Balkan Film Week

2-5 March 2020
UT Connewitz
#CommonGroundLeipzig



The Balkan Film Week in March 2020 served as a teaser for the project Common Ground – Literature from Southeast Europe, which presents the Western Balkans as the Region in Focus at the Leipzig Book Fair 2020-2022 and promotes the Southeast European writers and their fascinating literature in the German-speaking world.

The overall theme for this year is Origin and Belonging. And so, the eight films presented at the 2nd Balkan Film Week talked about being or not being a certain kind of way, about us and them.

You can find more about the Balkan Film Night which took place this June as part of the Long Night of Ideas here:

 

Balkan Film Night

Monday 2 March

19:00

UT Connewitz
A Shelter Among the Clouds (Streha mes reve)

Robert Budina, 2018,
83 min., feature film
Albania
Original with German subtitles

In the rugged highland idyll of a small Albanian mountain village, life is surprisingly multi-cultural: Besnik the shepherd is used to compromises thanks to his catholic mother, his communist father and his Muslim and orthodox Christian in-laws. However, the peaceful co-existence in the village and in his own family is put to the test when Besnik makes an incredible discovery: while praying in the local mosque he uncovers the ancient mural of a Christian Saint, hidden behind the plaster.

21:00

UT Connewitz
Borders, Raindrops
+ Q&A

Nikola Mijović, Vlastimir Sudar, 2018,
94 min., feature film
Bosnia and Herzegovina / Montenegro / Serbia / UK / Sweden
Original with English subtitles

A young woman from the city visits her family, high-up in the Balkan Mountains – an area bordering Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which armed conflict has recently torn the communities apart. She brings a sense of hope, love and mystery to these almost abandoned villages overlooking the Adriatic. Will her presence help to bring people back together, so that they can live as one again?

Tuesday 3 March

19:00

UT Connewitz
DOUBLE BILL:
Ikea for Yu

Marija Ratković Vidaković, Dinka Radonić, 2018,
52 min., documentary film
Croatia / Sweden
Original with English subtitles

Marija (33) grew up in a family that lives Yugoslav ideals even today. She had always felt that her family’s ideals were her own, until life in a different direction. When she founds her own family, she begins to question her parents’ and grandparents’ values, as well as her own, and if her family environment is how she wants raise her son. A journey through the family history, with Marija opting for a “new beginning” in a totally different environment, setting up a new home in Sweden.

 

19:00

UT Connewitz
When I Was a Boy I Was a Girl

Ivana Todorović, 2013,
30 min., documentary film
Serbia
Original with English subtitles

Goca is a transvestite in Belgrade, the capital city of a country where organising or participating in a gay pride parade is forbidden. She is raising a daughter who is actually her niece. Although her very young boyfriend doesn’t respect her, Goca still loves him and manages to retain her sunny, open-minded nature. She risks her life to earn money for the family. On her thirty-ninth birthday she decides to celebrate her coming-out on stage in front of a live audience. And so she tells them the story of her life: “When I was a boy I was a girl.”

21:00

UT Connewitz
God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya

Teona Strugar Mitevska, 2 100 min., feature film
North Macedonia / Belgium / Slovenia / Croatia / France
Original with German subtitles

Petrunya is 32 and unemployed; moreover, she has studied history, but no one in North Macedonia needs historians nowadays. During a job interview, a factory owner mocks her floral dress and refuses to take her seriously. Evidently, she does not get the job. On Epiphany, the old custom holds that the young men of the city must dive into the river in search of a holy cross, thrown into the icy river by the local priest. This time, Petrunya is quicker than everyone else, she plunges into the water, finds the cross and vows to defend it against everyone around her. The film had its première at the Berlinale 2019.

Wednesday 4. March

19:00

UT Connewitz
Sieranevada

Cristi Puiu, 2016,
173 min., feature film
Romania / France / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Croatia / North Macedonia
Original with English subtitles

Forty days after the death of his father, Lary, a doctor in his forties is about to spend the Saturday at a family gathering to commemorate the deceased. But the occasion does not go according to expectations. Forced to confront his fears and his past, to rethink the place he holds within the family, Lary finds himself constraint to tell his version of the truth. A vivid portrait of Romanian society by Cannes-winning director Cristi Puiu.

 

Thursday 5 March

19:00

UT Connewitz
Playing Men

Matjaž Ivanišin,
2017, 60 min., documentary film
Slovenia / Croatia
Original with English subtitles

A documentary essay about the relationships among Mediterranean men and their games. The film takes the form of a travelogue across Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and Turkey, and examines men, young and old, who come together like their ancestors did – to play games. During filming, however, the director suddenly faces a serious creative crisis and turns the camera on himself, turning the film into a playful homage to absurdity.

21:00

UT Connewitz
Western

Valeska Grisebach,
2017, 121 min., feature film,
Germany / Bulgaria / Austria
German version

A group of German workers sets off to a construction site in the border region between Bulgaria and Greece. This foreign land and its breath-taking landscape awaken the men’s sense of adventure. But they are also confronted with their own prejudices and mistrust due to the language barrier and cultural differences. The stage is quickly set for a showdown when men begin to compete for the recognition and sympathy from the local villagers.

 

A Shelter Among the Clouds (Streha mes reve)

Robert Budina, 2018, 83 min., feature film
Albania
Original with German subtitles

In the rugged highland idyll of a small Albanian mountain village, life is surprisingly multi-cultural: Besnik the shepherd is used to compromises thanks to his catholic mother, his communist father and his Muslim and orthodox Christian in-laws. However, the peaceful co-existence in the village and in his own family is put to the test when Besnik makes an incredible discovery: while praying in the local mosque he uncovers the ancient mural of a Christian Saint, hidden behind the plaster.

Borders, Raindrops

Nikola Mijović / Vlastimir Sudar, 2018, 94 min., feature film
Bosnia and Herzegovina / Montenegro / Serbia / UK / Sweden
Original with English subtitles

A young woman from the city visits her family, high-up in the Balkan Mountains – an area bordering Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which armed conflict has recently torn the communities apart. She brings a sense of hope, love and mystery to these almost abandoned villages overlooking the Adriatic. Will her presence help to bring people back together, so that they can live as one again?

IKEA for YU

Marija Ratković Vidaković / Dinka Radonić, 2018, 52 min., documentary film
Croatia / Sweden
Original with English subtitles

Marija (33) grew up in a family that lives Yugoslav ideals even today. She had always felt that her family's ideals were her own, until life in a different direction. When she founds her own family, she begins to question her parents' and grandparents' values, as well as her own, and if her family environment is how she wants raise her son. A journey through the family history, with Marija opting for a "new beginning" in a totally different environment, setting up a new home in Sweden.

When I Was a Boy I Was a Girl (Ja, kada sam bila kinac, bila sam klinka)

Ivana Todorović, 2013, 30 min., documentary film
Serbia
Original with English subtitles

Goca is a transvestite in Belgrade, the capital city of a country where organising or participating in a gay pride parade is forbidden. She is raising a daughter who is actually her niece. Although her very young boyfriend doesn’t respect her, Goca still loves him and manages to retain her sunny, open-minded nature. She risks her life to earn money for the family. On her thirty-ninth birthday she decides to celebrate her coming-out on stage in front of a live audience. And so she tells them the story of her life: “When I was a boy I was a girl."

God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya

Teona Strugar Mitevska, 2019, 100 min., feature film
North Macedonia / Belgium / Slovenia / Croatia / France
Original with German subtitles

Petrunya is 32 and unemployed; moreover, she has studied history, but no one in North Macedonia needs historians nowadays. During a job interview, a factory owner mocks her floral dress and refuses to take her seriously. Evidently, she does not get the job. On Epiphany, the old custom holds that the young men of the city must dive into the river in search of a holy cross, thrown into the icy river by the local priest. This time, Petrunya is quicker than everyone else, she plunges into the water, finds the cross and vows to defend it against everyone around her. The film had its première at the Berlinale 2019.

Sieranevada

Cristi Puiu, 2016, 173 min., feature film
Romania / France / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Croatia / North Macedonia
Original with English subtitles

Forty days after the death of his father, Lary, a doctor in his forties is about to spend the Saturday at a family gathering to commemorate the deceased. But the occasion does not go according to expectations. Forced to confront his fears and his past, to rethink the place he holds within the family, Lary finds himself constraint to tell his version of the truth. A vivid portrait of Romanian society by Cannes-winning director Cristi Puiu.

Playing Men

Matjaž Ivanišin, 2017, 60 min., documentary film
Slovenia / Croatia
Original with English subtitles

A documentary essay about the relationships among Mediterranean men and their games. The film takes the form of a travelogue across Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and Turkey, and examines men, young and old, who come together like their ancestors did - to play games. During filming, however, the director suddenly faces a serious creative crisis and turns the camera on himself, turning the film into a playful homage to absurdity.

Western

Valeska Grisebach, 2017, 121 min., feature film
Germany / Bulgaria / Austria
German version

A group of German workers sets off to a construction site in the border region between Bulgaria and Greece. This foreign land and its breath-taking landscape awaken the men’s sense of adventure. But they are also confronted with their own prejudices and mistrust due to the language barrier and cultural differences. The stage is quickly set for a showdown when men begin to compete for the recognition and sympathy from the local villagers.


The Venue - UT Connewitz

UT Connewitz is the oldest cinema in Leipzig and one of the oldest in Germany. In 2001, a group of motivated culture lovers set out to breathe new life into the venue, founding UT Connewitz e.V. with the purpose to make the space available to culture enthusiast and keep the old-world charm and ambiance of past times alive.