Maria Lafi
99 min | Greece | 2019 | East Coast Premiere
A film about faith, not in the religious sense, but in the sense of a deep human faith in survival… in an era when immigration and its different manifestations are featured at the center of international media, often in the form of tragic incidents, but also through ways it affects everyday life and the political scene.
With multiple storylines, taking place in a multicultural area of Athens during orthodox Easter, the lives of four strangers, who live in the same neighborhood, change dramatically when, on Palm Sunday, the neighborhood’s postbox is blasted just for laughs by Filipino teenager Ige. Documents of vital importance to all of them have been destroyed and the consequences are relentless.
Awards: Grand Prix at Festival Int’l du Film de Fès, Morocco; Best Int’l Feature at Festival de Cine de Zaragoza, Spain; Best Balkan Film at Tirana Int’l FF, Albania; Best Screenplay and Best Actress at Aswan International Women Film Festival, Egypt; Best Film at II Festival de Cine Chipriota y Griego, Barcelona, Spain; Best Director at Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, LA, USA; Best Director and Best Actress at Calella Film Festival, Spain; Best Director at Islantilla Cinefórum Film Festival, Spain; Audience Award at Festival Int’l de Cine de Quito, Ecuador; Audience Award at Festival Int’l de Cine de Calzada de Calatrava, Spain
SCREENING WITH
RECLAIMING THE NEGATIVE
Mike Beech
13 min | UK/South Korea | 2019 | East Coast Premiere
This film looks at a North Korean defector's extraordinary and harrowing escape from her country of birth and the artistic process of a large format photographer who captures a series of stunning portraits of North Korean defectors living in Seoul, South Korea. The film takes a more intimate look at the human side of the highly political subject matter.
Awards: Winner of London Indie Film Awards; Winner of LA Cinematography Awards, Gold Winner of Queen Pal, CA; Silver Winner of Latitude Film Awards; Finalist at Southport Film Festival, N.C.; Official Selection of Rome Independent Prisma Awards, Italy.