European Union Film Festival 2010 Preview

The European Union Film Festival 2010 kicks off today and it's one festival that I'm always curious to see what they are going to bring to us every year. It's a unique festival in several ways, first of which - all of the screenings are FREE. Yep, free. Have to love that. I also love their festival goals, specifically "To celebrate the diversity of Europe in the heart of the most multicultural city in the world". I'm all for celebrating diversity, and there is tons of diversity to explore considering they have films from Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. From those countries I will admit the first thing I do every year is see if they have a film from Latvia, because I'm part-Latvian myself (after seeing One Big Hapa Family at Reel Asian, I am resisting describing myself as a fraction!) I always cherish the opportunity to see and feel the connection in those films, even though I don't speak the language nor have ever been, that connection is still there. And there is this year with the Latvian film Rudolf's Gold.

There are many films, countries, cultures and languages to explore through and at the festival and it all starts tonight with the opening night films is Les Barons / The Barons (Belgium/France), a great comedy that works with the concept of thinking of life giving you a limited amount of 'step credits' and therefore not being in a rush to get anywhere. A great way to start the festival. Another very entertaining choice is the documentary Disco and Atomic War, one of two Estonian films playing back-to-back on Saturday November 20, 2010. Guests at the festival include actor Robert Wieckiewicz on the Sunday November 21, 2010 screening of All Will be Well.

There are lots of titles on my radar this year including Guillaume Canet Little White Lives / Les Petits Mouchoirs from France, What No One Knows / Det Som Ingen Ved from Denmark, How to Draw a Perfect Circle / Como Desenhar um Círculo Perfeito from Portugal and Among Us / Änglavakt from Sweden, but with so many choices there should certainly be something for everyone at this years festival.

Overall the festival features 22 films from 21 countries over it's 13 day run at The Royal here in Toronto. For more information check out the festival website, film list, schedule, country list and ticket information. All films screened with English subtitles.

The European Union Film Festival runs from November 18 - 30, 2010 at The Royal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada