Doc Launch

Czech Republic, 110 min, DCP, Creative

One evening, one stadium, one match. Two football clubs, two tribes engaged in a "war". As the match starts, the players run onto the bright green pitch and in the stands, fans seem to have a free reign over the whole arena. Each hotly contested matchup between the Prague-based rivals provides a unique setting that features people of various backgrounds. In all the noise, hollering and loud debates, each fan becomes absorbed in the match in their own special way. Against the backdrop of a big match, countless minor, yet equally interesting, struggles are about to unfold.

Nový život , Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 70 min, DCP, Creative, Personal View

The film is a story of a big Slovak Catholic family which has been left by the father. Mother Jana, five daughters and son Adam were suddenly left alone. Adam decided to put up with the huge change in his life in a very strong way, shooting this film as the "last man standing" in the family. This film tells the story of how one man cannot manage seven women and how seven women can fight for one man. How can he learn from his parents' divorce and how can he help teach his sisters to divorce well in the future?

Bal Jobb Bal Jobb , Germany, Hungary, 80 min, 35 mm, DVD, Creative, Experimental, Personal View, Social Issues, Society

A personal, cinematic quest - a Hungarian filmmaker living in Berlin goes back to her homeland.

Roma Rally , Germany, Hungary, 58 min, HD, Adventure and Sports, Creative, Docu drama, Human Rights, Portrait, Social Issues, Society

Two gypsy boys are trying to fulfill their childhood dream by competing in the local village rally with their only treasure: a thirty year old, rusty and wheelless BMW. While the driver struggles with the law due to petty thefts, the navigator is dealing with a handicap - his blindness.Ricsi and Manó are young countryside village kids, aged 17 and 16 and have been friends forever. The two gypsy boys have decided to take part in the famous car rally of their region. Despite their age and poverty one of them is perfect in car mechanics and they can drive. What makes things more complicated, that Manó lost almost all of his sight by the age of nine because of a disease. Nevertheless: while Ricsi would be the driver he would be the navigator of the car.The boys would like to take part in the game with a thirty years old, rusty BMW currently sleeping on bricks, without wheels. They are ready to raise money for the car no matter what and are committed to compensate the gap with their enthusiasm in the garage which they built in the backyard out of their barn.Despite all odds, they have faith in themselves, their ambition is endless. And they believe that creativity driven by the lack of money sometimes overcomes the greatest difficulties.

Financial Support: Polish Film Institute, Adam Mickiewicz Institute

Bedziesz legenda czlowieku , Poland, 90 min, 35 mm, HD, Culture, Society

The beginning of this summer will be marked by a great sport event in Poland's history - the 2012 European Footbal Championship. While footballers are getting ready for the games, rumors are spreading about fraudulent transactions as new stadiums are being built, foreign players are being hired instead of poor Polish footballers and most Polish fans are truly convinced their team is not capable to win a match. Although some feel excitement and other sense disappointment, Marcin Koszalka's film attempts to look at the guts of Polish nature, interwoven with paradoxes, contrasts and contradictions. Having the best cameramen ready to record the art of football right there on the pitch, the director employs the whole frenzy to reflect on the proud nation.

16-ya Respublika (Posledniy russkiy limusin) , Russia, 90 min, DVD, HD, Creative, Personal View, Social Issues

The ZIL truck factory, a giant in the heart of Moscow whose produce also included the showcase limousines for Soviet leaders, is now largely defunct. Suddenly, it gets a new order... Moscow giant truck plant ZIL was central for the lives of thousands of workers for more than 80 years, proudly calling itself a “talent foundry”, a “city within a city” and “the 16th republic” (the former Soviet Union consisting of 15 republics). Among other vehicles, it also produced the showcase limousines for Soviet leaders and the Red Square Parades. The plant is now unprofitable and largely defunct. Its continued existence depends above all on political factors, the protection of Moscow authorities, and the efforts of a handful of specialists and engineers who have dedicated most of their lives to the plant, which continues to be a great source of pride for them. For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the plant receives an order from the Ministry of Defense - three new ZIL limousines are supposed to open May’s Victory Day Parade on the Red Square. Only few specialist workers from the elite, previously top-secret department of Original and Special Automobiles, are left – rare professionals, all of them old enough to retire. But the deadline must be met. Set against this backdrop, the film is a multi-layered collective portrait of the ZIL community as they struggle to survive.

Russia, 80 min, Experimental, Social Issues

Zamatovi teroristi , Slovak Republic, 80 min, 35 mm, Creative, History, Social Issues

Velvet Terrorists is a film about minor and foiled terrorist plots in former Czechoslovakia. The film focuses on three protagonists. The first one wanted to blow up a decorated stage during the May 1 celebrations in the 70s. The second one planned to assassinate the President and start an anticommunist revolution but his letter to the CIA was so naive that nobody cared to reply. The third one blew up communist billboards. Acts that were once considered criminal are now viewed as acts of heroism. The film is about our relative views of history and about the various perspectives from which one can view these individuals and their actions.

Il Treno va a Mosca , Italy, United Kingdom, 70 min, 35 mm, Digi Beta, Archive , Experimental, History

In the aftermath of Stalin’s death, three Italian communists engage in a trip to the Soviet Union to challenge their utopia with an 8mm camera.In 1957, Sauro, Luigi and Enzo all live in Alfonsine, a small town in Italy ruled like a miniature Soviet Union by the Italian Communist Party. As many communists in the West, they dream of the Soviet Union, and hope for the great Revolution. But with the wind of reform and self-criticism blowing through the Eastern Bloc after the death of Stalin the image of the Soviet Union as the workers’ paradise begins to crumble. They therefore decide to travel to the USSR to find out what is true and what is false in this supposed land of milk and honey. They film their entire journey with their 8mm camera. Through this invaluable personal archive, our film tells the hopes, disappointments and challenges of three young men faced with the reality of what seemed to be a utopia come true.