If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may know that Agung and I have a tradition that we keep: Every year we would go see Europe on Screen together. If you don’t know what it is, Europe on Screen is a film festival that shows European films from various countries, held in collaboration with the embassies. It is screeened in numerous venues and cities, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Medan, Denpasar, etc. This year the festival is held in more cities, yet somehow with a noticeable change—the British Embassy no longer participates, taking British films out of the equation entirely. I feel like that results in less films and fanfare as ever before, but maybe it’s just me.
As usual, I spent the previous week mapping out the films, venues and time slots on my own spreadsheet, allowing myself (and, by extension, Agung) to navigate the schedule and move from one venue to the next more easily. Well, at least, on paper. In reality, we never tend to watch more than one film per day, let alone move from one venue to the next. Watching movies can be pretty exhausting, you know, especially in a language we do not speak. Just like last year, I think we decided upon 6-7 films that intrigued us, but somehow we only ended up watching 2 movies in total—both of which happens to be screened in the evening, so excuse the less than adequate photos (lol).
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may know that Agung and I have a tradition that we keep: Every year we would go see Europe on Screen together. If you don’t know what it is, Europe on Screen is a film festival that shows European films from various countries, held in collaboration with the embassies. It is screeened in numerous venues and cities, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Medan, Denpasar, etc. This year the festival is held in more cities, yet somehow with a noticeable change—the British Embassy no longer participates, taking British films out of the equation entirely. I feel like that results in less films and fanfare as ever before, but maybe it’s just me.
As usual, I spent the previous week mapping out the films, venues and time slots on my own spreadsheet, allowing myself (and, by extension, Agung) to navigate the schedule and move from one venue to the next more easily. Well, at least, on paper. In reality, we never tend to watch more than one film per day, let alone move from one venue to the next. Watching movies can be pretty exhausting, you know, especially in a language we do not speak. Just like last year, I think we decided upon 6-7 films that intrigued us, but somehow we only ended up watching 2 movies in total—both of which happens to be screened in the evening, so excuse the less than adequate photos (lol).
Film 1: Summer Teeth
Talk about the perfect first film to watch! It is rare that we find ourselves watching comedy—and a mighty hilarious one at that—at this festival, but this one is an absolute riot. Šalša (dir. Dražen Žarković) is a Croatian film set in a small, somewhat remote island where an old lady plants tomatoes. Our main character is the lady’s grandson’s friend who comes to help her harvest these tomatoes for the summer. Unfortunately, those godforsaken tomatoes will soon turn everyone into zombies.
I believe this is the first time we watched Croatian film—and we were not disappointed. The story is crazy funny, tinged with a political commentary on Croatian history. Every character brings their own quirks, making every part of the movie positively entertaining. The entire theatre was completely invested in the story—including us. It’s not perfect, mind you, but we highly recommend checking it out.
Film 1: Summer Teeth
Talk about the perfect first film to watch! It is rare that we find ourselves watching comedy—and a mighty hilarious one at that—at this festival, but this one is an absolute riot. Šalša (dir. Dražen Žarković) is a Croatian film set in a small, somewhat remote island where an old lady plants tomatoes. Our main character is the lady’s grandson’s friend who comes to help her harvest these tomatoes for the summer. Unfortunately, those godforsaken tomatoes will soon turn everyone into zombies.
I believe this is the first time we watched Croatian film—and we were not disappointed. The story is crazy funny, tinged with a political commentary on Croatian history. Every character brings their own quirks, making every part of the movie positively entertaining. The entire theatre was completely invested in the story—including us. It’s not perfect, mind you, but we highly recommend checking it out.
Film 2: Boy with Pink Pants
While we planned to watch more films, the weather stopped us in our tracks. Alas, we found ourselves at the closing film as our second screening: An Italian film called Il Ragazzo dai Pantaloni Rosa (dir. Margherita Ferri). While the subject matter seems pretty serious and heavy, the story itself is super funny and sweet.
The story follows the real life of a teenage boy named Andrea who finds it hard to fit in with his peers as he grapples with his sexuality. He seems very close to his mother, but struggles to deal with his parents’ divorce. He develops a crush on a boy named Christian—a crush he shares with his only friend Sara—but Christian ends up leading the severe bullying actions against him on social media. The very actions that led Andrea to end his life.
I love how the movie focuses not on the tragedy that ends Andrea’s life, but on the joyful moments that filled it. What a remarkable film to end the festival!
Film 2: Boy with Pink Pants
While we planned to watch more films, the weather stopped us in our tracks. Alas, we found ourselves at the closing film as our second screening: An Italian film called Il Ragazzo dai Pantaloni Rosa (dir. Margherita Ferri). While the subject matter seems pretty serious and heavy, the story itself is super funny and sweet.
The story follows the real life of a teenage boy named Andrea who finds it hard to fit in with his peers as he grapples with his sexuality. He seems very close to his mother, but struggles to deal with his parents’ divorce. He develops a crush on a boy named Christian—a crush he shares with his only friend Sara—but Christian ends up leading the severe bullying actions against him on social media. The very actions that led Andrea to end his life.
I love how the movie focuses not on the tragedy that ends Andrea’s life, but on the joyful moments that filled it. What a remarkable film to end the festival!
Project Turns Tradition
Personally, for me, I’ve created a tradition of my own too: Drawing the movies that I watched. In lieu of all the stress that I’ve experienced lately, it’s a blessing in disguise that I got to watch only 2 movies this year—so that I don’t have to create too many illustrations. You can see the full process for both these illustrations on my YouTube channel or in the video down below. Not going to lie, I haven’ t finished both of them, but be on the lookout for the finished piece on my Instagram soon. I’m so happy and glad that I now have an iPad so I can just go from sketch to finish fully digitally, making the entire process a whole lot faster and more practical. Of course, there’s a downside to that as well, which I talk about in length on my vlog.
Did you watch Europe on Screen? Which one is your favourite film?
Project Turns Tradition
Personally, for me, I’ve created a tradition of my own too: Drawing the movies that I watched. In lieu of all the stress that I’ve experienced lately, it’s a blessing in disguise that I got to watch only 2 movies this year—so that I don’t have to create too many illustrations. You can see the full process for both these illustrations on my YouTube channel or in the video down below. Not going to lie, I haven’ t finished both of them, but be on the lookout for the finished piece on my Instagram soon. I’m so happy and glad that I now have an iPad so I can just go from sketch to finish fully digitally, making the entire process a whole lot faster and more practical. Of course, there’s a downside to that as well, which I talk about in length on my vlog.
Did you watch Europe on Screen? Which one is your favourite film?