Now in its 34th year, the AFI European Union Film Showcase continues its tradition of bringing the best in European cinema to Washington, D.C. -area audiences, and returns to the big screen at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. This year’s selection includes 53 films from all 27 EU Member States, including 11 of the top contenders for this year’s Academy Award® for Best International Feature Film, 13 U.S. and North American premieres and 7 filmmaker guest appearances.
The Showcase opens tonight with FLEE (Denmark), a visually stunning animated documentary that tells the story of a young man who fled Taliban-ruled Afghanistan for Denmark. The film was a Grand Jury Prize Winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and is Denmark’s official Oscar® submission for Best International Feature Film.
The Closing Night selection is Pedro Almodóvar’s PARALLEL MOTHERS (Spain). Academy Award® winner Penélope Cruz (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, VOLVER) picked up the Best Actress Award at the 2021 Venice Film Festival for this contemporary melodrama that explores deep-rooted trauma in Spanish history and even motherhood itself.
The Centerpiece selection is HAPPENING (2021) (France). Audrey Diwan’s (LOSING IT) award-winning 1960s-set drama follows a young college student who is forced to seek out an illegal abortion.
Additional highlights include several eagerly anticipated new works from some of Europe’s best-known filmmakers and rising talents, including PETITE MAMAN (2021) (France), Céline Sciamma’s tender follow-up to Cannes award-winner PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE; BENEDETTA (France); Paul Verhoeven’s (BASIC INSTINCT, ELLE, TOTAL RECALL) examination of the real-life Catholic mystic and lesbian nun Benedetta Carlini; the North American premiere of Kornél Mundruczó’s (PIECES OF A WOMAN, WHITE GOD) time-hopping Holocaust triptych EVOLUTION 2021 (Hungary); Radu Jude’s (AFERIM) Golden Bear-winning socio-political satire BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN(Romania); PARIS, 13TH DISTRICT (France), by Palme d’Or winner Jacques Audiard (DHEEPAN, A PROPHET); and Christian Schochow’s (THE GERMAN LESSON, JE SUIS KARL) period espionage thriller MUNICH — THE EDGE OF WAR (Germany), starring Jeremy Irons and George MacKay.
Don’t miss the chance to catch the best of European cinema…without the jet lag. Tickets and all-access passports available at AFI.com/Silver/EUShowcase.
