ACFNY SUPPORTED | 23RD ANNUAL CHICAGO EUROPEAN UNION FILM FESTIVAL
According to the tradition of the festival, the opening night is dedicated to the nation currently in the rotating presidency of the European Union. This year, Croatia has the honor. On Friday, March 6, the evening is hosted by Sanja Laković, Consul General of Croatia in Chicago.
SCREENINGS
THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET
(DER BODEN UNTER DEN FÜSSEN)
2019, Marie Kreutzer, Austria, 108 min.
with Valerie Pachner, Pia Hierzegger
Sunday, March 8, 3:00 pm
Monday, March 9, 7:30 pm
EARTH
(ERDE)
2019, Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Austria, 115 min.
Friday, March 20, 4:00 pm
Thursday, March 26, 6:00 pm
ABOUT THE FILMS
THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET
Vienna-born Lola (Pachner of A HIDDEN LIFE; EGON SCHIELE: DEATH AND THE MAIDEN) works a high-powered job as a consultant to struggling corporations. Driving relentlessly to excel while battling the insidious prejudice of sexist male colleagues, she finds her carefully crafted public image threatened by a family crisis and long-held secret. The news that her schizophrenic sister Conny (Hierzegger of WILD MOUSE) has attempted suicide sends her personal life as well as her career into a tailspin. Director Kreutzer cannily steers the film into thriller territory as Conny takes on the aspect of Lola’s deranged mirror image. Is Lola on the brink of genetically predestined breakdown herself, or is she being manipulated by her solicitous boss and lover?
In German and English with English subtitles. DCP digital widescreen. Courtesy of Strand Releasing. (BS)
EARTH
Activist filmmaker Geyrhalter (OUR DAILY BREAD, HOMO SAPIENS) visits seven high-tech mining and construction sites around the world, taking in the mind-boggling monumental aspect of the machines and practices that are routinely ravaging vast swaths of the earth beyond repair. From a leaking radioactive waste dump in Germany to leveling efforts in the San Fernando Mountains of California and the extraction of marble in Carrara, Italy, the director’s signature method of utilizing long and overhead shots endows the gargantuan scope of each enterprise with a gravely frightening and yet strangely lyrical import.
In English, German, Hungarian, Spanish, and Italian with English subtitles. DCP digital. Courtesy of KimStim. (BS)
For more information about the festival and tickets please click here.