Milano Film Festival - eleventh edition 15 - 24 September 2006


The Films in Competition


One year of commitment. A thorough search among film schools, producers, distributors and independent festivals.
From Mexico to Korea, from South Africa to Finland, from the United States to Palestine, from New Zealand to India, from Chiapas to France.
More than 2000 films have been submitted from over 90 countries: among them, the selection committee has chosen the films that will take part in this year's edition of the international competition.

After a long and tireless commitment to viewing, discussion, exchange and debate, this year's selection marks a path made of images and sounds which cross the different aspects of contemporary society. It moves from the suburbs of the world to the outskirts of the cities, goes through everyday lives and relevant social, ethical and political issues, so as to offer the festivalgoers the widest overview on young international and independent film production.
This is therefore a varied group of films and filmmakers: they make up one of the most diverse and rich selections seen in recent years at the Festival. Being so diverse, it really reflects a complex reality, which is often difficult to understand, and may leave us astonished, puzzled, scared, amused, surprised, amazed, shocked, but never unmoved.

One of the main aims is to promote and give young and less known directors a chance to emerge: the Festival has decided to support them because of the high quality of their films.

The films are screened without being divided into categories. They will all be screened in original language with Italian and English subtitles, and their directors are invited to present their works to the festival audience.


International Feature Film Competition

"The Blood of My brother" by Andrew Berends (USA) tells the tragedy of an Iraqi family grieving at the tragic death of the eldest son.
"Een ander zijn geluk" (Someone Else's Happiness) by the Belgian director Fien Troch, who took part in the short film competition in the past, is a bitter portrait of indifference and resentment in a small village.
"Lai Xiao Zi" (Walking on the wild side) by Han Jie (China) is a gripping study of drifting youth in the mining province of Shanxi, Northern China, in the early '90s. Experimenting with new found freedom in a post-socialist economy, three high school boys, "sworn brothers", dream of freedom and easy money. But life catches up with them…
"Marilena de la P7", by the Rumanian director Cristian Nemescu (whose short films took part in the 2001 and 2003 competition) is the story of the 13-year-old Andrei, a teenager living at the outskirts of Bucharest, who decides one day to steal a bus in order to impress Marilena, a prostitute he fell in love with. It is a study on the - sometimes small, sometimes big - reasons that make us turn from children into teenagers.
"Things that hang from Trees" is the first work by the 25-year-old Ido Mizrahy (USA). The film is the story of a 8-year-old boy who becomes the target of the aggravation of the inhabitants in his town, and of his family, the victim of their preconceptions.
"Vier Fenster", a German film by Christian Moris Müller (Staff Award at the Milano Film Festival in 2002) is the story of a family, of 4 people who want to get away from each other, but they clasp each other even more firmly.

The Short Film Competition includes 51 films, such as "458nm", the story of the romantic meeting of two mechanical Snails; "Hobby Metal", by the 22-year-old Uruguayan Maximiliano Contenti, a detailed analysis of a guy and his permanent obsession, and a study of the point to which he can be drawn; the three Italian shorts: "Manila" and "Come a Cassano", that depict the wish to stand out from everyday life and standards, and "Quartiere Isola", on the changes undergone by a traditional district in Milan; the Irish documentary "Toth", which succeeds in creating a sensitive description of the relationship between a father and a son; "Willow Drive", by Jakob Rorvik (England); and "Carlitopolis", by the French director Nieto Luis, an ironical and sometimes grotesque representation of the difference between reality and fiction.