14th South East European Film Festival: May 1-8, 2019 in West Hollywood & Beverly Hills   The 14th edition of SEEfest, running May 1-8, 2019, features 56 films from 18 countries, including 13 narrative features, 7 documentary features, 6 shorts programs, a Sci-Fi side-bar with 2 features and a shorts program, and a Business of Film Conference about data in the film industry. This year the festival will explore theme of cinematic audacity by drawing attention to South East European ...

We looked for a partner who loves movies, cherishes those great old ones and has an ear for contemporary tastes as well. We hope you'll like them too: Metropolis Books. From now on every time you look for a book and make a purchase at this cool online store, you will be supporting SEE FEST too. So, don't forget to mention our name!! Metropolis has suggested a few titles by authors from South East Europe for your reading pleasure:   The Tiger's Wife is Tea Obreht's debut novel...

Come see the 2010 Croatian feature, “Mother of Asphalt” directed by Dalibor Matanić and starring Marija Škaričić, winner of the 2011 Golden FIPA Award from France’s Biarritz International Festival for this performance. (Two of her other performances, “Fraulein” in 2006 and “A Wonderful Night in Split” in 2004, were also awarded Best Actress Awards from the Sarajevo Film Festival.)   The story: It's almost Christmas time when Mare, recently laid off, leaves...

SEE FEST filmmakers: Did you know that Germany is one of the biggest financial partners of South East European filmmakers? Or that Germans are some of the main distributors of SEE films?   Find out how you too can get German film funds for your next project, and all the ways that these funds can impact international production, in:    Co-Producer Germany: How to Get Your Film Funded Sat. Oct 29th at 12:30pm Goethe-Institut Los Angeles 5750 Wilshi...

Mark your calendars! One of SEE FEST’s most important partners is screening new films from Germany and we want you to come!   From October 26 - 30, 2011, the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles presents the 5th annual German Currents Film Festival, showcasing the best of new German cinema. Screenings will be held at the Egyptian Theatre, the Aero Theatre and the Goethe-Institut L.A.   Opening night, Wed. Oct 26 at 7:30pm, don’t miss “Almanya”, directed by Jas...

One of the most useful elements of SEE FEST is its Business Conference, headed last year by Honorary Chair Ron Yerxa (producer of Little Miss Sunshine and Cold Mountain, among others). The event last May gave filmmakers great insights into:   -- How to access and structure financing for international productions -- How to develop Hollywood and European financing for co-productions -- Local governmental incentives for filmmakers -- The role Hollywood-based Eas...

For those who didn’t see the 2011 South East European Film Festival (SEE FEST) last May, I thought I’d recap a few of my favorite films. Me, My Gypsy Family, and Woody Allen was a humorous and moving 2009 documentary about the Halilović family’s move from caravans into a permanent apartment, and the daughter Laura’s intent on being a filmmaker rather than getting married at 18, as her mother and relatives expected. Halilović’s family had lived in caravans in Italy sin...

The last week of the Slovenian Film Retrospective at the Hammer Museum in September was as memorable as the first, which I wrote about in two previous blog posts.   I was unfortunately not able to see the next two films in the series, Dance in the Rain, an enigmatic love story that (to quote the program) “masterfully weighs whether life’s plateaus are cause for disillusion or hope,” and Sand Castle, a “tour-de-force of absurdist, physical comedy [that] subtly ...

More about “Slovenia Begs to Differ,” a unique retrospective of Slovenian films, 1945-present, that played in September at the Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theater. It was curated by Vera Mijojlic, artistic director of the South East European Film Festival (SEE FEST) and Shannon Kelley, head of public programs at UCLA’s Film and Television Archive, with special thanks to Nerina T. Kocjancic of the Slovenian Film Center.   My second Slovenian film experience feat...