american cinema foundation


	Notes on the films from the festival curator When the cinema of the ex-Communist countries looks at history, the memory of fear is always there, sometimes just beyond the edges of the picture. The ACF founded the Freedom Film Festival to help establish a cultural dialog about the issues of democracy and liberty, and remind us that art must respect history. Festival films for 2002 include:"The Condemnation of Franciszek Klos," a videofilm by Andrzej Wajda that charts the downfall of a wartime collaborator and traitor. "Chico" is the fictional story of a committed, confused Communist fighter who has seen action from Chile to Croatia."A Place On Earth," set in the nirvana and madness of a Moscow commune, portrays a charismatic leader who tries to defy the natural laws of the social order. One lovely day in the Romanian countryside is the setting for an encounter called"An Afternoon with a Torturer," a chilling meditation on guilt and memory by one of Romania's all-time great directors, Lucian Pintilie."True Stories"(Russia/Azerbaijan) is based on Mikhail Zoschenko's biting satire of 1920s Moscow, inventively re-imagined. "Velvet Hangover" revisits the Czech New Wave of the sixites, and the later fates of its creators. We celebrate Hungarian director Gyula Gazdag for his originality and courage:"The Whistling Cobblestone"(1971) is about a teacher doubting the truth in the socialist values he tries to impart to youth. This leads to the biting allegories of "Singing On The Treadmill" (1974), which is openly skeptical about Marxist man's ideals. In addition, the Freedom Film Festival, in partnership with the Goethe Institut-Los Angeles, presents a series of programs at the Freedom Film Festival in Los Angeles. We will have conversations and screenings with prominent Berliners who played a key role in opening our eyes to the East: Film curators Ulrich Gregor and Erika Gregor, for leading the Forum of Young Cinema; Ron Holloway and Dorothea Moritz, for thirty years of journalism and filmmaking; Volker Koepp, for his honest documentarian's eye; and Manfred Durniok, photographer, director, and Academy Award-winning producer.

THE HOLLOWAY FILE
Database of Russian and Ex-Soviet Union directors

FREEDOM FILM FESTIVAL POSTER

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