday, December 9 at 5:05 p.m. and Saturday, December 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Peter Simonischek and Sandra Hüller
Mischievous retired teacher Winfried (Peter Simonischek) pays a surprise visit to his daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller), a businesswoman working in Romania. While dad’s antics seem to do little to endear him to his seemingly humorless daughter, he keeps trying. The notion of a nearly three-hour German comedy may not seem especially promising, but director Maren Ade’s unexpectedly hilarious and touching film is my favorite movie of the year. Get an early jump on a movie that you’ll see on a lot of year-end best lists this year, and brace yourself for what is sure to be an inferior American remake starring Bill Murray.—Pat Padua
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Saturday, December 3 at 4 p.m.
After their father dies, Homer and Jóe meet each other and learn that they are half-brothers. Director Marion Hänsel follows the siblings as they journey through the beautiful Croatian countryside to uncover the mystery behind their father’s death—and his life. Meandering and full of exposition, Upstream has the feel of a coming-of-age movie, even though the main characters are middle-aged men. The film is ultimately unsatisfying—its dramatic moments forced (and in some instances absurd), with a conclusion that is delivered rather than revealed. Trigger warning: there is also an unfortunate incident with a puppy.—Elisabeth Grant
Watch the trailer.
Sunday, December 11 at 12:30 p.m. and Tuesday, December 13 at 5 p.m.
