Göteborg International Film Festival

The festival of 2007 offers 450 short, feature and documentary films, from a total of 65 countries, during ten days.

The opening film will be Klaus Härö’s The New Man. It is also the first film screened in the Nordic competition. The closing film will be Leaps & Bounds by Petter Næss with Peter Stormare among the actors.

This year The Göteborg International Film Festival focuses on five countries in two sections; Vietnam in ”Viewing Vietnam” - and Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia in ”Under Construction”.

Viewing Vietnam: American and Asian films have been dominating the big screen in Vietnam during the 90s. The latest years have seen an change through the political reform ”doi moi”, when the state monopoly came to an end five years ago. Vietnamese films started to appear at international film festivals, and some films were distributed in Europe.
International co-productions have meant a capital injection to the Vietnamese film industry as well as the films by, the in France residing, Vietnamese director Trânh Anh Hùng - by whom the festival screens: Cyclo, The Scent of Green Papaya and At the Height of Summer. We also screen this year’s Oscar candidate from Vietnam, Pao’s Story by director Ngo Quang Hai, also guest at the festival. Ngo Quang Hai used to be the assistant director of Trânh Anh Hùng. We screen The White Silk Dress by Luu Huynh, who visits theh festival together with lead actress Truong Ngoc Ahn .

Under Construction: Eleven years since the war between the countries in former Yugoslavia ended and the film industry has resumed their cooperation. Production companies work together across the borders and the audience is coming in big numbers. Often the films treat the war and often they deal with the subject with a special, black humour.
The recovery of the film life in Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia is highlighted in the section ”Under Construction”. We screen no less than thirteen films from these countries, twelve feature films and one short film. Examples of the co-productions involving some or all the countries which once formed the nation Yugoslavia are The Border Post (Karaula) by Rajko Grlic and All for free (Sve dzaba) by Antonio Nuic. Furthermore we screen three films by Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic, where the new The Optimists (Optimisti) is the last part of a triology depicting the mental state of Belgrade after the war. We also screen Paskaljevic’s The Powder Keg (Bure baruta) and Midwinter Night’s Dream (San zimske noci). Goran Paskaljevic is one of the festival guests.

For the 8th year in a row the Nordic Film Market, the festival’s market place for new Nordic films, presents closed screenings for specially invited buyers, distributors, and festival programmers from all over the world.

The Swedish programme Swedish Images/Svenska Bilder, includes a total of 195 films. The film year of 2006 is examined and the programme also includes nine brand new feature films and 143 short films.

In addition to the films the Göteborg International Film Festival programme presents seminar programme Cinemix. Cinemix 2007 includes 36 seminars and examines subjects such as the situation of Iraqi film, new Swedish film financing and Master classes by Saul Zaentz, Joanna Quinn and Stellan Skarsgård.


All the sections in the film programme:

THE INGMAR BERGMAN INTERNATIONAL DEBUT AWARD The new award for "a debut filmmaker who in his film treats an existential theme with a dynamic or experimental approach to the cinematic means of expression". Five classy international debuts! Opening film: Marta, by Marta Nováková.

NORDIC COMPETITION
Eight new Nordic feature films and eight new Swedish short films are in competition for the festival's Nordic Film Award - a sum of SEK 100 000 and a dragon created by Swedish artist Ernst Billgren! Opening film: The New Man by Klaus Härö

SWEDISH IMAGES
Helena Bergström's directing debut. Maria Blom's actual directing debut, a new documentary by Jan Troell, new progressive musical, animated horror, smoldering hatred of Göteborg, two senior citizens and a wall, Anita Ekberg back in front of the camera, wacky science fiction, Håkan Mild and much, much more. Swedish Images 2007 offers a total of 195 films. Opening Film: Time to Go by Lisa Munthe.

NORDIC LIGHT
Prediction: The best films of 2007 are, once again, directed by our Scandinavian neighbors: Klaus Härö, Hella Joof and Åke Sandgren. We present at least 20 other good reasons to watch new Nordic films - and for God's sake don't miss the comical Clash of Egos in the Cinemania section or the films in the Nordic Competition! Opening film: Children by Ragnar Bragason

GALA
Great films, great directors - and they aren't all American! Opening film: The Boss of it All by Lars von Trier

MASTERS - OLD AND NEW
Film-makers who know where to place the camera and how the game is played. Perfect film art! Opening film: Gardens in Autumn by Otar Iosseliani.

MUSIC UNLIMITED
Without music we perish - in the cinema as well. A dose of relentlessly musical films, such as the Supreme candybar Dreamgirls Bill Condon.

FIRST CUT
The hopes for the future of film, thirty films by debut filmmakers that leave you longing for more! Opening film: Premonition by Jean-Pierre Darroussin

FOCUS: VIEWING VIETNAM
The "doi moi" reforms in Vietnam have opened new doors for film production. Many stories echo the country's war-torn history - but the Oscar candidate is set among the Hmong people of the north. Opening film: The White Silk Dress by Luu Huynh

FOCUS: UNDER CONSTRUCTION
After the wars in former Yugoslavia, the co-productions by the countries have been legio - Border Post is an example where all the nations have been involved. We screen ten new films from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia plus a trilogy from the master of dark Balkan humor: Goran Paskaljevic. Opening film: The Optimists by Goran Paskaljevic

CRITICS’ WEEK
Four Swedish film critics and three foreign ones (the jury of International Film Critics at the festival) have each selected a film that they will introduce at its first screening. Several of the directors in question are also present. Opening film: Comrade Pedersen by Hans Petter Moland

WORLD WIDE
For those of you who hate categorization and prefer an unconditional journey through the United Nations of film! Opening film: Slumming by Michael Glawogger

IT’S ALL TRUE
There's a thousand ways to truthfully depict "reality". We show around 30 of them, guaranteed non-fiction. But the truth is always in the eye of the beholder. Opening film: The Session is Open by Vincenzo Marra

ANOTHER VIEW
Film-makers who challenge our weary eyes, who tell a story in a new way. Sixteen different stories, where form is as important as content. Opening film: D.O.A.P. - Death Of A President by Gabriel Range

CINEMANIA
Self reflection in the world of film. Film films, meta films and director portraits. Opening film: Clash of Egos by Tomas Villum Jensen

ANIMANIA
Visit the many nations of animation with the year's best animated films, animation queen Joanna Quinn and the Japanese feature film Paprika!

INTO THE NIGHT
Terror, horror or quiet shivers - rest assured that there will be no little kids to ruin the midnight screenings. These are films for those with nerves and guts of steel. Opening film: Nightmare Detective by Shinya Tsukamoto

DARKEST OF TIMES
Leonid Brezjnev, Francisco Franco, Nicolae Ceausescu and Jean-Bertrand Aristide are some of the men of more or less absolute power who are dissected in the films depicting dictatorships - present or past. Opening film: Ghosts of Cité Soleil by Asger Leth

30th ANNIVERSARY RETROSPECTIVE
A selection of the festival's best films through the years. We celebrate our 30 years with a rich retrospective, from the first festival to the 2007. For a mere 30 SEK a piece. Opening film: Stranger than Paradise by Jim Jarmusch.


Among the guests you will find:

Stellan Skarsgård, Milos Forman, Saul Zaentz, Jean-Claude Carrière (Goya’s Ghosts)
Goran Paskaljevic (The Optimists)
Joanna Quinn (Best of Joanna Quinn)
Klaus Härö (Den nya människan)
Otar Iosseliani (Gardens in Autumn)
Jafar Panahi (jury member + The Circle)
Ngo Quang Hai (Pao’s Story)
Do Thi Hai Yen (Pao’s Story)
Luu Huynh (The White Silk Dress)
Truong Ngoc Ahn (The White Silk Dress)
Jesper Ganslandt (Falkenberg Farewell + ”Director’s Comment”)
Daniel Mitulescu (producer The Way I Spent the End of the World)
Ragnar Bragason (Children + Parents in The Nordic Competition)
Joachim Trier (Reprise)
Andrea Arnold (Red Road)
Lloyd Kaufman (Troma)
Claudia Llosa (Madeinusa)
Mohamed Al Daradji (Dreams)

For more information please contact Camilla Larsson at +46 (0)31-339 30 14 or +46 (0)708-423980 or press@filmfestival.org.
Göteborg International Film Festival takes place from January 26 to February 5, 2007.

P.S!
1. The American Golden Globe-awards were recently held. Among the winners were: The Queen, Stephen Frear’s amazing satire about the week following Pricess Diana’s death; and Dream Girls, the Supremes-candy with Beyoncé in one of the roles. Both films are screened at the festival, as well as, Hollywoodland, a classic noir about the death of George Reeves, (the actor playing”Superman”).

2. Oscar’s day. Right before the festival the Oscar nominations will be announced. As usual we screen a selection of the national candidates for best foreign language film. The ten films are: Falkenberg Farewell/Sweden, Reprise/Norway, The Way I Spent the End of the World/Romania, Pao’s Story, Vietnam, Madeinusa/Peru, Bosta/Lebanon, Vitus/Switzerland, Children/Iceland, Ten Canoes/Australia, and Dreams/Iraq. The closing Monday we screen six of these once more. The Swedish candidate Jesper Ganslandt visits the festival as well as director Ngo Quang Hai (Pao’s Story), producer Daniel Mitulescu (The Way I Spent the End of the World), Ragnar Bragason (Children), Joachim Trier (Reprise), Claudia Llosa (Madeinusa) and Mohamed Al Daradji (Dreams).

3. Göteborg International Film Festival is the most important film festival in Scandinavia. One proof is the Nordic market place Nordic Film Market with buyers, distributors and festival programmers from all over the world looking for Nordic films. Another proof is the programme with the Nordic Competition and the section Nordic Light with around 15 films from great Nordic directors.

4. Göteborg International Film Festival has always appreciated documentaries highly. This year the documentary section is size etxra large with 25 films about reality containing everything from the life of inuits to the life of skaters.

5. Another great pleasure is to present new directors from all over the world. This year our section”First Cut” contains 19 strong debuts. On top of that you will find a large number of debuts in the other sections, for example”Another View”, ”Nordic Light”, ”Nordic Competition”, and not least, the five fantastic debuts in competition for the very first Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award.

6. One of the world’s contemporary and most loved animators, Wales born Joanna Quinn is a guest at this year’s festival. Already as as student she created the tough and at the same time charming middle aged Beryl. In sharp and humourous chronicles from Beryl’s life Quinn changes the gender perspective. In Girls’ Night Out Quinn changed the roles in the erotic game. Beryl also became the star in Body Beautiful and Dreams and Desires - Family Ties. Except for the three Beryl-films we screen: Elles, Britannia, Famous Fred, Wife of Bath and the commercials Whiskas Cat Food, United Airlines and Charmin Toilet Paper.