It is an important part of a festival to show cinema that is rarely seen in cinemas commercially. This year BIFF is shining a spotlight on the cinema of the Baltic States with these four feature films and three accompanying short animations.
Escaping Riga (Latvia, 2014)
A garrulous philosopher and flamboyant film director trying to survive the extremes of life somewhere between a tsar, a king, Hitler and Stalin.
Two young boys are forced to escape their native city of Riga as the First World War is transforming the existing world. Later these same boys turn out to be among the most extraordinary personalities of the previous century: one becomes a leading commie film director and the other a mentor to the entire British Empire.
Funny, deadly, sad and sexy adventures follow on their lifelong journey to become geniuses. This story will reveal the secrets of the remarkably parallel lives of and friendship between Sergei Eisenstein and Isaiah Berlin against the backdrop of the dramatic events of the first half of the 20th century.
PALACE CENTRO
Tuesday, August 22 – 4:00 pm
PALACE BARRACKS
Tuesday, August 29 – 4:00 pm
Friday, September 1 – 4:00 pm
Exiled (Latvia, 2016)
Sublime cinematography and exceptional craftsmanship elevate this sumptuous debut feature.
It is the final year of WWI. German army surgeon Ulrich is sent to inspect a remote and forgotten convalescent home for shellshocked patients. He encounters a world stranger than fiction and it challenges his clinical mindset. His fruitless efforts to remodel the place and an unexpected attachment to a mysterious savage boy from the surrounding woods leads Ulrich to a path of self discovery. Very soon however this sanctuary will have to make its last stand against the approaching madness of the war.
It’s About Time (Latvia, 2015, 6 mins, animated short) directed by Ivo Briedis screens prior to feature.
PALACE CENTRO
Sunday, August 20 – 8:00 pm
Wednesday, August 23 – 1:00 pm
PALACE BARRACKS
Wednesday, August 30 – 1:00 pm
In The Crosswind (Estonia, 2014)
This astonishingly creative debut feature is based on a true story and uses extraordinary visual techniques and language to tell the heart-wrenching tale of the fate of thousands of Estonians.
14 June 1941. Without warning tens of thousands of people in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were removed from their homes. Without trial, men faced being sent to prison camps and women and children were deported to Siberia. This operation was Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s plan to purge the Baltic countries of their native inhabitants.
Erna, happily married and the mother of a young daughter, is sent to Siberia. Fighting starvation and humiliation in inhumane conditions, her soul seeks and finds freedom in the letters she sends to her husband who has been sentenced to prison camp.
Empty Space (Estonia, 2014, 10mins, animated short) directed by Ülo Pikkov will screen prior.
PALACE CENTRO
Monday, August 28 – 8:15 pm
Thursday, August 31 – 1:00 pm
PALACE BARRACKS
Tuesday, August 22 – 1:00 pm
The Saint (Lithuania, 2016)
Winner of 6 Lithuanian Academy Awards including Best Film. A provincial Lithuanian town facing the economic crisis of 2008 is the setting for this brooding, moody slacker film.
Vytas loses his job and his wife immediately insists he find a new job; after all they have two small children. Vytas is lost and spends his time preening his muscular physique and watching television. Instead of looking for a new job, Vytas starts searching for The Saint – a guy who claims he saw Jesus Christ in their town.
Cold Springs, directed by Giedre Narusyte Boots (Lithuania, 2015, 5mins, animated short) screens prior.
PALACE CENTRO
Monday, August 21 – 8:30 pm
Friday, August 25 – 3:30 pm
Wednesday, August 30 – 3:45 pm
PALACE BARRACKS
Thursday, August 31 – 3:30 pm
Brisbane International Film Festival 2017
17 August – 3 September 2017
Palace Barracks and Palace Centro – Brisbane
www.biff.net.au
