Visions of Europe
2004 · Movie · 140 min. · Denmark
The idea is simple: Twenty-five countries, twenty-five visions from respected film directors from each of the respective countries that form the new European Community. Each director will give a personal vision of current or future life in this coming cultural melting pot. The conditions are equally simple: Absolute freedom of expression. All films receive the same amount of money – regulated to a EU-index. The length of each film is set to five minutes. The shooting format will be compatible to television 16:9. When the first Nations began working together in the 1950’s to form what later became the EU, the idea was met with excitement and scepticism. Later other countries joined the community, and at the Copenhagen Summit, the latest enlargement of the EU was confirmed; twenty-five member Nations. Envisioning the collaboration of twenty-five different countries, encompassing an even greater number of languages, could be considered a tremendous and potentially haphazard project. Yet throughout Europe, the number of supporters believing in the idea has constantly balanced the number of sceptics. Regardless of personal leaning, the EU is now a fact of life. Focus on the differences and they are there to be seen. Look for similarities and they might just be found. Europe is filled with differences, National and regional, urban and agricultural, culinary and cultural, social and political. Some inhabitants’ travel extensively, others may never leave their home region. Commodities appear from all over the world. Television brings all aspects of existence into our living rooms. Traditions of power, use and misuse, administrative and political influence, taxation, military prowess, Education, health service, crime and crime prevention, foreign affairs, immigration, colonial heritage, wage systems, unemployment benefit, and so on and so forth… all these aspects are poured into a joint multi-lingual melting pot, and stirred by the hands of a diversity of chefs, with an equal diversity of interest. Borders vanish; National currency disappears, sovereign laws and rules become predetermined by common European regulations. A mere glance at the foregoing three hundred years of European history shows an ever-changing map of a fluctuant Europe. The elements of understanding of our personal lives, captured in words like identity, roots, national pride, heritage, and so on, are being affected. A small piece of the jigsaw might reflect the whole puzzle. This project hopes that each director will individually grasp whatever piece of the puzzle that attracts them and give us a personal artistic vision of the phenomena called Europe. It is important to underline that this is not a EU project in itself. The aim is neither to promote the EU, nor to deny it.
Direction Fatih Akin · Barbara Albert · Šarūnas Bartas · Andy Bausch · Christoffer Boe · Francesca Comencini · Stijn Coninx · Tony Gatlif · Sasa Gedeon · Christos Georgiou · Constantine Giannaris · Theo van Gogh · Peter Greenaway · Miguel Hermoso · Ágnes Hranitzky · Arvo Iho · Aki Kaurismäki · Damjan Kozole · Laila Pakalnina · Kenneth Scicluna · Martin Sulík · Malgorzata Szumowska · Béla Tarr · Jan Troell · Teresa Villaverde · Aisling Walsh
Cast Safia Aggoune · Abel Alves · Benzirar Baroudi · Ina-Marija Bartare · Vít Bednárik · Konrad Bugaj · Marieclaire Camilleri · Silvio Catania · Catherine Constant · Mohamadou Moudamou Diao · Runa Egilsdóttir · Tara Elders · Pieter Embrechts · Godwin Farrugia · Palmira Fernandes · Mannix Flynn · FM Einheit · Rona Hartner · Markus Hering · Barbara Horvathova · Marios Ioannou · Androulla Irakleous · Aleksas Jermolenko · Antonis Katsaris · Franci Kek · Theodoros Kemis · Elinor Kimmel · Christian Kmiotek · Lukasz Kozub · Lubica Krenova · Dimitris Ksystras · Agathe L'Huillier · Marion Lecrivain · Rupert L. Lehofer · Mariana Lopes-Alves · Marco Lorenzini · Leïla Makhlouf · Huttová Margita · Adele Markauskiene · Abdel Mekraza · Eileen Micallef · Philip Mizzi · Gustavo Monge · Henning Moritzen · Peter Musevski · Janis Nords · Kadri Oim · Angus Okanume · Andros Pafios · Bojan Pancev · Gintare Parulyte · Walter Persche · Rimas Petravieius · Matjaz Puc · Ilmar Raag · Henrikas Rachkus · Alan Rees · Kathrin Resetarits · Brazelina Rodriques · Virginia Rodriques · Jean-Pierre Roland · Carl Gösta Rüster · Athina Sarla · Franck Sasonoff · Sonja Schmid · Birte Schultz · Phoebe Scott · Hervé Sogne · Karol Spisák · Julija Steponaityte · Yiorgos Striftaris · Ben Stuart · Bing Tang · Cecilie Thomsen · Johanna Troell · Agneta Ulfsäter-Troell · Sofie Van Moll · Ivica Vidovic · Adam Walicki · Elizabeth White · Laura Wiek · Monika Winiarczyk · Marek Zawierucha · Olga Zuiderhoek · Idil Üner
Soundtrack Abel Alves · Architorti · Magnus Dahlberg · Akis Daoutis · Nono García · Michalis Georgiou · Vladimír Godár · Tom Kestens · Vytautas Leistrumas · Francis Lemarque · Igor Leonardi · Paul McDonnell · Robert Schumann · Serge Tonnar · Mihály Víg
Screenplay Fatih Akin · Barbara Albert · Šarūnas Bartas · Andy Bausch · Christoffer Boe · Stijn Coninx · Michal Englert · Mannix Flynn · Tony Gatlif · Sasa Gedeon · Christos Georgiou · Koumouros Georgiou · Constantine Giannaris · Peter Greenaway · Miguel Hermoso · Arvo Iho · Aki Kaurismäki · Damjan Kozole · Jean Pierre Magro · Laila Pakalnina · Priit Pärn · Martin Sulík · Malgorzata Szumowska · Hans Teeuwen · Jan Troell
Cinematography Ali Asad
Original title Visions of Europe
5.8
164 votes (FilmAffinity)
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