The Freedom Film Festival 1999 opened in Los Angeles with one of 1998’s most successful Russian films,"Land of the Deaf." We paid tribute to the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic, Europe’s oldest film festival. German film producer Regina Ziegler was honored for her 25-year career as one of the most creative producers in international film. Ziegler-produced films about the Berlin Wall and the division of Europe were shown in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles.

The second part of our festival opened: Freedom Film Festival Latin America. The filmmakers of Latin America are in the process of re-defining themselves—the popular culture of the 1990s is just beginning to find its voice in the film medium—and the people of Los Angeles have, surprisingly, had almost no opportunity to see this work.