BEAST IFF: Expressions of Freedom

Total running time: 51min

Free entrance

Age rating: 13

Sala de Espetáculos

BEAST International Film Festival has been shining a light on the East European cinema landscape since its first edition in 2017.

While exploring the Balkans, Baltics or Post-Communism, BEAST IFF opened a cultural umbrella covering 22 countries, with a unique representation focusing on works and talents representing the new faces of the New East.

Organised by OKNA - Cultural Association in partnership with the City Council of Porto, the festival is establishing itself as a complex channel between Eastern Europe and Portugal, focused on audiovisual culture and socio-political topics. 

Among the represented countries by the festival, there is also Ukraine, the focus country of the second edition of the festival. We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, artists, friends, partners, and their families. We invite everyone to take a position against war and aggression and to try and support as much as possible our fellow Ukrainians. You can find on the event a list of ways in which you can help.

The Expressions of Freedom session is a showcase of cinematographic works made by young Ukrainian filmmakers or related to Ukrainian culture and society. 

Line up

The Wonderful Years

Realização: Svitlana Shymko, Galyna Yarmanova

Ucrânia; Ukraine | 9min | 2018 |  Documentário

During the Soviet era, Ukraine was a difficult place for members of the LGBT community, and even today the country remains less than welcoming to sexual minorities. Working with archival interviews of women from the past thirteen years, the film brings together two eras and thus contributes to a discussion of today’s situation.

ANNA

Realização: Dekel Berenson

Ucrânia; Ukraine | 15min | 2019 | Cor; Ficção

Anna, a middle-aged single mother, lives in a small industrial town in war-torn Eastern Ukraine. She works in a meat processing plant, lives in a rundown apartment and dreams for a better life for herself and her 16-year-old daughter. Desperate for a change, she is lured by a radio advertisement to attend a party organized for foreign men who are touring the country, searching for love.

The Close River

Realização: Marta Hryniuk

Polónia; Poland | 27min | 2020 | Cor; Documentário

Shot over the course of three weeks, in various locations in western Ukraine, The Close River is a poetic investigation of a region with multiple overlapping temporalities of colonisation and exploitation. The film traces shifting borders and markers of power, exploring how the histories of coexistence, violence and resistance are carved into the landscape and culture of the region, and ultimately how they shape contemporary ways of living.

Bookings: (+351) 937 202 918

viciosdemesa@maushabitos.com

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