Join us for this new edition of Eastern Neighbours Film Festival, where you will see the most recent, exciting films from the East and the South-East European countries.

SHARING STORIES
We strongly believe in coming together, sharing stories and learn from each other. And film is the perfect medium! Cinema has the power to bring people closer to each other, makes us understand each other’s culture better and deeper and – by giving us an inside view into the mentality and history of our neighbours – makes us appreciate and enjoy each other’s differences.

CINEMA
This new edition of ENFF brings real gems of the recent, engaging cinema of Eastern and Southeastern Europe – from 16 countries. Some of the chosen films are brave regarding the cinematic style; others are enchanting comedies or sharp social satires. We also present deep social dramas that will engage the audience in vibrant debates. The intriguing cinema program is accompanied by educational and practical side events. Through the screened films, organized meetings and masterclasses, we bring cultures together, aiming to create more knowledge and more tolerance.

AND MORE
ENFF is not just an event with high quality cinema. It is much more than that. We have specially designed the entire festival to initiate networking and new partnerships and create fun and unforgettable moments for every participant and cinema goer. Most of the selected films will have their Dutch premiere.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
Come and see for yourself how this festival shares positive messages, initiates cooperation and creates moments to remember. The presence of prominent guests, actors, directors, producers and their direct communication with the audience spices up the whole event. Next to that we taste wine from the region during the free wine tastings and have brunch with VIP guests.

ENFF PRESENTS FILMS FROM:
Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Our focus this year is entitled BORDERS; given borders outside and around us but also those inside us that make us fight our own demons, our own shortcomings, failures or disappointments. In several, rather poetic and meditative films we observe how we deal with others but also ourselves.
Film tips: BORDERS, LOST EXILE, THE DAWN OF DONBAS, A TWO WAY MIRROR

In the Romanian program we focus on the last 10 years – a time span that is usually irrelevant for significant historical change, but in the case of Romania the last decade meant quite the opposite. What kind of film stories emerge from Romania’s first 10 years within the EU?
Film tips: BREAKING NEWS, CABBAGE, POTATOES AND OTHER DEMONS

HOSTAGES AND BANDITS
Two amazing films that work like twins – in the fiction film HOSTAGES (premiered at Berlinale 2017), based on the true event in 1983, we follow the little known amazing event from Soviet Georgia when seven young intellectuals hijacked an Aeroflot plane with hundred plus passengers in an attempt to flee to the West, and in BANDITS, we learn about the same event through documentary elements.

MY AUNT IN SARAJEVO – OPENING FILM
Deeply moving and humorous drama. An obstinate Swedish daughter forces her father to confront his younger Bosnian self on a trip to Sarajevo where they find an unexpected twist in their life and souls.

REQUIEM FOR MRS. J
In this black comedy Mirjana Karanovic plays a sombre widowed mother of two, whose days are grim and depressing. She tries to prepare her own death. But even in Serbia today, as it seems in this film, dying is not an easy task. Mirjana Karanovic is one of our special guests this year. Join us for Brunch With… Mirjana on Saturday 4 November at 11.30 hours in Filmhuis Den Haag.

SCREAM FOR ME SARAJEVO
Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden and his solo band made a huge impact on youth in besieged Sarajevo. A compelling film full of music, memories and love.

THE CONSTITUTION
An intelligent comedy about many serious issues, prejudices that range from sexual orientation to the more heavy political ones, ethnic hatred, animosity between different social strata. However, the heavy topics are given lucidly with charm and accessible irony.

QUIT STARING AT MY PLATE – CLOSING FILM A gloomy drama about tension in a family, sexuality and the heavy social conditions of the middle class in contemporary Croatia. Nominated for the Oscars 2018.

ALL FILMS: HERE

In Het Nutshuis we screen films that stand as a barometer of the society where they are made; we present Dutch premieres of relevant documentaries and a collection of short fiction gems made by future masters from South Eastern Europe, including the Oscar-winning Hungarian film SING.

EASTERN NEIGHBOURS DINNER
Balkan dinner buffet in a Gipsy atmosphere in Juni Cafe, followed by two documentary films: SNAILS and CESKE VELENICE INFINITY.

EUNIC DAY OF LANGUAGES
Watch five different short films spoken in one of the languages from Eastern or Southeastern European countries. The screening is followed by a lecture from prof. and linguist Radovan Lucic.

WOUNDED GOLD. Guest: director Mustafa Hadziibrahimovic
An inside story about the unusual Bosnian sport club whose amazingly passionate members won the European, World and Olympic Championship.

EASTERN EUROPEAN FUTURE MASTERS
5 short films, Dutch premieres, made by rising stars: BORDERS, BLUE PETER, INVISIBLE, THE FALL OF LENIN and PLASTIC FLOWERS.

SALADE RUSSE AND MAYSKAYA STREET
Two Dutch premieres. The story of the Russian Perestroika laid on the table in SALADE RUSSE, and MAYSKAYA STREET, a dreamlike documentary of a splendid and cruel Belarus, stuck between a place of fear and hope.