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ODESA 2020

Odesa moves online but goes ahead with its Potemkin Stairs screening

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- The 11th edition of Ukraine’s biggest film event will run from 25 September-3 October

Odesa moves online but goes ahead with its Potemkin Stairs screening
The Barefoot Emperor by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth

The 11th edition of the Odesa International Film Festival (OIFF) is due to unspool its digital edition at a completely different time to its usual mid-July dates on the coast of the Black Sea, as this year it will run from 25 September-3 October.

Despite the new format, OIFF will retain its traditional open-air performance, which will take place in its “physical” location at the Potemkin Stairs, where the silent horror film The Golem: How He Came into the World by Carl Boese and Paul Wegener will be screened, marking the 100th anniversary of the early German Expressionist oeuvre. The screening of the film on 2 October will be accompanied by a chamber orchestra, which will perform a soundtrack written by Israeli composer Betty Olivero.

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On the first day of the festival, the political comedy The Barefoot Emperor [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Woodworth
film profile
]
by directorial duo Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth will serve as the opening film. This is the sequel to the couple’s previous feature, King of the Belgians [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Woodworth, Peter Br…
film profile
]
, which received the Grand Prix at the eighth OIFF. Furthermore, the festival will close with the Berlinale-screened biographical drama Charlatan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agnieszka Holland
film profile
]
by Polish director Agnieszka Holland, who received the OIFF Golden Duke for Lifetime Achievement in 2017.

More than 960 films were submitted to take part in the competition programmes. The festival's International Competition consists of 12 movies that will be competing for the OIFF Grand Prix, the Golden Duke, and other awards. As usual, the majority of the selected films are European co-productions, and among them are: Guillaume Brac’s À l'abordage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guillaume Brac
film profile
]
(France), Fabrice du Welz’s Adoration [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabrice du Welz
film profile
]
(Belgium/France), Márk Bodzsár’s Comrade Draculich [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Márk Bodzsár
film profile
]
(Hungary), Ignas JonynasInvisible [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ignas Jonynas and Kristupas…
film profile
]
(Lithuania/Latvia/Ukraine/Spain), Maura Delpero’s Maternal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maura Delpero
film profile
]
(Italy/Argentina), Ivan Ostrochovský’s Servants [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Ostrochovský
film profile
]
(Slovakia/Romania/Czech Republic/Ireland), Ulrich Köhler and Henner Winckler’s A Voluntary Year [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Henner Winckler
film profile
]
(Germany), Amjad Abu Alala’s You Will Die at 20 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amjad Abu Alala
film profile
]
(Sudan/France/Egypt/Norway/Germany/Qatar), Valentyn Vasyanovych’s local production Atlantis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valentyn Vasyanovych
film profile
]
(Ukraine), Kim Yong Hoon's Beasts That Cling to the Straw (South Korea) and Adam Rehmeier’s Dinner in America (USA).

The international jury will be headed up by Canadian composer Howard Shore, who will be joined by Icelandic actress and theatrical director Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Portuguese actress Joana Ribeiro, Ukrainian theatre, film and voice actress Larysa Rusnak, and Armenian-born French actor and director Serge Avedikian.

For the third year in a row, Ukrainian documentarian Serhiy Bukovsky has curated the European Documentary Competition, which comprises eight films: Conductivity by Anna-Karin Grönroos (Finland), Gevar's Land by Qutaiba Barhamji (France/Qatar), I Am the Sun by Ilaria Gambarelli (Spain), I Want You If You Dare [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Dagmar Smržová (Czech Republic), Las Hermanas de Rocinante by Alexandra Kaufmann (Germany/Switzerland), The Pageant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eytan Ipeker
film profile
]
by Eytan Ipeker (Turkey/France/Israel/Germany), The Prophet and the Space Aliens [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Yoav Shamir (Israel/Austria/South Africa) and Summerwar by Moritz Shulz (Germany).

The members of the European Documentary Competition jury are artistic director of the Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest, FIPRESCI and European Film Academy member Nikolaj Nikitin, Ukrainian film director Iryna Tsilyk, and Syrian journalist and director Waad Al-Kateab.

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