The BIEFF Opening Ceremony features the Romanian premiere of this year’s winner of the Golden Lion at Venice, “Pieta”, signed by the controversial Korean film director Kim Ki-duk, and will take place at Cinema Scala, on the 20th of November.
The feature film will be preceded by “The Wholly Family”, Terry Gilliam’s latest short film, winner of the European Film Academy Award for best short film. The two special screenings, made possible by the support of Jameson, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and Samsung, will be followed by six days of unique and provocative cinematic experiments. Receiving a standing ovation after its premiere at Venice, “Pieta” by Kim Ki-Duk is a nuanced tale on guilt, sacrifice and atonement. The film is a harsh parable on extreme capitalism and the way it changes human relations.BIEFF organizers announced last week that, only a few days after its international premiere at the Rome Film Festival, “Goltzius and the Pelican Company” (photo), the most recent film from British director Peter Greenaway, comes for the first time in Romania at BIEFF 2012, where it will be screened during the Closing Ceremony, on Sunday, November 25th, at Cinema Scala, in the presence of its author. Ever since its first edition, BIEFF launched a highly successful collaboration with Peter Greenaway, one of the most important contemporary experimental filmmakers. He opened BIEFF’s first edition with an impressive master class, attended by cinema professionals and the general public alike, but also with the screening of his film, «Rembrandt’s J’accuse». Greenaway returned in 2011 for the opening of the festival with his original work, “Live Cinema VJ Performance Lupercyclopedia”, a highly innovative audio-visual experiment, which debates on the limits of cinematic language and offers the viewer an unique artistic experience, experiment which has been enjoying a worldwide acclaim. Starting with 2012, Peter Greenaway becomes honorary president of the BIEFF, generously joining us in our educational endeavour.In the International Competition of the BIEFF, Romanian audience can discover some of the unconventional movies from Berlinale and Rotterdam in Romanian premiere such as the Winner of the DAAD Award at Berlinale Shorts 2012 and highly acclaimed in many other festivals – “The Man That Got Away” or “Impossible Exchange”, premiered at the 2012 Berlinale.BIEFF will also showcase, for the first time in front of a Romanian audience, films awarded at one of the most important festivals dedicated to short films, the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival: winner of the Audience Award at Clermont-Ferrand 2012 and also nominated in 2012 for the César Awards – “Early Rising France” , winner of the Special Jury Award at Clermont-Ferrand 2012 and EFA European Film Award nominee “Einspruch VIe” or “The Last Bus”, Prix de la Jeunesse at Clermont-Ferrand and the Grand Prize at Tampere.The new edition of the Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival – BIEFF will take place between 20th – 25th of November, at Cinema Scala and Cinema Elvira Popescu. Admission at the screenings and side events is free, subject to availability.For more information: www.bieff.ro
