This year one third of the feature live
action films from the official selection were directed by female authors! As
many as four films were directed by women, while the fifth resulted as a
project of a male-female team of authors.
After the Venetian Mostra, we will have a
chance to see Wadjda, directed by Haifaa al Mansur the first woman director in Saudi Arabia,
whose previous short films uncompromisingly inspire discussion and speak about
taboos in the local culture. Haifaa al Mansur is the first female director in
Saudi Arabia and is considered one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in the
kingdom. The success of her three short films, as well as international merits
she has won for her documentary Women
without a Shadow (2005), has influenced on a whole new wave of Saudi
filmmakers, while the topic of opening movie theatres in the country got her to
the new covers.
Lore is the second
film by the Australian director Cate Shortland, her long expected new work
after the magnificent debut Somersault, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at
Cannes Film Festival and at ZFF. Her second feature-length work is an
adaptation of the novel The Dark Room
by Rachel Seiffert. It is a sensual and complex tale which explores the suffering
of young people after World War II.
Our region is represented by two female
filmmakers: Aida Begiæ has already made a name for herself in the film world
and we are very glad that after Snow in 2008 this year we screen her second
feature film Children, which has already won the merit of the Cannes jury in
the programme Un Certain Regard, and was recently chosen as the Bosnian and
Herzegovinian Oscar candidate. Children
are a story about Rahima (23) and Nedim (14), orphans from the Bosnian war.
They live in Sarajevo, in a transitional society that lost the sense of
morality and stopped caring for the children of people who died defending their
city.
Maja Miloš is a new up-and-coming Serbian
filmmaker, whose debut Clip, in which she wryly portrays
the world of teenagers in Belgrade’s suburbs, caused a great stir in the film
world. Despite explicit scenes of sex and violence, due to which the film was
banned in Russia, the critics agree that the film realistically portrays
today’s Facebook generation. At Rotterdam International Film Festival, Clip won the main festival award (Tiger)
and Dutch film critics’ award. At Motovun Film Festival it won the award for
best film in the region.