Europe on Screen 24 in Overview

Now that Europe on Screen is over, it’s finally time for a recap! If you don’t know what it is, Europe on Screen is a film festival that shows European films from various countries, held by the embassies. It is held in numerous venues and cities, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Medan. Also, if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you may know it has become a tradition for Agung and myself to go to the festival together. Since the pandemic has become like a bad dream at this point, the festival has since been held fully offline again—which has its pros and cons, to be honest. This year, I was extra pumped for it and went nuts.

Around 1-2 weeks before the festival started—before the full catalogue even came out—I started listing the films and plotting them into a spreadsheet. I mapped out the schedules according to the venues, their proximities to one another, and their screening time slot. It made it so much easier to know which films to watch and how to move from one screening to the next, if we wanted to do so. Seeing my neurotic side, Agung left all the decision to me and chose only from the films I’d pre-approved—so to speak. There were a total of 7 films that we decided upon together. Unfortunately, we couldn’t catch them all and ended up only attending one screening together—but I also caught some films on my own. These are the stories of those films.

Now that Europe on Screen is over, it’s finally time for a recap! If you don’t know what it is, Europe on Screen is a film festival that shows European films from various countries, held by the embassies. It is held in numerous venues and cities, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Medan. Also, if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you may know it has become a tradition for Agung and myself to go to the festival together. Since the pandemic has become like a bad dream at this point, the festival has since been held fully offline again—which has its pros and cons, to be honest. This year, I was extra pumped for it and went nuts.

Around 1-2 weeks before the festival started—before the full catalogue even came out—I started listing the films and plotting them into a spreadsheet. I mapped out the schedules according to the venues, their proximities to one another, and their screening time slot. It made it so much easier to know which films to watch and how to move from one screening to the next, if we wanted to do so. Seeing my neurotic side, Agung left all the decision to me and chose only from the films I’d pre-approved—so to speak. There were a total of 7 films that we decided upon together. Unfortunately, we couldn’t catch them all and ended up only attending one screening together—but I also caught some films on my own. These are the stories of those films.

Film 1: Reluctant Lactation

The first (and ended up being the only) screening we caught together was of Melk (Milk) at Erasmus Huis. It is a Dutch film (directed by Stefanie Kolk) that tells a supposedly heartbreaking story of a woman who gives birth to a stillborn, but has to live with an abundance of milk her body keeps producing for weeks to come. Slowly, we follow her (and her husband’s) journey to navigate through their grief and the overcrowding of the freezer, due to breast milk nobody drinks.

Agung and I were both really intrigued by the film’s synopsis—which the volunteers over at EoS have done a great job assembling. However, unfortunately, neither of us found the film particularly enjoyable or emotionally stirring. We both took turns almost falling asleep during the screening. The film was mostly devoid of scoring, a lot of the takes felt much longer than necessary, and—worst of all—we couldn’t sympathise with the characters because their feelings didn’t come through.

Film 1: Reluctant Lactation

The first (and ended up being the only) screening we caught together was of Melk (Milk) at Erasmus Huis. It is a Dutch film (directed by Stefanie Kolk) that tells a supposedly heartbreaking story of a woman who gives birth to a stillborn, but has to live with an abundance of milk her body keeps producing for weeks to come. Slowly, we follow her (and her husband’s) journey to navigate through their grief and the overcrowding of the freezer, due to breast milk nobody drinks.

Agung and I were both really intrigued by the film’s synopsis—which the volunteers over at EoS have done a great job assembling. However, unfortunately, neither of us found the film particularly enjoyable or emotionally stirring. We both took turns almost falling asleep during the screening. The film was mostly devoid of scoring, a lot of the takes felt much longer than necessary, and—worst of all—we couldn’t sympathise with the characters because their feelings didn’t come through.

Film 2: A Saint Resurrected

For the second screening, I thought I’d catch one during the weekday and went to see Citizen Saint (dir. Tinatin Kajrishvili) at Kineforum. It is the first Georgian film that gets included in Europe on Screen—and literally the first one I’ve ever watched!—so a representative from the embassy had a few words to say to commemorate the moment.

The story is set in a small mining town in Georgia, where the residents worship a saint at the top of the hill and seeks his protection and blessing upon entering the mines. One day, as the Saint statue is about to undergo restoration, he comes back to life and walks among the people just like any other human beings. At first, the townspeople were amazed and pretty welcoming of the young man, but not long after, they begin to feel uneasy and unprotected since they have nobody to worship. Finally, they resolve to get the Saint once again crucified on top of the hill.

Film 2: A Saint Resurrected

For the second screening, I thought I’d catch one during the weekday and went to see Citizen Saint (dir. Tinatin Kajrishvili) at Kineforum. It is the first Georgian film that gets included in Europe on Screen—and literally the first one I’ve ever watched!—so a representative from the embassy had a few words to say to commemorate the moment.

The story is set in a small mining town in Georgia, where the residents worship a saint at the top of the hill and seeks his protection and blessing upon entering the mines. One day, as the Saint statue is about to undergo restoration, he comes back to life and walks among the people just like any other human beings. At first, the townspeople were amazed and pretty welcoming of the young man, but not long after, they begin to feel uneasy and unprotected since they have nobody to worship. Finally, they resolve to get the Saint once again crucified on top of the hill.

Film 3: Belonging in the Middle of War

Yet another film I watched on my own on the weekday. This time it is a German film—which is a mandatory for me every Europe on Screen. It is called Der Fuchs (The Fox) and I watched it at Goethe Institute. Directed by Adrian Goiginger, this film follows the true story of an Austrian soldier who bonds with a fox in the midst of World War II. It is probably the most pleasant screening experience of the year, as the whole theatre seemed to be enjoying the movie equally. We laughed and cooed and cried at almost the exact moments—except for a few tardy ones who left early and talked the entire time they were there (honestly, the worst).

I picked this film on purpose, because I know a film about animals will not let me down. Now that I have Bobon, I know that stories with our furry friends will get me right in the feels—and it did! But it also turns out to be so much deeper than that, although probably exaggerated for dramatic purposes. The main character, Franz Seitberger, is born to a poor family who has to scrape the bottom of the barrel in order to survive and his father practically sells him to work at a faraway farm at the age of 5. The story starts to unfold 10 years later, when his contract at the farm ends and he joins the army—just at the cusp of the second world war. This background story—although may feel unnecessary to some—eloquently explains his quick and deep bond with the fox. Franz doesn’t trust humans, but he can understand the fox’s loneliness.

Film 3: Belonging in the Middle of War

Yet another film I watched on my own on the weekday. This time it is a German film—which is a mandatory for me every Europe on Screen. It is called Der Fuchs (The Fox) and I watched it at Goethe Institute. Directed by Adrian Goiginger, this film follows the true story of an Austrian soldier who bonds with a fox in the midst of World War II. It is probably the most pleasant screening experience of the year, as the whole theatre seemed to be enjoying the movie equally. We laughed and cooed and cried at almost the exact moments—except for a few tardy ones who left early and talked the entire time they were there (honestly, the worst).

I picked this film on purpose, because I know a film about animals will not let me down. Now that I have Bobon, I know that stories with our furry friends will get me right in the feels—and it did! But it also turns out to be so much deeper than that, although probably exaggerated for dramatic purposes. The main character, Franz Seitberger, is born to a poor family who has to scrape the bottom of the barrel in order to survive and his father practically sells him to work at a faraway farm at the age of 5. The story starts to unfold 10 years later, when his contract at the farm ends and he joins the army—just at the cusp of the second world war. This background story—although may feel unnecessary to some—eloquently explains his quick and deep bond with the fox. Franz doesn’t trust humans, but he can understand the fox’s loneliness.

Film 4: 24-Hour Hustle

Last but not least, we have the world’s longest film title—and the one film I watched online. This year, since I have a MUBI subscription, I decided to catch one of the films on the streaming platform—it’s been available there since before the festival, after all. It is a Romanian film called Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (directed by Radu Jude).

This arthouse film takes on multiple styles and jumps timelines. Ultimately, the story follows around 24 hours of a female production assistant’s life as she goes around Bucharest interviewing people who have been injured in work accidents for an upcoming documentary of a multinational company. While she does that, however, she also records her alter ego telling lewd and inappropriate stories to make contents for the internet. I feel like this film clearly shows the hustle culture at an extreme—but also highly realistic—and a woman’s experience constantly on the road.

Film 4: 24-Hour Hustle

Last but not least, we have the world’s longest film title—and the one film I watched online. This year, since I have a MUBI subscription, I decided to catch one of the films on the streaming platform—it’s been available there since before the festival, after all. It is a Romanian film called Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (directed by Radu Jude).

This arthouse film takes on multiple styles and jumps timelines. Ultimately, the story follows around 24 hours of a female production assistant’s life as she goes around Bucharest interviewing people who have been injured in work accidents for an upcoming documentary of a multinational company. While she does that, however, she also records her alter ego telling lewd and inappropriate stories to make contents for the internet. I feel like this film clearly shows the hustle culture at an extreme—but also highly realistic—and a woman’s experience constantly on the road.

A Little Project

What makes this year different from any of the previous years is that I decided to make a project out of the festival. It was my goal to create a tribute illustration for every film that I watched from Europe on Screen. AND I DID IT! You can see the finished illustrations on my Instagram and Cara, and the process from start to finish in the video down below or on my YouTube channel. It was such a fun project—and not too stressful, since it was all done pretty quickly using traditional media. I’ve always wanted to try using ink pens and copic for a B/W piece with a splash of colour. So happy with the results too! See for yourself in the video down below.

Did you watch Europe on Screen? Which one is your favourite film?

thanks for reading

A Little Project

What makes this year different from any of the previous years is that I decided to make a project out of the festival. It was my goal to create a tribute illustration for every film that I watched from Europe on Screen. AND I DID IT! You can see the finished illustrations on my Instagram and Cara, and the process from start to finish in the video down below or on my YouTube channel. It was such a fun project—and not too stressful, since it was all done pretty quickly using traditional media. I’ve always wanted to try using ink pens and copic for a B/W piece with a splash of colour. So happy with the results too! See for yourself in the video down below.

Did you watch Europe on Screen? Which one is your favourite film?

thanks for reading