Film Retrospective "Europe, Whole and Free"

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 at  Kosovel Hall (Cankarjev dom)

Twenty years ago the Socialist bloc of the Eastern and Central Europe disintegrated in a matter of months. Even before the turning point in 1989, opposition movements expressing clear demands for democracy and a multi-party political system had been established in what were, then, still communist countries. The wind of change rapidly engulfed the Central and East European countries, among them Slovenia. The fall of the Iron Curtain, the long-awaited reunification of the divided parts of Europe and the symbolic tearing down of the Berlin Wall stirred up deep emotions among the European public, reflecting the hope for change but also the uncertainty brought by setting out on a new journey.
 
Today, twenty years after those dramatic events, the initial uncertainty is fading into the past. With EU enlargement in the years 2004 and 2007, Europe, united in values twenty years ago, became a political community whose citizens enjoy freedom and equality, striving with joint efforts to ensure the prosperity and well-being of the whole region. In what had once been a divided continent, today it is possible to travel in large parts of the European Union without a passport, to seek education and employment in any of the member states and, in most states, also use a single currency – the Euro. Once-divided Europe has become a tight-knit crossroads of cultures and connections, established between the 27 countries especially during the last five years since the most extensive enlargement of the European Union to date. As well as in the political and economic fields, this interaction is most tangible in the field of culture. The results are especially evident in cinematic art, which is becoming increasingly recognised in the global sense too.

On the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain and the fifth anniversary of the most extensive enlargement of European Union, the audience of the twentieth-anniversary instalment of LIFFe can look forward to an exquisite selection of films. The film retrospective involving the dramatic events of the time of democratic changes in Central and Eastern Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification will present an attractive package of selected European film titles.

Let us remind LIFFe viewers that there are some complimentary tickets available for the Retrospective section courtesy of organisers of the Neighbouring Co-production Meeting – Media Desk Slovenia, European Commission Representation in Slovenia and Cankarjev dom. Kindly collect them at the LIFFe box office in the 2nd Foyer of Cankarjev dom. The number of tickets is limited.

Kosovel Hall