The main part in today's selection is played by the man in all his shapes and sizes. Wander through the inner lives and adventures of these boys in a set of beautifully crafted films.
Boys, boys, boys. They come in different shapes and sizes. Some boys become famous playwrights, others become notorious criminals and perfect themselves in the act of prison break or find other creative ways of making a living - when times are tough. Some boys have all the spotlights, other boys feel lost or go missing altogether. Today we meet all of them in our daily selection of films.
Or check out the full programme for today here
12:15 | Virtual Hall
19:15 | Coca Cola Plaza 7
Iranian drama in our First Feature Competition. Zoreh is a woman in her 60s, who lives in a big apartment building with her grown-up divorced daughter and elderly mother, in a somewhat tense relationship. Zoreh’s son has gone missing. She runs a small beauty parlour at home and everything is seemingly alright. But then anonymous letters start appearing in the residents’ post boxes. Someone has started to poison Zoreh’s life, to mentally harass her and to expose the hidden parts of her life. Who is it and why and is there any actual substance to the letters?
17:15 | Coca-Cola Plaza iSense + Q&A with Davis Suharevskis, Guntis Trekteris
20:15 | Virtual Hall
Ansis is a sign painter. The authorities always need someone to paint useful signs for them and so a sign painter always has bread on his table. Ansis is in love with Zisla, the daughter of a wealthy jewish merchant, but that union cannot happen. Ansis falls for a Latvian girl and marries her. But the Jewish girl still remains in the man’s heart. Things in the love triangle get hot when the Nazis start hunting for Zisla who has become a communist.
This Latvian drama is part of our Official Selection - Competition.
19:00 | Coca-Cola Plaza 6
This programme does exactly what it says on the tin as it provides a focus on the stories of men of different ages who come from backgrounds which can often be worlds apart. The films on offer here highlight a reality of complex choices which sometimes lead to the pain of loss and loneliness. But these films prove that there’s also room for a glimpse of hope and beauty in the experiences of our protagonists.
20:15 | Coca-Cola Plaza iSense + Q&A with Oliver Rihs, Ivan Madeo, Jan Krüger, Felix von Muralt
23:15 | Virtual Hall
For sure a notorious criminal, but also a Robin Hood-like figure, and a Swiss counter-culture icon: Walter Stürm. The man was the king of prison-breaks in the country, managing no less than 8 times to flee Swiss prison between 1974 and 1995, while - strangely enough - maintaining a sense of anarchic humour throughout. One time, fleeing the prison around Easter in 1981, he left a note saying: „Searching for easter eggs, Stürm".
This German film about the notorious prison escapee is part of our Official Selection - Competition.
21:45 | Apollo Solaris 3
The first feature film about Václav Havel – the Czech playwright, human rights activist, politician and president who passed away in 2011. It focuses on Havel’s transformation from successful – later banned – playwright in the 1960s to human rights activist and prisoner of conscience in the 1970s, climaxing with Havel becoming the leader of the Czech Velvet Revolution and in 1989 being elected the first non-communist president of Czechoslovakia after 41 years.
A drama about a self-doubting intellectual, torn between his own passions and self-imposed duties. Part of the First Feature Competition