Pix in the Berlin mix
Fest's Young Cinema Euro titles announced
The world premiere of two Finnish films follows last year's coup of vet Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki's "Juha." This year, Markku Lehmuskallio's "Seven Songs From the Tundra" and Auli Mantila's "Geography of Fear," about a group of women dealing with male violence, rep Finland.
In Johan van der Keuken's "The Long Holiday" from the Netherlands, the director confronts his own battle with cancer.
A number of this year's pics deal with politics.
Empire builders
Amongthese are "The Making of a New Empire" by Jos de Putter, as well as the Croatian satire, "Marshall Tito's Spirit," in which the tourist industry on the island of Adria is blown apart when some locals claim to have seen Marshall Tito's spirit.
The Greek entry, "The Four Seasons of the Law" by Dimos Avdeliodis, follows four policeman in the countryside.
From Italy, "TheHeadisSpinning" by Alessandro Piva is a small gangster film based in the town of Bari, and Marco Pozzi's "20-Twenty" tells the journeys of a porn actress and a TV journalist in 20 episodes.
From the East
Three films represent Eastern Europe: the Polish "Wojaczek," the Bulgarian "Glass Marbles," about two friends coming to terms with post-socialist Bulgaria, and "Passion Boulevard," a Russian film by Wladimir Chotinenko.
French language pics include Claire Denis' "Beau Travail," which is described as a "homo-erotic ballet of violence and passion," as well as "La Voleuse de Saint Lubin" by Claire Devers.
British entry is "I Could Read the Sky" by Nichola Bruce.
