Eastern European cinema is a diverse subject that has been scarcely regarded, especially compared to other world cinemas. From screen analysis to personal accounts, this blog is a meditation on Eastern European cultural values with emphasis on totalitarian iconography and other clandestine ciphers that have become motifs across the films of Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic and East Germany.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Women in Film: Márta Mészáros
By Olivia Maria Hărşan
A screenwriter/film director status is rare for a woman in the film industry, let alone in Eastern Europe, and yet Márta Mészáros still managed to hold these titles, producing powerful narratives, gaining international recognition and awards along the way. Márta's career began in the then-popular field of documentary filmmaking that transformed into realism. Fellow Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr had also excelled in the 'wave' of realist cinema that boomed in Hungary during the late-70s, before changing his style drastically, as noticed in his transitional feature, Almanac of Fall/ Őszi almanach (1984). Similar to Tarr, Mészáros tweaked the dogme of documentary/realist filmmaking by adding her own stamp of auteurship, portraying evocative topics ranging from denial of the past to gender norms. Her protagonists are always women that come from broken backgrounds - perhaps drawing from personal experiences growing up as an orphan in the USSR after the murder of her father, the sculptor László Mészáros, under the Stalinist regime. Diary for my Children/ Napló gyermekeimnek (1984) is her most successful film to date, for which she won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury (today known simply as Grand Prix) at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.
A screenwriter/film director status is rare for a woman in the film industry, let alone in Eastern Europe, and yet Márta Mészáros still managed to hold these titles, producing powerful narratives, gaining international recognition and awards along the way. Márta's career began in the then-popular field of documentary filmmaking that transformed into realism. Fellow Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr had also excelled in the 'wave' of realist cinema that boomed in Hungary during the late-70s, before changing his style drastically, as noticed in his transitional feature, Almanac of Fall/ Őszi almanach (1984). Similar to Tarr, Mészáros tweaked the dogme of documentary/realist filmmaking by adding her own stamp of auteurship, portraying evocative topics ranging from denial of the past to gender norms. Her protagonists are always women that come from broken backgrounds - perhaps drawing from personal experiences growing up as an orphan in the USSR after the murder of her father, the sculptor László Mészáros, under the Stalinist regime. Diary for my Children/ Napló gyermekeimnek (1984) is her most successful film to date, for which she won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury (today known simply as Grand Prix) at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.
Márta with former husband Miklós Jancsó
Monday, August 11, 2014
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Festival Report: The 2nd Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia
By Olivia Maria Hărşan
Alongside my intense re-drafting of my thesis on the haunted cinema of Eastern Europe, I have organising the PR for the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia which is soon to begin.
So many exciting things have been happening with the organisation of the festival lately.
We have officially launched a brand new website. Venture over and feast your eyes on the vibrant program fuelling this year's festival.
Alongside my intense re-drafting of my thesis on the haunted cinema of Eastern Europe, I have organising the PR for the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia which is soon to begin.
So many exciting things have been happening with the organisation of the festival lately.
We have officially launched a brand new website. Venture over and feast your eyes on the vibrant program fuelling this year's festival.
We have also released a fantastic new trailer painstakingly crafted by one-third of the all-volunteer CaSFFA team.
AND last but not least, tickets have now gone on sale and can be purchased from the website via your city of preference.
It goes without saying that this festival could not have come this far without the support of our wonderful Pozible contributors, we thank you all and aim to fulfil our promise of delivering an event that is even bigger and better than our inaugural festival held last year.
AND last but not least, tickets have now gone on sale and can be purchased from the website via your city of preference.
It goes without saying that this festival could not have come this far without the support of our wonderful Pozible contributors, we thank you all and aim to fulfil our promise of delivering an event that is even bigger and better than our inaugural festival held last year.
Physical copies of our beautiful program can be picked up at inner city cafes, eateries, community centres and cinemas theatres.
Friday, August 1, 2014
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