Today's selection of films will make you forget about the week ahead and the weather, and spice up your mind with a spine-tingling thrill. In addition to the landmark premieres, today's programme includes two special events - a gala screening of "What Remains" and the premiere of season 3 of the crime series "Arctic Circle", which offers a chance to get behind the scenes of one of the most popular crime shows.
Is Gustaf Skarsgård one of those unmistakable actors for his great performances? "What Remains" confirms it once again. With its twists and turns, this crime thriller keeps the viewer on the heels of a murderer and pedophile from start to finish. The documentary "A Day, 365 Hours" reveals the sordid past of a family, told by the victims themselves, who suffered sexual abuse in their own home as children and are now ready to tell their story in a lively way. "Bad Actor", on the other hand, sharply highlights how thin the line can be between consent and exploitation in a seemingly safe working environment.
Previously a big winner at festivals in Berlin, Locarno, and Thessaloniki, Călin Peter Netzer embarks on an exploration of the story of his parent's emigration to West Germany in 1983 in "Familiar", and the truth that emerges is not nearly as beautiful as his childhood memories. History is also taken to the extreme by director Romas Zabarauskas in the film "The Writer", whose protagonist served in the Soviet army and plans to write a history book entitled 1990.
Take a look at the entire schedule here.
Directed by Ran Huang, Hong Kong, China, United Kingdom, Finland
13 Nov, Monday at 20.30 Apollo Cinema in Coca-Cola Plaza.
Gala gala with the filmmakers.
Struggling with childhood trauma, Mads Lake (Gustaf Skarsgård) confessed to a series of murders in a Scandinavian psychiatric hospital in the 1990s involving the abuse of teenage boys. Mads himself accuses the boys' pedophile parents of molesting them. This is not a story about a serial killer, about finding the truth, or even about understanding the lies. It's a story about human connection and how and why we believe in things.
Directed by Călin Peter Netzer; countries: Romania, France, Taiwan
13 Nov, Monday at 18 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plaza.
World premiere with filmmakers
Dragoş Binder has the ambition to make a feature film about his parent's life in the early 1980s. These were the most dangerous years of Nicolae Ceaușescu's totalitarian regime. But the intolerable information leads to embarrassing accusations, humiliating suspicions, buried pain, and wounding revelations from which his mother always tried to protect him. Previously a major winner at festivals in Berlin, Locarno, and Thessaloniki, Călin Peter Netzer is intensely personal in this multi-layered drama based in part on his family's emigration to West Germany in 1983.
Dir: Jorge Cuchí; Country: Mexico
13 Nov, Monday at 20.45 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plaza.
World premiere with filmmakers
Actors Sandra Navarro and Daniel Zavala are set to star in a film by a renowned filmmaker. Casual conversations with the crew, friendly chats. They seem to be on the same page about the tricky scene to come. But then something terrible happens. "Bad Actor", is paced like a thriller. A nuanced and poignant film set in the post #MeToo era, it explores themes of consent and the search for truth and justice.
Directed by Goran Stolevski; Countries: North Macedonia and Kosovo
13 Nov, Monday at 21.15 Apollo Cinema in Coca-Cola Plaza.
The journey of North Macedonia's Oscar nominee began with a win for Queer Lion in Venice. Dita, a social worker, lives in an apartment with her girlfriend Sauda and her two daughters Vanesa and Mia, where her flatmate Toni invites her sweetheart to share a room. Director Goran Stolevski returned to his native Australia to create an extraordinarily original, richly detailed, and turbulent drama about a free-spirited extended family living under one roof in a small household in Skopje.
Directed by Romas Zabarauskas and produced in Lithuania, Germany, and the USA.
13 Nov, Monday at 20.15 Apollo Kino Coca-Cola Plaza.
World premiere with filmmakers
After 14 years of marriage, Dima, a divorced IT engineer, goes to New York for a job interview and meets Kostas, a Lithuanian writer who has emigrated to Lithuania. They were friends while serving in the Soviet army in remote Stavropol. But they haven't spoken in 30 years. Now Dima wants to give his opinion on Kostas's historical book 1990. A spontaneous decision to make vegan borscht together leads to a conversation with only one rule - no sarcasm!
Dir: Eylem Kaftan; Countries: Turkey, Croatia
13 Nov, Monday at 18.45 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plaza.
Two Turkish women decide to break down the wall of silence and ask for protection from a long history of sexual abuse. The story is all the more gruesome because it took place at home - their own fathers are guilty and their mothers did not intervene. The more patriarchal a society is, the more courage it takes to come forward about such things. The sincerity, the sharing, and the unity of the girls are infectious, and, most importantly, there is a surprising amount of hope that justice will prevail.
“Arctic Circle”
13 Nov, Monday at 19.00 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plaza
You are invited to the Estonian premiere of the first two episodes of the 3rd season of Elisa Viihde's original series "Arctic Circle"! Nina returns to wintry Ivalo to investigate a murder that appears to be linked to the world of ultra-weak winter tests for an international car manufacturer. When a local pharmacist is found murdered, Nina and her old partner Aikiko must solve the murder mystery. Soon Nina is convinced that the murder mystery is somehow connected to a top-secret winter test.