“This film is assembled exclusively out of Romanian advertisements produced during the post-socialist transition period. Having served a country newly emerged out of an economy of shortage as introduction to contemporary commodity culture, these ads all seem to communicate with one another despite their striking differences in style and product: they all depict a coherent fantasy world of fulfilled desires. Exploring the various facets of this utopian dream world with the toolkit of montage, the film turns the fictional and often ludicrous medium of advertising clips into a magnifying glass for the society’s desires, beliefs, hopes and fears.” (Radu Jude)
Eight Postcards From Utopia Opt ilustrate din lumea ideala
A found-footage documentary assembled exclusively out of post-socialist Romanian advertisements. Drawing from the debris of Romania’s long transition period, the film speaks about love and death, the human body and its frailty, the natural and the supernatural and of course, socialism and capitalism.
What's On
Additional Screening
Once Upon a Time in Soča Valley Nekoč v Posočju
Ema Kugler
Friday, 04. 04. 2025 / 16:15 / Main Hall
A poetic documentary about the old faith in the Soča Valley, passed down orally from generation to generation.
No Other Land No Other Land
Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
Friday, 04. 04. 2025 / 17:15 / Small Hall
Palestinian activist Basel Adra has been documenting for years how Israeli occupiers destroy villages in his home region of Masafer Yatta. While fighting to preserve his community, he forms an unexpected alliance with Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham…
LUX PRIZE
Intercepted Intercepted
Oksana Karpovič
Friday, 04. 04. 2025 / 18:15 / Main Hall
Ukrainian intelligence services have intercepted thousands of phone calls Russian soldiers made from the battlefield in Ukraine to their families and friends in Russia, painting a stark picture of the cruelty of war in a dizzying emotional tension. Juxtaposed with images of the destruction caused by the invasion, the voices of the Russian soldiers – ranging from being filled with heroic illusions to complete disappointment and loss of reason, from looting to committing more horrible war crimes, from propaganda to doubt and disillusionment – expose the whole scope of the dehumanizing power.