The 2nd edition of Film O’Clock International Festival will take place between March 1-6, 2022, in six countries on the 25° meridian East longitude: Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt and South Africa.

The festival program showcases both classic titles and fresh short films. This year’s Classic Cinema Section includes six powerful and innovative feature films that caught the eye or even shocked in their day, and some of them even ended up being banned for a while:

• The Devil’s Bride (dir. Arūnas Žebriūnas, Lithuania, 1976) – A devil, Pinciukas, arrives on earth near the Baltaragis mill. Pinciukas and Baltaragis make a pact: the devil will help the owner of the mill to marry a very beautiful woman, Marcele. Instead, the miller will give the devil as a wife the girl he and his wife will have.
• Water Like a Black Buffalo (dir. Dan Piţa, Mircea Veroiu, Youssouff Aidaby, Petre Bokor, Andrei Cătălin Băleanu, Romania, 1970) – A documentary that describes the catastrophe of the devastating floods in the spring of 1970 in Romania. It is known as a film-manifesto, asserting an aesthetic and an ethical attitude associated with a new generation of filmmakers, “the 70s generation”.
• The Tied Up Balloon (dir. Binka Zhelyazkova, Bulgaria, 1967) – A film based on a real story. A military balloon from World War II reached the skies of a Bulgarian village. The villagers decided to take it down to make clothes from the silky material of the balloon.
• Anna’s Engagement (dir. Pantelis Voulgaris, Greece, 1972) – The family gathers for Miss Anna’s first meeting with her suitor.
• Four Women of Egypt (dir. Tahani Rached, Canada/Egypt, 1997) – The documentary revolves around four Egyptian friends with opposing religious, social, and political views.
• Come Back, Africa (dir. Lionel Rogosin, USA/South Africa, 1959) – Desperate to support his family, Zachariah, a young Zulu man, leaves his starving village and goes to Johannesburg to work in the gold mines. He settles in a city dominated by apartheid and is hit by numerous bans that restrict any movement.

The Short Film Competition includes 12 shorts that present the bold and modern perspectives of young professionals:

Bella, dir. Thelyia Petraki, 24’, hybrid (fiction-documentary), Greece, 2020

Digital Voodoo, dir. Antanas Skučas Julius Zubavičius, 2’, animation, Lithuania/UK, 2020

Five Tiger, dir. Nomawonga Khumalo, 11’, fiction, South Africa, 2020

Love Stories on the Move, dir. Carina Gabriela Daşoveanu, 21’, fiction, Romania, 2021

Nexting, dir. Karina Logothetis, 11’, fiction, Greece/USA, 2021

Once Upon a Time in the Café, dir. Noha Adel, 16’, fiction, Egypt, 2021

Ruby & Roach, dir. Erentia Bedeker, 9’, animation, South Africa, 2020

Santiago, dir. Andrey Koulev, 16’, animation, Bulgaria, 2021

The Deer Hunting, dir. Andrei Olănescu, 22’, fiction, Romania, 2020

The Interrogation, dir. Urtė Sabutytė, 14’, fiction, Lithuania, 2021

We Come One by One and We Leave at One’s Time, dir. Mihnea Toma, 20’, documentary, Romania, 2020

What We Don’t Know About Mariam, dir. Morad Mostafa, 25’, fiction, Egypt, 2021

The head of the jury is Greek film and theater director Vassilis Vafeas. The selection of the films was made by the festival board consisting of Mirona Radu (director, producer, Romania), Andrew Mohsen (film critic, director of the artistic office of the Cairo Film Festival) and Dian Weys (director, screenwriter, South Africa).

Besides the screenings, the festival organizes two dedicated online debates:

Industry Talk: Unveiling Cinematic Heritage

The discussion will address topics such as: what does our cinematic heritage consist of, how can we reach a broader audience, what means can we develop to draw attention, how can we increase access to classic movies?

The registration form is available here.

Industry Talk: Opportunities of collaboration on 25th Meridian East – The festivals’ landscape

What solutions are there for art films to reach the general public? The discussion will revolve around topics such as festival opportunities, film workshops, film production incentives and training programs that can encourage creative collaborations between film industry professionals.

The registration form is available here.

Film O’Clock International Festival will take place in Romania between March 1-6, at the Peasant Museum Cinema in Bucharest. Tickets are available on Eventbook. For more details, visit the festival website.

Melissa Antonescu

Writer, photographer and videographer. For Films in Frame she writes news about the latest happenings in the film world and brings to the readers' attention the productions that can be seen at the cinema. When she's not writing articles, she's photographing people in a small studio or searching for new cake recipes.