Download the British Programme at the International Sofia Film Festival 2012
CHARIOTS OF FIRE
OLYMPIC GALA
The director Hugh Hudson will be awarded the Sofia Award, in the presence of Ben Cross
17.03.2012, Hall 1, NDK, 19:00
18.03.2012, Euro Cinema, 21:45
Running Time: 124 mins | Director: Hugh Hudson
Principal Cast: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nigel Havers, Alice Krige, Ian Holm
With the 2012 Olympic games in London arriving, British Council and Sofia Film Fest take a look back at the iconic film Chariots of Fire which weaves the stories of two former British track aces who both won major events at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Chariots of Fire, the Oscar-winning 1981 film, transports us to the 1924 Olympics, and, in the process, highlights such commendable qualities as commitment, perseverance, and fraternity.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
14.03.2012, Cinema City, 21:15
17.03.2012, Cinema City, 21:00
Running Time: 124 mins | Director: Andrea Arnold
Principal Cast: Kaya Scodelario, James Howson, Nichola Burley
Andrea Arnold, acclaimed director of Fish Tank and Red Road, takes on Emily Brontë's classic with a British indie cast including Kaya Scodelario, Nichola Burley and James Howson. With a black lead, handheld camera and unflinching gaze, this is a fresh and brutal take on the legendary passion of Heathcliff and Cathy. What would you do if you were denied your soulmate? The passionate tale of Heathcliff and Cathy, two teenagers whose elemental love for each other creates a storm of vengeance.
THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH
19.03.2012, Odeon, 19:45
22.03.2012, Lumiere, 19:45
24.03.2012, Dom na kinoto, 18:45
Running Time: 85 mins | Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Principal cast: Ethan Hawke, Kristen Scott Thomas, Joanna Kulig
Pitching up in Paris to be closer to his estranged ex-wife and daughter, novelist Tom finds his grip on reality slipping after he starts an affair with seductive translator Margit. Aided by dreamlike lensing and a raft of enigmatic supporting characters, writer/director Pawel Pawlikowski (My Summer Of Love) seeks to channel the paranoid spirit of early Polanski, but contrived attempts to ‘explain’ the film’s many mysteries ultimately disappoint.
HOLLY FLYING CIRCUS
15.03.2012, Dom na kinoto, 13:15
15.03.2012, Dom na kinoto, 20:30
17.03.2012, Lumiere, 19:00
Running Time: 90 | Director: Owen Harris
Principal Cast: Charles Edwards, Darren Boyd, Steve Punt, Rufus Jones, Phil Nichol, Tom Fisher, Stephen Fry
Holy Flying Circus is a fantastical re-imagining of the controversy surrounding the release of Monty Python’s 1979 film Life of Brian that caused outrage around the world. The release of Life of Brian saw nuns with banners picketing cinemas, councils banning the film without even seeing it and religious groups organising concerted campaigns against the film.Holy Flying Circus is a bold and entertaining homage to one of the most original comedy teams and very pertinent as the debate about what is an acceptable subject matter for comedy rages on.
TRISHNA
10.03.2012, Dom na kinoto, 14:00
11.03.2012, Lumiere, 21:00
13.03.2012, Cinema City, 19:00
Running Time: 117 mins | Directors: Michael Winterbottom
Principal Cast: Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth
Starring an incandescent Freida Pinto, Trishna acknowledges but doesn't exactly embrace the Bollywood tradition, marrying Winterbottom's naturalistic style with terrific songs by Amit Trivedi. Here, the lovely heroine is born at a disadvantage, the eldest daughter of a poor rural family. After her father is badly injured in a Jeep accident, Trishna accepts the invitation of a handsome stranger – a big-eyed college boy named Jay Singh, to work for a fancy tourist hotel owned by his benevolent, blind father. His father's success in industry offers him the luxury of doing what he likes with his life; by contrast, Trishna's entire family depends on the generous wage she earns in town. This fundamental inequity, compounded by the way a society that still practices arranged marriage treats the genders differently, lies at the heart of this admirable young lady's tragedy.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
09.03.2012, Odeon, 20:45
17.03.2012, Odeon, 21:00
18.03.2012, Euro Cinema, 17:30
21.03.2012, Lumiere, 19:45
Running Time: 112 mins | Director: Lynne Ramsay
Principal Cast: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller
A tormented mother grapples with feelings of accountability and intense grief after her troubled 15-year-old son commits an act of violence that shakes their community to its very core. Eva had a promising career when an unplanned pregnancy threw her life off-balance, though she selflessly put her own ambitions aside to give her son, Kevin, a good life. From the moment Kevin was born, there was a palpable tension between mother and son. Years later, as a teenager, Kevin snaps. As the community recoils from Kevin and his family, Eva begins to question whether or not she ever really loved her son in the first place. John C. Reilly co-stars in this psychological drama based on the novel by Lionel Shriver, and directed by Lynne Ramsay.
LIFE OF BRIAN
15.03.2012, Dom na kinoto, 22:45
CO-PRODUCTIONS
PERFECT SENSE
11.03.2012, Dom na kinoto, 14:00
12.03.2012, Cinema City, 19:00
BRITISH GALA
13.03.2012, Lumiere, 20:45
/Presented by David Mackenzie/
Running Time: 92 mins | Director: David Mackenzie
Principal Cast: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Ewen Bremner, Stephen Dillane, Denis Lawson, Connie Nielsen
A hit at Sundance '11 and winner of the Ediburgh Film Festival's prize for Best New British Feature, the amazing genre creation directed by David Mackenzie stars Eva Green and Ewan McGregor as witnesses to the end of the world-- strangers who form a desperate romantic connection in the face of an apocalyptic epidemic of sensory loss.
ANONYMOUS
09.03.2012, Lumiere, 18:30
11.03.2012, French Institute, 21:00
21.03.2012, Dom na kinoto, 22:30
Runtime: 130 mins | Director: Roland Emmerich
Principal Cast: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, David Thewils, Xavier Samuel
Who really wrote Shakespeare's plays? In this vivid drama from Roland Emmerich, mystery swirls around the authorship of classic plays, as the back-stabbing theatre world intersects with political intrigue at the court of Elizabeth I.
DOCUMENTARIES
BENGALI DETECTIVE
12.03.2012, Euro Cinema, 19:00
20.03.2012, French Institute, 20:00
Running Time: 110 mins | Director: Philip Cox
The secrets of Kolkata's revealed by overweight dance obsessed intrepid detective Rajesh Ji. Mixing dance and hit songs with the harsh lives of clients, this originally styled feature documentary provides an entertaining yet poignant look at modern India through the prism of crime. What happens when a population loses trust in the authorities? A new phenomena is happening in India today, the rise of the private detective.
A MAN’S STORY
13.03.2012, Euro Cinema, 19:45
16.03.2012, Euro Cinema, 19:45
Running Time: 98 mins | Director: Varon Bonicos
Principal Cast: Ozwald Boateng, Giorgio Armani, Michael Bay, Paul Bettany, Richard Branson, Gabriel Byrne, Don Cheadle, Daniel Day-Lewis, Laurence Fishburne
This documentary, filmed over twelve years, chronicles the life of Ozwald Boateng, the male fashion icon. Boateng is also fascinating from a sociological perspective. As a black and heterosexual man he breaks the stereotypes of the fashion industry.
THE BRITISH GUIDE TO SHOWING OFF
15.03.2012, Euro Cinema, 21:15
21.03.2012, French Institute, 20:30
Running Time: 97 mins | Director: Jes Benstock
Principal Cast: Andrew Logan, Michael Davies, Ruby Wax, Brian Eno
Artist and provocateur Andrew Logan is the man behind London's Alternative Miss World Show, a chaotic fashion show like no other. Jes Benstock's documentary explores the mad, bad and flamboyantly OTT world Logan created back in 1972.
SHORT PROGRAMME
17.03.2012, Chech Centre, 16:00 & 18:00
19.03.2012, Chech Centre, 13:00 & 15:00
DICKENS ON FILM
As Charles Dickens 200th birthday finally arrives, British Council and Sofia International Film Fest present one of the most exquisite films based on his work, to celebrate the author’s unique craftsmanship.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
02.04.2012, Dom na kinoto, 18:30
OLIVER TWIST
28.05.2012, Dom na kinoto, 18:30
NICHOLAS NICKLEBY
30.04.2012, Dom na kinoto, 18:30
BRITISH ACCENTS AT THE 9TH SOFIA MEETINGS
POWER TO THE PIXEL - Workshop by Tishna Mola
MUSIC RIGHTS - Workshop by Laurence Kaye
VODO - Presentation by Jan von Meppen
WORLD VIEW Project Development Fund –
Presented by Phil Cox
For any updates and programme changes, please check www.siff.bg - Sofia International Film Festival’s official website.
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