MedFilm Festival: a forum and a long screening list

A forum called 'New Boundaries of Europe, between West and East' took place on Monday morning in the European Parliament's Hall of Flags in Rome. Attended by many diplomats, it was organized to dovetail with the annual MedFilm Festival, showcasing the best of Euro-Mediterranean cinema under the leadership of Ginella Vocca. Attending were Silvia Francescon, who directs the Rome office of the European Council on Foreign Relations; MEPs Silvia Costa and Marco Scurria; Slovenian Ambassador Iztok Miroi; Moroccan Ambassador Hassan Abouyoub; Cypriot Ambassador Leonidas Markides; Croatian ambassador Damir Grubia; journalists Maurizio Caprara (Corriere della Sera) and Karima Moual (Sole 24 Ore); and Ginella Vocca. The debate, introduced by the director of the European Commission delegation to Italy, was moderated by ANSA foreign news chief editor Stefano Polli. Concurrently at the festival, today's screenings include 'Boiling Dreams,' by Moroccan director Hakim Belabbes, about a father who plans to immigrate illegally into Spain; 'Beyond the Hill,' by Turkish director Emin Alper, which screened at the Berlin Festival and won the Caligari Film Prize and a Jury Special Mention for Debut Film. A series of shorts from Slovenia, this year's guest of honor, will be screened this afternoon at 4:30pm in the Kodak Hall. They will be competing for the Methexis Prize, among them, 'Hundred Dogs' by Jan Cvitkovi, who will be present. They will be followed by the New Europe section competition for the Lux prize. Among the competitors will be animated documentary 'Father', a Bulgarian-Croatian-German co-production by five young directors, followed by a screening og 'Turn off the Lights' by Ivana Mladenovic. Tonight at 8pm, Iranian actress Leila Hatami, who starred in Oscar-winner 'A Separation,' will introduce her new film, 'The Last Step' by Ali Mosaffa. Following will be Srdjan Dargojevic's 'The Parade,' about a war hero turned crime boss, who ends up doing security for Belgrade's Gay Pride parade. At 8:30pm, two documentaries will compete for the Open Eyes Doc Prize, organized by Gianfranco Pannone for the second year. These are 'Ich Liebe Dich', by Turkish filmmaker Emine Emel Balci, and 'Les Invisibles' by French director Sebastien Lifshitz. Pablo Fendrik's El Asaltante screens at the Cervantes Institute, tonight at 9pm.