ArteKino is back this month only. Until December 31st, you can watch 10 dirty gems* of European cinema entirely for free and without budging from the comfort of your sofa, chair, desk or bed! the selection includes five films made by women directors. Film-lovers from 45 European countries will be able to explore a rich selection of films by established directors and also nascent filmmakers, along with outstanding performances by a new generation of on-screen talent.
*Only eight films are available to view in the UK, and there are restrictions in other countries, too.
Image at the top by Bertrand Noel. Images below from Flemish Heaven and L’Animale, respectively.
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DMovies – When and how did Artekino begin? Where did the idea come from? What are the aims and objectives of the initiative?
Olivier Pere – The idea behind the ArteKino Festival was born three years ago, when ARTE was looking to increase its support for European cinema in an innovative way. We came up with a completely digital festival that would be free for internet users all across Europe. Over the course of three editions, we have refined the way in which the festival operates, but the initial principle and goals remain the same: promoting the distribution and recognition of independent European cinema by selecting 10 remarkable arthouse films from major international festivals that have not found their way into theatres outside of their home country.
DM – Tell us about the curatorship. How do you view and select the films each year?
OP – I am in charge of the artistic direction of the festival. I identify films at festivals and in international sales agents’ catalogues. I see some of the films at festivals, and most of the time sales agents send me links to films that I ask for in order to make my selection.
DM – You describe your selection as “10 bold films”. What’s your definition of “bold” and of “art cinema”, and what are the selection criteria for your films?
OP – I choose films according to their quality, their originality, and of course their availability. We try to offer a balanced selection that can include films of various genres, from fiction to documentary, while remaining very attentive to the diversity of European languages and cultures represented (generally one film per country) and to the gender balance of the directors. Artistic boldness can come from a film’s aesthetics or from its subject matter, and how those things relate to contemporary themes.
DM – According to an industry player, only 37% of European films are seen outside their home market. Does this reflect your experience? And what should we do in order to improve this figure?
OP – Yes, and that is why we have developed the ArteKino Festival. We look for films that have low visibility outside of their country of origin and the festival circuit. Some of these films enjoy success in their home country but have difficulty travelling beyond national borders. This is true of comedies, but also of other films. Our festival is a way of crossing borders while staying in the comfort of one’s home.
DM – What’s your message for aspiring filmmakers everywhere who’d like to see their film on ArteKino?
OP – Young directors often need international festivals to receive critical acclaim and to enable their films to travel, as well as to be sold. With the ArteKino Festival, we offer them a way of reaching new audiences by inviting viewers who don’t have easy access to new European arthouse films.
DM – What’s your message to film lovers everywhere overwhelmed by the vast choice of VoD everywhere? Why should they watch films on ArteKino?
OP – We should specify that we are campaigning for movie lovers to continue discovering films in their original birthplace – the movie theatre. ArteKino Festival acts as a complement, not a substitution. Unfortunately, due to their location, some people do not have access to movie theatres that screen arthouse cinema. And it is no longer possible to assume that all films can be distributed in theatres – there are simply too many films being made, and there is a lack of diversity in a number of countries. That is why we invite them to discover new films free of charge in this new festival format.
If you have spent your entire life in academia, you may feel that you are only suited for one thing. This is certainly the case of Pietro Zinni (Edoardo Leo), a neurobiologist, who upon losing his university contract realises that the only thing he is suitable for now is creating party pills. He is 38, behind on all of his bills, and has no idea how to apply himself to new work. Enrolling a gang that includes a cultural anthropologist, an archaeologist, and two Latin scholars, the hapless Pietro enters the black market only to find himself way in over his head.
The film is a clash between the “rise-and-fall” gangster genre and a traditional fish-out-of-water comedy. Director Sydney Sibilia does a great job of depicting his group of oddballs adapting to their new life. Plot-wise, comparisons to the TV series Breaking Bad are inevitable, but while the acclaimed TV series carefully built up its world block by block, I Can Quit Whenever I Want is a much looser affair. In fact, with all its hyper-specific nerd jokes, it is closer in tone to The Big Bang Theory. The mileage of these jokes will vary with how much you understand each subject.
Hidden behind the comedy is a critique of a society that has left its smartest people behind. All these men are more than qualified to hold positions in university, but are now working menial jobs to get by. The results of the financial crisis as well as Italian austerity looms heavy over the film. With endless bills to pay, as well as his girlfriend Giulia (Valeria Solarino) pressuring him to buy a dishwasher, Pietro doesn’t think twice about the ethical implications of taking up this line of work. After all, you don’t think about ethics when you can’t afford anything. This situation is later milked by the fact Giulia works in social care looking after drug addicts. While her position as the nagging girlfriend could’ve reduced her to a common stereotype, Solarino does great work here to make Giulia a three-dimensional character, giving the movie a moral depth it might’ve otherwise lacked. She is crucial to humanising what could have been a trivial movie.
Like nearly all gangster movies, the rise in I Can Quit is accompanied by a fall. The gang are not used to such lavish wealth and suddenly find themselves surrounded by escorts, wearing fine clothes and splashing cash on extravagant cars. But they are not the only men in town, finding out that they have muscled in on top dog Murena’s (Neri Marcorè) turf. As far as villains go, he is neither comic or scary, instead coming across as rather generic. We do learn more about him, in a nice twist that sums up the overall feel-good vibe of the movie.
With a style reminiscent of early Guy Ritchie films, the movie constantly distorts traditional gangster tropes. For example, when they need to rob a pharmacy, they use ancient guns that were originally intended for The Hermitage. Then, in a true Ritchie locale, a crucial drug deal is conducted at a traditional Sinti wedding. What makes it different from classics such as Ritchie’s Snatch (2000) however, is the kind of breathless non-linear storytelling that forces the viewer to imagine some of the details themselves. With a little more daring in the editing, more voiceover, and more montages, I Can Quit Whenever I Want could’ve been as cinematically entertaining as it is comically satisfying. Nevertheless, for fans of Breaking Bad and Guy Ritchie movies, this movie will go down just like a good pill.
This December you have an extra reason to stay at home. Even better: you have 10 reasons to stay at home. As if you needed yet more encouragement to trade the freezing temperatures outside for the comfort of your sofa and the company of dirty European film. The online platform for independent films Festival Scope has teamed up with the European culture channel ARTE and come up with ArteKino, a unique online film festival featuring 10 carefully selected films not available anywhere else for a limited period only. And it’s entirely free: there are to hidden catches and credit card numbers to be given out!
Each film can be viewed by 5,000 people between December 1st and December 17th on a first-come-first-saved basis, and they are available everywhere in Europe unless stated otherwise (see exceptions below). All films area available in the UK and Ireland, except for Chevalier.
These gems were carefully handpicked by Olivier Père, Director of Film at ARTE France and Artistic Director at ArteKino Festival. He explains “ArteKino is designed to be a 100% free digital event, the festival was born out of ARTE’s desire to strengthen its support for modern European arthouse films in an original manner by giving yet them greater visibility and wider distribution.”
He went on to explain how the event is curated: ” we have selected 10 films that represent the eclectic and daring trend sweeping across modern European film productions. Alongside the latest work from renowned filmmakers, we have decided to showcase new talent, with some directors’ first ambitious feature-length films that demonstrate the outstanding creative ability of the new generation from countries such as Romania, Greece and Poland.”
The amazing selection includes a Bulgarian story of lovelessness, corruption and addiction, with a twist, a Portuguese tale of sorrow and nostalgia, the life of controversial Polish surrealist painter ZdzisławBeksiński, before he rose to fame, and also a very dysfunctional macho game in Greece (pictured above), plus much much more. Check the full list just below, and visit ArteKino’s portal in order to view them RIGHT NOW!
Berlin-based engineer Michael must travel to Norway for his father‘s funeral. His sister is unwilling to go, and Michael is left alone with his 14-year-old son Luis, with whom he has always had minimal contact. Michael tries to bond with Luis while exploring the remote region of northern Norway for a few days. But their first trip together is much more difficult than expected. Daily interaction is unfamiliar territory to both, and Luis obviously holds a grudge because of his father‘s negligence. But during these longest days of summer, Michael is determined to break a bittersweet father-son pattern.
The film showed at the following festivals (and it took home the prize between brackets): Berlin (Silver Bear for Best Actor), Hong Kong, Buenos Aires and Taipei Golden Horse. It is not available for viewing in the following countries:Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Austria and Norway.
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2. Scarred Hearts (Radu Jude, Romania/ Germany):
During the summer of 1937, Emanuel, a young man in his early 20s, is committed to a sanatorium on the Black Sea coast for treatment of his bone tuberculosis. The treatment consists of painful spine punctures that confine him to a plaster on a stretcher-bed. Little by little, as Emanuel gets accustomed to the sadness of his new life, he discovers that inside the sanatorium there is still a life to be lived to the fullest. He makes friends and engages in conversations, he reads, he writes, he smokes and drinks, interacts with doctors, nurses and stretcher-bearers. Meanwhile, outside Romania doesn‘t have much to offer him, as it turn into an extreme right-wing society.
It showed at the following festivals (having snatched the accolades between brackets): Locarno Festival (Special Jury Prize), BFI London, Hamburg (Hamburg Producers Award), Haifa (Special Mention), Busan, Gothenburg and 11 more. Not available in: Romania, France, Germany, Austria and Luxembourg.
The image at the top of the article was taken from Scarred Hearts.
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3. Chevalier (Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece):
In the middle of the Aegean Sea, on a luxury yacht, six men on a fishing trip decide to play a game. During this game, things will be compared. Things will be measured. Songs will be butchered, and blood will be tested. Friends will become rivals and rivals will become hungry. But at the end of the voyage, when the game is over, the man who wins will be the best man. And he will wear upon his little finger the victorious signet ring: the “Chevalier.”
The movie showed at nearly 50 festivals (having won the following prizes), including: Locarno Festival, Toronto, IFF Rotterdam, SXSW, BFI London (Best Film), Sarajevo (Best Film), Gothenburg, Cartagena (Best Film), Thessaloniki (Audience Award), Goteborg, New York, Hamburg, San Francisco and 30 more. Not available for viewing in: Greece, United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Portugal, Poland, Cyprus, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Estonia and Lithuania.
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4. Frost (SharunasBartas, Lithuania/Ukraine):
Rokas and Inga, a couple of young Lithuanians, volunteer to drive a cargo van of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. When plans change and they find themselves left to their own devices, they cross the vast snowy lands of the Donbass region in search of allies and shelter, drifting into the lives of those affected by the war. They approach the frontline in spite of the danger, all the while growing closer to each other as they begin to understand life during wartime.
Festivals where the movie showed include (having won the following prize between brackets): Cannes (Director’s Fortnight), Locarno Festival, Transylvania, Odessa, New Horizons, Haifa, Busan. Not available for viewing in: France, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania.
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5. Colo (Teresa Villaverde, Portugal):
Struggling against the crisis in Portugal a mother doubles up jobs to pay the bills since her husband is unemployed. Their teenage daughter tries to keep living her everyday life even if the money’s running short and makes everything uneasy. Escaping from their common reality, they slowly become strangers to one another, as the tension grows in silence and in guilt.
This Portuguese film showed at the following festivals (having won the following prize between brackets): Berlin, Uruguay, Hong Kong, Indie Lisbon, Melbourne, Scanorama Vilnius and the BildrauschFilmfest Basel (Best Film). It is not available for viewing in the following countries: Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Portugal and France.
In a remote Bulgarian town, Gana looks after the elderly with dementia, while trafficking their ID cards on the black market of identity theft. At home, she provides for her jobless mother, with whom she hardly speaks. Her relationship with her car-mechanic boyfriend is no shelter for love either – with sexual attraction vanished, intimacy is reduced to an addiction to morphine. Things start to shake up, when Gana hears the music of Yoan, a new patient, whose ID card she has trafficked. A growing empathy for the old man unlocks Gana’s conscience. But when Yoan is arrested for fraud, she learns that doing ‘the right thing’ comes at a high price.
It showed at the following festivals (having snatched the accolades between brackets): Locarno (Best Film, Best Actress), Sarajevo IFF (Special Jury Prize), CPH PIX (Best Film), Reykjavik (Best Film), Toronto, Turin, Black Nights, Hamburg FF and 14 more. Not available for viewing in the following countries: Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway.
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7. Living and Other Fictions (Jo Sol, Spain):
The desire to have a full sex life becomes a vital, political option when Antonio, a tetraplegic writer, decides to set up a space offering sexual assistance in his own home. He who wants to live ends up having problems with life.
The Spanish drama Living and Other Fictions showed at the following film festivals (and won the following prizes): San Sebastian, Gothenburg, Munich, D’A Film Festival, Queer Lisbon (Jury Prize) and also Toulouse Cinespaña (Violette d’Or).
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8. The Last Family (Jan P. Matuszyński, Poland):
ZdzisławBeksiński, a Polish surrealist painter, is a cult artist who has portrayed decaying bodies and fantasised of hard core sadomasochistic sexual experiences. Known for his keen sense of humour, he is also scared of spiders and tending to his sick mother. His neurotic, suicidal son, Tomasz, is a cult radio DJ and translator, responsible for the Polish versions of Monty Python films. His wife, ZofiaBeksińska, a devout Catholic, endures these two eccentrics and glues the family together. As the parents try to prevent their son from hurting himself, their lives are defined by painting, a series of near-death experiences, funerals and changing trends in dance music.
The Last Family showed at the following festivals (having snatched the following prizes, between brackets): Cameraimage (Best Film), Locarno Festival (Best Actor), Molodist IFF (Best Fim), Sofia (Special try Award), CPH PIX, Reykjavik IFF (Best Film), Black Nights, Hamburg and 10 more. It’s not available for viewing in Poland, France and Monaco.
9. Soleil Battant (Clara and Laura Laperrousaz, France/ Portugal):
For the holidays, Gabriel and Iris return to a family house in Portugal with their daughters Emma and Zoe, irresistible six-year-old twins. In the heart of a solar landscape, between bathing in the river and their kids’ laughter, the couple’s past resurfaces.
The festivals where Soleil Battant showed include: Black Nights, Bordeaux, Arras FF, GardanneAutumn and the Auch Festival. The film is available for viewing everywhere except France and Portugal.
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10. The Giant (Johannes Nyholm, Sweden/ Denmark):
Rikard is an autistic and severely deformed man who tries to find his way back to his long lost mother through the game of pétanque (a form of boules) and using the help of a 200 foot giant. His fragile physique and a harsh judging environment makes everyday life tough for him. Convinced that his mum will take him back if only he wins the Nordic championship of petanque, Rikard tries to do the impossible.
The Swedish-Danish production showed at the following fests (and won the following prizes): San Sebastian (Special Jury Prize), Reykjavik (Special Mention), Warsaw (Free Spirit Award), Rotterdam, BFI London, CPH PIX and GardenCity. The movie is nort available for viewing in the following countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
This Autumn take a walk on the wild side of European cinema without leaving the comfort of your home. DMovies is delighted to announce that we are joining forces with Under the Milky Way and The Film Agency in order to reclaim the hidden gems of European film often overlooked. These movies are part of the Walk This Way project, which is funded by EU Media (a sub-programme of Creative Europe) and is aimed at fostering and promoting straight-to-VoD European cinema. The Film Agency is handling the PR and communications of the initiative.
So we took the opportunity to talk to Muriel Joly, Head of the Walk this Way project, and find out why we should be watching European films on VoD, what’s so special about the Collection, how it all started and where we’re going next!
DM0vies – Where did the idea for the Walk this Way Collection come from?
Muriel Joly – The idea came from the fact that too few European films are seen outside their country of origin each year (only 37% out of the 1740 European films produced on a yearly basis). Indeed, a “traditional” distribution (meaning in theatres) for these films can be complex, costly and not profitable, while a straight to digital release can be much less expensive and highly flexible (you can target the territories you want, stop the distribution when you need).
As an aggregator, Under the Milky Way is a real pure player in terms of digital distribution. Hence building these collections of films and distributing them on global and local VOD platforms throughout Europe is really our core business.
So, with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA we decided to create a real editorial line to highlight the wealth of European Films regrouping them by genre (thrillers or comedy) or by commercial potential.We invest a lot in subtitling and marketing to maximise the distribution effort.
DM – How does VoD help to give visibility to innovative European cinema overlooked elsewhere?
MJ – VoD is really opportunity for this European cinema for two main reasons. On the one hand, for these European films, hardly distributed, VoD represents really low entry costs. In addition, the existence of pan-European platforms covering many territories with only a single point of entry for the supply allows for a considerable smoothness in term of process, and a real cost efficiency.
On the other hand, for the VoD platforms these films do represent a real opportunity to diversify their offer and differentiate themselves towards their audience.
DM – Which Way are we Walking next?
MJ – To the rest of the world !! For the first time this year, we enlarged our distribution to the US, Canada, Latin America and Japan. We are thrilled to see how our European films will be welcomed over there! [end of interview]
Our first four films are part of the Award Winning Collection, which is being launched on November 6th. They are fabulously dirty movies that deservedly snatched various prizes and accolades across the globe in the past four years. There are gems from Portugal, Germany, Iceland and France (with a scary Japanese twist). Enough to keep you entertained every Friday night this November!
All films are available on iTunes, Google, Sony, Microsoft and Amazon Instant Video. Daguerrotype is also available on Sky. Stay tuned for our exclusive dirty reviews in the next few weeks, as well as the upcoming Men of the Edge Collection (in December):
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1. Daguerrotype (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2016):
From acclaimed Japanese master Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Tokyo Sonata, Pulse), comes the French-Japanese productionDaguerrotype, a classic ghost story bent through the lens of one of the most singular horror visionaries at work today.
Jean (Tahar Rahim), a young Parisian with few skills and even fewer prospects, seems an unlikely candidate for assistant to famed photographer Stéphane (Olivier Gourmet), an obsessive perfectionist living in isolation since his wife’s unexpected death. Yet he soon finds himself in his new employer’s vast, decaying mansion, helping to create life-sized daguerrotypes so vivid they seem almost to contain some portion of their subjects’ souls. Their model is most often Stéphane’s daughter and muse, Marie (Constance Rousseau), and as she and Jean fall in love they realise they must hatch a plot to leave Stéphane’s haunted world forever. But is there something malevolent within the massive daguerrotypes that will prevent their escape?
Portuguese director Marco Martins reunites with Nuno Lopes after the success of his first acclaimed feature film ‘Alice’ (2005). Drowning in debt, unemployed boxer Jorge (Nuno Lopes) is on the verge of losing his young son and his Brazilian wife. He is one of shocking amounts of Portuguese families and companies unable to repay their loans in the time of European troika bailout measures. Due to his intimidating physique, Jorge must reluctantly accept a job with a collection agency which drags him into a world of violence and crime.
Nuno Lopes role of boxer Jorge was awarded with Best Actor en the Venice Horizon Award 2016.
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3. Metalhead (Ragnar Bragason, 2013)
This dirty gem comes from Iceland. It’s the year 1970 and as Black Sabbath record their first album and mark the birth of Heavy Metal, Hera Karlsdottir (Thora Bjorg Helga) is born on the cowshed floor at her parents’ farm in rural Iceland. The years of her youth are carefree until a tragedy strikes when her older brother is killed in an accident. In her grief she finds solace in the dark music of Heavy Metal and dreams of becoming a rock star.
Director Ragnar Bragason is one of Iceland’s most popular and critically acclaimed filmmakers of the younger generation. He is best known for his twin feature-films Children (2006) and Parents (2007) and the popular TV series trilogy The Night Shift.
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4. All of a Sudden (Asli Ozge , 2016):
A German film with a Turkish gaze. After the party in Karsten’s apartment, everybody leaves except Anna (Natalia Belitski). Admiringly, Karsten (Sebastian Hülk) approaches this mysterious woman. How could he have known, that in a moment of weakness, his well-established life would spiral out of control and turn into a disaster? In this small provincial German town, disappointment soon fuels anger, justice hides behind hypocrisy, and evil gradually unfolds.
Istanbul-born, Germany-based director Asli Ozge was recognised for All of a Sudden with the Label Europa Cinemas – Special Mention award at Berlin International Film Festival 2016 and the Fipresci Award at the Istanbul International Film Festival 2016.
