This year’s Titanic International Film Festival offers 52 films representing 34 nations in eight sections at five venues in the capital in nine days, April 10-18.
Eight films will be in competition for the Breaking Waves Award. The large and varied selection of international contemporary cinema has been overseen by the festival’s new Danish programme director, Allan Sorensen.
There will be films by both famous and first-time directors, with selections from less-known regions, bringing together their creators and special guests.
Japanese comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto’s bizarre “R100” (pictured) can only be seen at Titanic in Hungary along with the dramatic “Still Alice” for which Julianne Moore won an Academy Award for Best Actress. Georgia’s “Corn Island” premieres also at Titanic. This film won the Crystal Globe, which is the grand prize, at the international film festival in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, and had a very successful festival run. Its director of photography is Hungary’s Elemér Ragályi and it won’t be seen in Hungarian cinemas until May.
Allan Sorensen studied journalism in Copenhagen and wrote his degree thesis about the literary and cinematic rediscovering of western films. For two years he worked as event manager at the Danish Film Institute in Copenhagen and as a film critic and English translator.
His favourite film directors are Alfred Hitchcock and Jim Jarmusch. Since 2008 he was spending more and more time in Budapest and so last year finally moved to the city with his Hungarian girlfriend and their daughter.
Titanic’s festival director is still György Horváth. Titanic is one of Hungary’s biggest film events and has operated as a Competition Festival since 2005. This will be the 22nd Titanic.
As well as the eight films in competition for the Breaking Waves Award, the other sections will include a selection from film festivals and new Asian movies, as well as documentaries and music documentaries. As usual visitors will find American Indies and Dark Side in the programme, together with a very new section, Wild.
The venues are Toldi Cinema, Puskin Cinema, Uránia National Film Theatre, Örökmozgó Cinema and A38. The finalised programme can be found at www.titanicfilmfest.hu and tickets have gone on sale on April 2. This year there will be a discount if buying five or more tickets.
Also: www.facebook.com/titanicfilmfest
