ERA New Horizons International Film Festival, named by the Polish Film Institute as the most significant film event in the country, is in full swing in the historic city of Wroclaw. Festivities began on July 22nd with the Polish Premiere of the Festival's opener Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Winner, Of Gods and Men (Des hommes et des dieux) by Xavier Beauvois. That same evening also saw the screening of a second French film, the kaleidoscopic Enter the Void, the latest masterpiece from enfant terrible Gaspar Noé, which screened to great acclaim at last year's Cannes Film Festival.

The Festival, which runs through August 1, will present over 500 films from 50 countries, including 240 features, most as Eastern European or Polish premieres. The Quay Brothers, Laura Mulvey, Philippe Mora, Zeki Demirkubuz and Daniel Szczechura will attend the retrospectives of their work. The festival will also pay tribute to French "nouvelle vague" pioneer Jean-Luc Godard and Poland's own Wojciech Jerzy Has, presenting full reviews of their works. Among the 350 international guests making the pilgrimage to Wroclaw are such highly respected film personalities as the master Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, the Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer and the post-modern Polish American artist Krzysztof Wodiczko.

The NEW HORIZONS International Jury includes the acclaimed American director Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation); the Polish animator and screenwriter Piotr Dumała (Franz Kafka, Crime and Punishment); the British artist and filmmaker Gideon Koppel (who was exhibited at the Tate Modern in London and MoMA in New York); the Polish film, opera and theatre director Mariusz Treliński (best known for successful adaptations of Puccini's Madame Butterfly and Mozart's Don Giovanni); and the Turkish filmmaker Yeşim Ustaoğlu (Journey to the Sun, Waiting for the Clouds).

The NEW HORIZONS International Competition will showcase fourteen contemporary films from around the world, all competing for the Grand Prix (€20 000) - the festival's highest honour awarded by the international jury. This year's selection is particularly strong on European and Asian titles. Among them there are: Veiko Õunpuu's The Temptation of St. Tony and Nikolay Renard's Mama. The competition includes one world premiere, the Polish director Adam Sikora's Expelled. The Festival program also includes seperate competitions for FILMS ON ART and NEW POLISH CINEMA.  The Festival is also presenting a non-competitive section of NEW CINEMA FROM TURKEY. 

For more information on this year's program, visit the official Festival website: http://www.enh.pl/. A recently announced off-shoot entitled the American Film Festival, the first Eastern European film event devoted solely to  American dramatic and documentary features, will take place from October 20 to 25, also in the city of Wroclaw. Annoucements on the competition sections and special programs will come out in September. 

ERA NEW HORIZONS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

1. Amer, dir. Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani, France / Belgium 2009
2. Püha Tõnu kiusamine / The Temptation of St. Tony, dir. Veiko Õunpuu, Estonia / Finland / Sweden 2009
3. Le quattro volte, dir. Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy / Germany / Switzerland 2010
4. Mama, dir. Nikolay Renard, Yelena Renard, Russia 2010
5. La bocca del lupo / The Mouth of the Wolf, dir. Pietro Marcello, Italy 2009
6. Viajo porque preciso, volto porque te amo / I Travel Because I Have to, I Come Back Because I Love You, dir. Marcelo Gomes, Karim Aïnouz, Brazil 2009
7. Ahasin Wetei / Between Two Worlds, dir. Vimukti Jayasundara, Sri Lanka 2009
8. Putty Hill, dir. Matt Porterfield, USA 2010
9. Refrains Happen Like Revolutions in a Song, dir. John Torres, Philippines 2010
10. Shit Year, dir. Cam Archer, USA 2010
11. Trash Humpers, dir. Harmony Korine, USA / Great Britain 2009
12. Mesa sto dasos / In the Woods, dir. Angelos Frantzis, Greece 2009
13. Expelled, dir. Adam Sikora, Poland 2009
14. Jao Nok Krajok / Mundane History, dir. Anocha Suwichakornpong, Thailand 2009

Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Circuit Editor