This year’s Chicago European Union Film Festival (CEUFF) is a celebration of emerging voices and a showcase of provocative perspectives. The lineup - all Chicago festival premieres - includes debut features; award-winners from international film festivals including Berlin, Locarno, Sundance, and Toronto; and new films from CEUFF alumni. All screenings will take place at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
The Goethe-Institut Chicago is proud to partner with the Festival in presenting the following German films and co-productions:
Talking About the Weather
Director: Annika Pinske
Germany, 2022, 89 minutes; German with English subtitles
Sat., March 4, 4:45pm
Sat., March 25, 7pm
Clara is a philosophy teacher in Berlin who has come a long way from her unremarkable upbringing in provincial East Germany. Forty years old, Clara struggles with feeling like an imposter in her professional life and an outsider in her personal life - which includes an affair with one of her students, and a strained relationship with her teen daughter. On the occasion of her mother’s 60th birthday, Clara returns home, a journey that forces her to examine her career in an overwhelmingly male-dominated field and her desire to rise above her family’s social class. Annika Pinske’s debut feature is a delightfully funny and thoughtful portrait of what it means to live an unfettered, self-determined life.
Inside
Director: Vasilis Katsoupis
UK/Germany/Belgium/Switzerland/Greece, 2023, 106 mins; English
Mon., March 6, 6pm
When his heist goes wrong, high-end art thief Nemo (Willem Dafoe) finds himself locked inside a luxurious, high-tech penthouse in New York City. Cut off from the outside world, he must use his instincts and cunning to survive. Dafoe delivers a powerhouse physical performance of a man slowly realizing the gravity of his entrapment, surrounded by priceless works of art while desperate to be free. Straight from its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, INSIDE is a claustrophobic reflection on confinement and consumerism.
Victim
Director: Michal Blaško
Slovakia/Czech Republic/Germany, 2022, 91 mins; Czech, Ukrainian and Russian with English subtitles
Tue., March 21, 6:15pm
Sun., March 26, 3:45pm
Ukrainian immigrant Irina is a single mother living in a small town in the Czech Republic. When her son Igor is attacked and injured, the whole town stands beside her in solidarity, condemning their Roma neighbors who are allegedly responsible for the crime, and who are regularly slandered and othered in local media coverage. As Igor recovers and the truth of the attack begins to emerge, Irina is unwittingly caught in a cascade of lies, discrimination, and social and political pressure. Reminiscent of the films of Asghar Farhadi, wherein honest people are caught up in dishonest situations, VICTIM is a taut social drama – and was Slovakia’s submission for Academy Award consideration.
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