At its inception, the American Film Institute European Union Film Showcase was as nascent as the federation it represented. Jump forward to modern times, though, and both have grown significantly: The European Union now represents 27 nations, while the 23rd EU Film Showcase has its largest lineup yet.
This year’s EU Film Showcase, which began last Thursday, will run through Nov. 23 with a lineup that includes 42 films from all 27 countries that form the European Union.
According to Sandi Auman, outreach and cultural affairs officer for the Washington European Union delegation, the relationship between AFI and the EU came from a shared desire to expose audiences to the culture behind the union.
“A unique feature of the showcase is that the films illustrate the diversity of current European cultural trends,” she said. “Individual embassies bring in filmmakers and host special events, and the European Union Delegation to the U.S. now traditionally hosts opening night.”
As the size of the European Union increased, the funding provided by the European Union for the showcase decreased, according to AFI Film Programmer Todd Hitchcock. Yet, Hitchcock said that the decreased funding only impacted how the festival was marketed.
“As far as the programming, I would take the position that that’s something we’ve been able to maintain at a high level,” Hitchcock said.
Hitchcock said he aims for thorough representation of each member of the union instead of just providing a wide range of genres. An unintended result of this focus is that there are a disproportionately high number of dramatic movies.
“When you start with a blank page at the beginning of a year, you hope that you wind up with some variety,” Hitchcock said. “The reality is that it’s heavy on the drama.”
The programming process takes Hitchcock to several foreign film festivals, including major events (for instance Festival de Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival) and smaller events, such as Karlovy Vary.
Hitchcock takes great care to try to balance the number of films from each country.
“We want to program the very best films possible, but I could invite 90 films from France that are really good but that would make it hard to keep the balance between other countries,” he said.
The films chosen for the showcase, Hitchcock stated, are generally films that have emerged from the current year’s film festival circuit. Occasionally, the festival may screen certain movies looked over in previous years.
The nearly three-week long event is organized around selected “centerpiece” films. According to Hitchcock, the centerpiece films are used as opportunities to highlight significant, high-profile releases. However, Hitchcock stressed that the centerpiece selections are not the only good films to be shown over the course of the festival.
For the overwhelmed and unsure moviegoer, Hitchcock offers a few personal recommendations.
Friendship (Nov. 13) is the only entirely comedic film offered during this festival. The film revolves around two East German friends taking a road trip across America. Hitchcock describes the movie as a silly, fun homage to ‘80s teen sex flicks.
Those looking for a darker comedy should turn to the Czech political satire Men in Rut (Nov. 21 and Nov. 22). The movie tells the story of a small town government seeking to connect itself with the rest of the world through the construction of a multi-lane highway.
Out of the centerpiece selections, Hitchcock recommends Certified Copy (Nov. 19), a French production that contains a Cannes Best Actress winning performance by Juliette Binoche (Dan in Real Life).
“It’s a challenging film in some ways, but personally, I found it to be a lot of fun,” he said.
The AFI European Film Showcase runs through Nov. 23. All movies will be shown at various times at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring. For more information, go to www.afi.com/silver.
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