BEAST announces the first titles of its 8th edition
BEAST International Film Festival returns to the city of Porto with new dates: from June 6 to 8. With an edition anchored in calendar changes and with part of its program made in collaboration with various partners, today two of the festival’s sections are presented: Expanded and Eastern European Film Festival Network (EEFFN).
The Expanded section offers a space for openness and learning, with curatorial proposals that bring new visions and expand the festival’s horizons. It includes the programs Local Time Only, curated by Romanian filmmaker Simona Constantin, and Lost in Transition – Romanian Shorts from the Nineties, curated by Oana Ghera, artistic director and programmer of the Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival (BIEFF), with valuable input from Andrei Rus, professor of Film History and Film Studies at the National University of Theatre and Cinema (UNACT).
In Local Time Only, director Simona Constantin proposes a program that explores the practices of memory construction, analyzing the stories of individuals who relate and contribute to society while remaining faithful to their own past. With a background in Anthropology and Psychology, the directors of the selected films approach documentary as a field of genuine and inspiring connection between filmmaker and subject. In conjunction with this session, the festival is also offering a workshop led by Simona Constantin. Participation is free, subject to prior registration and limited to available capacity.
Lost in Transition – Romanian Shorts from the Nineties presents a selection of Romanian short films produced in the 1990s, which are part of a larger catalog of student films from the National University of Theatre and Cinema (UNATC) in Bucharest. Curator Oana Ghera, with valuable input from Andrei Rus, presents a program of multifaceted portraits of the turbulent period of transition that followed the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s dictatorial regime, with films that explore themes such as the criticism of emerging capitalism, the crisis of identity and newly won freedom. Emphasizing that “making use of their newfound freedom of expression, the authors behind these seven works courageously confront taboo subjects and break with conventional narratives.”
The Eastern European Film Network section returns to the festival. This year with AMARO KINO – A Traveling Program of Recent Roma Short Films, the result of a partnership of EEFFN with the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC). A program that brings together short films from the last three years that portray the stories, voices and experiences of Roma communities, created by Roma filmmakers and by artists who work closely with the Roma communities. This program will be presented at all the festivals in the network.
EXPANDED SECTION
LOCAL TIME ONLY
curated by Simona Constantin
Marija + Toma | Alesandra Tatić, Eluned Zoe Aiano | Serbia | 2021 | 10 min
Songs of Youth | Andreea Udrea, Elle Hesnan | Slovenia | 2017 | 8 min
In the Light of Memory | Alyssa Grossman | United Kingdom, Sweden, Romania | 2010 | 39 min
Workshop led by Simona Constantin – June 8, 11h00-13h00, OKNa
free participation upon registration (festival website)
target audience: +14
language: English
LOST IN TRANSITION – Romanian Shorts from the Nineties
curated by Oana Ghera, with valuable input from Andrei Rus
On Set | Radu Muntean | Romania | 1993 | 10 min
My American Dream | Teodor Oprea | Romania | 1995 | 21 min
He Poured Coffee Into His Own Cup | Andreea Păduraru | Romania | 1998 | 6 min
Love Comfort Class III | Viorel Timaru | Romania | 1995 | 15 min
Hotel Cișmigiu | Florin Iepan | Romania | 1992 | 13 min
Alone In The World | Tudor Giurgiu | Romania | 1994 | 14 min
Ema | Bogdan-Cristian Drăgan | Romania | 1992 | 18 min
EEFFN SECTION – EASTERN EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL NETWORK
AMARO KINO – A TRAVELING PROGRAM OF RECENT ROMA SHORT FILMS – in partnership with ERIAC
The Life and Miracles of Saint Nicodemus of Tismana | Liviu Bărbulescu | Romania | 2023 | 8 min
Omara | Abel Santa | Hungary, USA | 2024 | 8 min
CHAVO | Alecio Araci | Sweden | 2023 | 15 min
9/8FIGHT41 | Gizem Aksu | Turkey | 2022 | 29 min
