Valandovo, Home of Culture, in front of the “Yanko Uzunov” hall, 13 – 14 June 2022
Monday, 13 June 2022
20:30
Tina’s Problem, Director Radovan Petrovikj, 15min
Plot: This film tells the story of 22 year old Tina going to her first gynecological examination after she lost her virginity. Screenplay by Rumena Buzharovska
21:00
LOVECUT, Director: Iliyana Estagnol, 94 min
Plot: Through different intersecting stories, LOVECUT speaks about three teenage couples and their conflicts with identity, love and sexuality in our digital, rapid changing society that offers many possibilities, as well as extreme challenges. What we observe is a snapshot, an excerpt from their lives and their love stories. An attempt to better understand the bold youth of our time as well as the society we live in.
Talk with Liljana Pecova Ilieska, Founder of IMPETUS – Centre for Internet, Development and Good Governance, Program Director for privacy and internet and one of the founders of Internet Governance Forum
Topic: teenage lives and relationships today and the way they are influenced by the internet; protection of teenagers’ privacy and personal data on internet.
Moderator: Vlatko Galevski.
Trailer:
Tuesday, 14 June 2022
20:30
Farmer’s Blues, Director Iber Deari, 15 min
Plot: Following the death of his father, Vedat and his son are faced with their father’s debt legacy and are forced to sell something that is of value to them in order to pay it off.
21:00
THE SHIFT, Director: Alessandro Tonda, 83 min
Plot: Brussels, Eden and Abdel, two 17 years old boys brake in their school to perform kamikaze terrorist attack, but Abdel blows himself before time and hurts Eden in the explosion. Isabelle and Adamo, two paramedics, arrive at the school and find Eden hurt and unconscious. They transport him, unaware that he is one of the terrorists. On the way to the hospital they find out that he wears explosive but it is too late: all of a sudden Eden wakes up! Despite his injuries the young man holds them hostages threatening to activate the bomb and instructs Adamo to keep on driving. With his debut feature, centred on a terrorist attack in Brussels, Alessandro Tonda finds the right tone to tackle a burning topical issue without giving up on entertainment.
Talk with Zarko Trajanovski, theoretician, human rights activist and columnist
Topic: violent extremism, radicalism and terrorism, young extremists
Moderator: Vlatko Galevski
Trailer:
Kicevo, Kitino Kale, 18 -19 June
Saturday, 18 June 2022
20:30
Short MK film: Dust Flowers, Director Miroslav Ilikj, 15 min.
Plot: A sentimental woman who, following several failed attempts to have a biological child, is forced to give up the antidepressant therapy since it it reduces her fertility.
21:00
MARE, Director: Andrea Shtaka, 84 min
Plot: Routinely, but with dedication, Mare runs her small family’s modest household, although a new washing machine is not the only thing that is missing. When a chance encounter rekindles her libido, she does not hold back for long.
Talk with Marija Dimitrova, awarded young film producer.
Topic: Women in film, increase of women participation in filmmaking (directing, photography, production)
Moderator: Zlatko Gjeleski, movie critic
Trailer:
Sunday, 19 June 2022
20:30
Short MK film: The New Beginning, Director Tanja Simonovska, 15 min.
Plot: Following the death of her parents, 23-year-old Ana moves to Skopje in search of a new beginning.
21:00
HOPE (2h 10 min, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, 2019)
Plot: 43 years old Anja and 59 years old Thomas have large family of biological and adopted children. For several years they have grown apart, living and working in parallel worlds. When Anja is diagnosed with terminal cancer, their life breaks down and exposes neglected love. Alone with her grief and fears, Anja realizes that she needs Thomas’s support and help. That is their only chance. How else their children will find strength after she leaves, if they don’t go together through the storm? Anja and Thomas are pushed to find the mutual trust, and at the end of their common struggle to face unexpected and early death. But by finding each other again, they become the lead characters in a love story and learn to truly love each other after a long-shared life.
Talk with Natasa Damjanoska, representative from the Association for family psychotherapy and systemic practice of Macedonia „Alternativa”, working with families who fight cancer
Topic: Illness in the family, cancer, dysfunctional families
Moderator: Zlatko Gjeleski, movie critic
Trailer:
Stip, Youth Centre Summer Stage, 24-25 June 2022
Friday, 24 June 2022
20:30
Short MK film: Paw Law, Director Tamara Kotevska, 18min.
Plot: The average stray dog has 99 percent wolf genes and is a natural hunter. But dogs forgot how to hunt when humans brought them into civilization. They are now at their own in the ruthless hands of the dog catcher.
21:00
ATLAS (1h 30 min, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, 2021)
Plot: The only survivor of a terrorist attack that took the life of her three friends fights to overcome guilt and self-hatred. Allegra is a lively young woman with a passion for high mountain climbing. She decides to travel to Morocco to reach the top of the Atlas, but her trip ends abruptly when a man explodes a bomb in a coffee shop and her three friends die in the attack. Unable to overcome the trauma months later she returns to her city, where the encounter with Arad, a young Muslim refugee, forces her to confront her perception of reality, her fears and heal her profound interior wounds.
Talk with Tanja Miloshevska, Professor, Institute for Security, Defense and Peace, with research interests in transnational security threats, terrorism and organized crime
Topic: Violent extremism and radicalism, terrorism, young extremists
Moderator: Jovana Gjorgjioska
Trailer:
Saturday, 25 June 2022
20:30
Short MK film: North Pole, Director Marija Apchevska, 15 min.
Plot: Foggy afternoon, crowded dressing room. Margo does not belong anywhere. Maybe if she loses his virginity, she will finally find her place.
21:00
SPACE BOY, Director Olivier Pairoux, 100 min
Plot: At only 11 years, Jim is a gifted boy passionate about space and science. Arriving in a new town with his dad, Jim has to participate in a young scientist competition with his new classmate Emma, a sensitive and discreet girl. Despite her reluctance, Jim convinces her to imitate Kittinger’s ‘Excelsior’ project (first man to reach the frontier of space in 1960) and to build secretly a real air balloon. This calling comes from his father, Graham, an astrophysicist who was meant to carry out a space mission very soon. Since Jim’s mother died, this project is very important to him. But when he discovers Graham has given up without telling him, his world falls apart. The competition turns into an obsession and Jim wants to prove unlike his father that he won’t give up. Jim pushes Emma to her limits and drags her into an adventure which is going to bring them closer.
Talk with Radan Mitrovikj, member of Skopje Astronomy Association
Topic: Children in science, scientific culture and mental gymnastics among children
Moderator: Jovana Gjorgjioska
Trailer: