European Film Festival to Take Place at Museum of the Moving Image, Starts Tonight

An image from the film, “Before Summer Ends” (Photo: Museum of the Moving Image)

May 4, 2018 By Tara Law

Eclectic films from across Europe will be showcased during a festival at the Museum of the Moving Image this month.

The 10th annual Panorama Europe film festival will take place from May 4 to 31. A total of 21 films will be screened at MoMI, located at 36-01 35th Ave. Two films will also be screened at the Czech Center, which operates out of the Bohemian National Hall at 321 E 73rd St in Manhattan.

The festival will begin tonight at 7 p.m. at MoMI’s Redstone Theater with a presentation of Dutch film “The End of Fear.” The film explores the vandalization and restoration of Garnett Newman’s painting Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum. The showing will be followed by a discussion with director Barbara Visser and scholar András Szántó, as well as an opening reception.

Czechoslovak film “Case for the New Hangman” (1969) will be screened at Redstone Theater Saturday at 2 p.m. This surrealist film, which depicts a man wandering a strange country with nonsensical laws and a government that blocks out the sun, was derided by Czechoslovakia’s Communist Party, who ordered the film banned and effectively ended the director’s career. The film will also be screened on May 31 at 7 p.m. at Bohemian National Hall.

Redstone theater will also screen Lithuanian film “Miracle,” (2017) tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. This black comedy explores the ’90s in Lithuania, during which the country shifted from communism to capitalism .

Tickets for each film at the festival are $15, $11 for seniors and students, and $9 for children ages 3 to 17. The festival is free for children under 3 and Museum members at the Film Lover and Kids Premium levels and above.

The film selection was chosen by guest curator by Nellie Killian and co-founded by Czech Center New York.

The festival is being presented in partnership with cultural centers across Europe as well as the consulates of the Netherlands, Croatia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Estonia, Portugal and Greece. The program is also supported by the EU Policy & Outreach Partnership (EU POP) of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.

For a complete list of films, visit the link.