Today's film recommendations are led by women who can carry the world in the palm of their hand when needed. Here you will find characters who don't just shatter glass ceilings, but shatter the stereotypes that shackle them and write their own story. Let it be said that these stories will be anything but flowery.
"Mr. and Mrs. Stodola", a film based on a true story that will leave no viewer indifferent with its deeply felt acting, creates a truly powerful emotion. In a kind of microcosmos, director Petr Hátle weaves empathy and antipathy into a powerful dialogue compelling one that it takes more than simply following your own inner moral compass to get out of it.
Today's second true-life film, "Her Body", sheds light on how thin the line can be between elite sport and the porn industry in the event of a tragic accident, through the biography of Lea De Maena. "October Metafiction" which uses artificial intelligence to enhance storytelling, presents a completely different perspective to the true stories. The result is so much more than anyone could have imagined.
The world premiere of "Forever Hold Your Peace" however, delivers on a humorous note with a powerfully succulent tale of a wedding party where the bride is the least impressed by the triangle surrounding her. The historical depth of Sunday is provided by the main competition programme, "Teresa", which several Spanish publications call one of the year's most anticipated films.
Take a look at the entire schedule here.
Directed by Petr Hátle, Czech Republic, Slovakia
12 Nov, Sunday at 17.30 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plaza
World Premiere with filmmakers
Directed by Petr Hátle, "Mr. and Mrs. Stodola" takes viewers deep into the infamous husband and wife massacre of the early 2000s. The film goes beyond the typical crime story. Jan Hájek as the naive husband Jaroslaw is the perfect counterpoint to the woman's devilish and manipulative nature. The director confronts us with the disturbing facets of human nature and shows the fine line between good and evil, normal and abnormal.
Directed by Ivan Marinović
12. nov, Sunday 21.15 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plazas
World Premiere with filmmakers
This heartwarming and explosive Montenegrin comedy is not just about a wedding. Two nights before her wedding day in a picturesque village, Dragana, a physiotherapist, doubts whether she really wants to get married. Celebrations can't be canceled or postponed like the Olympics or Eurovision. Ivan Marinović is probably the only Montenegrin who can find such hilarious situations out of unhappiness, misery, selfishness, envy, illness, alcoholism, and evil.
Dir: Jiajun 'Oscar' Zhang, Country: China
12. nov, Sunday 20.30 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plazas
World premiere with filmmakers
The frustrating reality of the unforgiving Generation Z in today's China, is open to consumerism and obsessed with looking younger. Wandering teenagers float around a gigantic, shiny, and alluring two-story, two-tower shopping mall in Shanghai called "Global Harbor", with endless lifts and escalators. The two melancholy stories can be viewed in any order.
Dir: Aik Karapetian, Country: Latvia
12 Nov, Sunday at 18 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plaza
International premiere with filmmakers
Father Rihards prefers to live a life of strict rules and rational monotony, while super-mother Helena likes to dream, meditate, and breathe. On their wanderings, their eldest son Erik rebels. Soon it seems that everyone in the family wears a mask or two to hide their desires, infidelities, and fears. Vengeful hallucinations, ill-fated blackmail, and self-punishment lead to extremes when six-year-old daughter Maija goes missing.
Directed by Kyujun Cho, Country: South Korea
12 Nov, Sunday at 18.30 Apollo Cinema in Coca-Cola Plaza
World premiere with filmmakers
"October Metafiction" is not just a film; it is a bold experiment that uses artificial intelligence to enhance storytelling. From altering the heroine's dialogue in Japanese to creating a visual diary using artificial intelligence, the film pushes the boundaries of cinematic innovation. The intriguing story follows four people as their paths lead to a tranquil campsite where a pattern of fate, chance, and unexpected connections unfolds.
Director: Paula Ortiz, Country: Spain
12 Nov, Sunday at 16 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plaza
International premiere with filmmakers
"Teresa" by Paula Ortiz is one of the most anticipated films of the year, according to several Spanish publications. St Teresa of Avila is a historical figure, but this film is not a factual biography. Rather, it is a free interpretation of these doubts, convictions, and human love of faith. The director himself says, and the viewer could be guided by this, that one should look for a dialogue with the present in Teresa, even though the film takes place in the 16th century.
Directed by Natálie Císařovská, countries Czech Republic and Slovakia
12 Nov, Sunday at 21.45 Apollo Cinema Coca-Cola Plaza
A bold portrait, based on a true story, of a woman's commitment to sport and her transformation into an instrument of sexual seduction. A spinal injury destroys the long-standing Olympic medal of Czech professional diver Andrea Absolonová. She follows a photographer friend into the world of adult entertainment and appears in more than 80 porn films with Lea De Maena. However, an inexorable fate leads to the ultimate ordeal - a rare form of aggressive brain cancer.