A wide variety of movies from Jamaica to Uganda and South Africa to Japan. Directors and Q & A’s. Open air screenings. And nine movies from nine different countries competing for the World Cinema Jury Award. That is this year's World Cinema Festival in Amsterdam.
Human life is the central theme in many productions. Take Necktie Youth, a movie from South Africa. We meet youngsters from Sandton, one of the wealthier areas in the country. They have very little to fight for - privilege is their second name. It’s parties, drugs, alcohol and being online 24/7. Watch the trailer here.
Or take The Boda Boda Thieves, a Ugandan, Kenyan, South African and German co-production. An ‘African view’ on a famous European film classic, Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves), by Vittorio De Sica. Abel, an unemployed teenager, is part of group of frauds and petty criminals in Kampala. His father leads an honest life as a driver of a motorbike taxi, locally called the boda boda. After an accident, Abel takes over and uses the motorbike taxi for criminal duties. Things go very wrong, the boda boda ends up being stolen. Where to find it? Watch the trailer here.
World Cinema 2015 will screen at Rialto, De Balie, The Vondelpark Open Air Theater, Marie Heinekenplein and the Q-Factory. Highly recommended!
