13th European Film Festival
Press Release
MEDIA RELEASE
13th European Film Festival South Africa Programme Announced
It’s back! The 13th European Film Festival South Africa presents the latest award-winning and star-studded European films, for local audiences to experience in cinemas around South Africa from 17 to 27 September as well as online. This year’s theme is family. As the world faces ever faster and enormous changes, the festival’s offerings from across the continent paint intimate human portraits of family in all its different forms as vital to personal, psychological and social survival. This year’s programme boasts 12 films including new work from Oscar-winning directors Paweł Pawlikowski and Paolo Sorrentino; social realist legends, the Dardenne Brothers; BAFTA-winning feature debutant Akinola Davies Jr; as well as intriguing and entertaining work from both veteran and emerging European cinematic storytellers. Featuring impressive performances from the cream of European talent including Mads Mikkelsen, Javier Bardem, Sandra Hüller and Carice van Houten, and a host of newcomers ably meeting the challenges of demanding, emotional roles. The 13th edition of South Africa’s premier festival for cinema-lovers explores family and its realities and challenges across time, place and genre.
Opening the festival is The Last Viking, with Denmark’s star Mads Mikkelsen, leading the star-studded cast of this madcap, blackly comic Danish family-drama/crime-caper-noir about brothers, mental health, past secrets, the Beatles and getting by with more than a little bit of help from your friends.
Porcelain War (Ukraine), directed by Brendan Bellomo and this stunning documentary’s key protagonist, Slava Leontyev, is an inspirational Oscar-nominated film in which Leontyev, his wife, and their friend tell, at great personal risk and with footage they shot, the story of how their lives as artists were brutally upended by the war against Ukraine. Now, with roles as Ukrainian soldiers – they’ve never lost their passion for art and nature as they risk everything for family, nation and freedom.
Germany’s offering Fatherland, directed by Oscar-winning director Paweł Pawlikowski (Ida and Cold War), European cinema’s master of visual and narrative precision, delivers a tightly controlled, intimate, and heart-breaking portrait of German literature’s legendary Thomas Mann as he and his daughter make a journey across a nation trying to grapple with grief and the horrors of the past as the Cold War rages. Winner of the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Festival, the film stars Oscar-nominated Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall).
In Young Mothers (Belgium), the multiple award-winning Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne paint a small, gritty, and empathetic portrait of the struggles of young mothers. Abandoned by their families and society, these courageous and anxious young women support each other as they make the first of many tough adult decisions of their lives. Winner of the Best Screenplay award at Cannes this year.
Oscar- and BAFTA-winning leading Italian director Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) reteams with collaborator Toni Servillo in La Grazia (Italy). Servillo won a Best Actor statue at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in this elegantly styled, intimate drama about fathers, daughters, love, duty and the eternal question of “who owns our days?”- set against the grubby backdrop of Italian politics.
Colours of Time (France), directed by Cédric Klapisch is a family drama that weaves together stories from one family’s 19th century past and their 21st century present. A memorably delightful and touching exploration of art, family and history.
Oscar winner Javier Bardem gives a brooding performance as the fictional, acclaimed, mercurial Spanish film director Esteban Martínez in The Beloved (Spain). Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Martinez returns to his homeland to film a colonial-era period drama set in the Western Sahara. The film unravels the fragile relationship between fathers and daughters and asks difficult questions about personal sacrifices made in service of art.
In A Family (Netherlands) Dutch director Mees Peijnenburg offers a powerful window on divorce in modern Europe, told empathetically through the eyes of a brother and sister trying to each find their own ways and hopefully a path together through the aftermath of the bitter war between their parents. It stars Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones) and Pieter Embrechts.
Veteran award-winning Polish director Agnieszka Holland offers an energetic and generally bright biopic about the enigmatic literary genius Franz Kafka, in Franz (Poland). The film contemplates its protagonist, his difficult relationship with his father, and imagines how his legacy might be celebrated in the future.
Ireland’s Christy is the debut feature from Brendan Canty that has picked up many nominations and awards at this year’s Irish Film and TV Awards for its tender direction and impressive lead performance from Danny Power as the title character – a teenager with a murkily remembered tragic past, who, after he is kicked out of his latest foster home, returns to Cork to stay with his estranged brother. As he tries to figure out his future, he rediscovers the relationship with his brother and begins to imagine a home among people in a place he might yet grow to know and love.
The extraordinary and original, Aquí (Portugal) is director Tiago Guedes’ ambitious, epic and suitably enigmatic adaptation of the Jesus trilogy of novels by South African Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee. It stays true to its source material’s humanist hopes, despairs and probing of the eternal philosophical questions that keep families and societies eternally (and anxiously) moving onward.
Winner of the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut, My Father’s Shadow (UK), British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr’s first feature marks the arrival of a vital, bold new voice in world cinema. Poetically realised, with haunting imagery and bustling, vivid, angry life, it’s a deeply personal film that is a tribute not only to its creators’ own father, but to all parents who face the struggles to keep their families alive and together at all costs.
The festival pays tribute to the tireless dedication and vision of a former co-director of the festival Peter Rorvik, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Peter was a passionate supporter of independent films, and nurtured a generation of film lovers and filmmakers across South Africa and beyond for decades.
The 13th European Union Film Festival South Africa takes place from September 17 to 27, 2026 in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria. For the full programme and schedule follow on social media or go to www.eurofilmfest.co.za
The 13th European Film Festival South Africa brings together 12 films from 12 European countries. Belgium • Denmark • France • Germany • Ireland • Italy • The Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Spain • Ukraine • United Kingdom. Ukraine's participation is supported by Austria, Flanders, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.
Produced by the Encounters South African International Documentary Festival.
Facebook: @EUFFS https://www.facebook.com/EUFFSA/
Instagram: @euffsa : : https://www.instagram.com/euffsa
Trailer
Films
AQUÍ (2026) 🎬
An ambitious, epic adaptation of Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee’s Jesus Trilogy, directed by Tiago Guedes. This surreal drama follows a makeshift family navigating a strange, conformist land with no memory of their past.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: Portugal / France
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 3h 24min (204min)
- Language: Spanish (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Manolo Solo, Patricia López Arnaiz, Álex Peláez, Lambert Wilson, Sergi López
- Festivals: Cannes Première (Official Selection 2026)
📝 Synopsis
In a mysterious world where everyone arrives with washed memories, Simón arrives guarding a motherless boy named David. After convincing a stranger, Inés, to act as the boy's mother, the non-biological family tries to navigate a bureaucracy that quietly enforces conformity. As David grows, he proves to be wise beyond his years, stubborn, and blessed with an innocence that attracts a strange circle of devotees.
The Beloved (El ser querido) 🎬
A tightly wound psychological thriller from director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, starring Javier Bardem as a mercurial, Oscar-winning director who returns to Spain to shoot a period drama and attempts to reconnect with his estranged actress daughter.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: Spain / France
- Genre: Intense Family & Psychological Drama
- Runtime: 2h 15min (135min)
- Language: Spanish (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Javier Bardem, Victoria Luengo, Melina Matthews, Marina Foïs, Raúl Arévalo
- Festivals: Cannes Première (Official Selection 2026 — World Premiere May 16, 2026)
📝 Synopsis
Acclaimed Spanish director Esteban Martínez (Javier Bardem) returns home to film a colonial-era period drama in Western Sahara. He extends a surprise offer to his adult, estranged daughter Emilia (Victoria Luengo), hoping to rebuild their fractured relationship after a decade apart. Though hesitant, Emilia agrees. Once out in the desert, the two engage in quiet, Hitchcockian power games, cautiously studying and frustrating each other as they head toward an inevitable confrontation that threatens to unleash years of deeply buried trauma.
Christy 🎬
An award-winning, heart-wrenching yet hopeful Irish social realist drama directed by Brendan Canty. This emotionally punchy debut features a standout lead performance by Danny Power as a teenager searching for belonging in Cork.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: Ireland / United Kingdom
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 1h 34min (94min)
- Language: English
- Cast: Danny Power, Diarmuid Noyes, Emma Willis, Helen Behan, Chris Walley, Alison Oliver
- Festivals & Awards: Berlinale Grand Prix Winner • Best Irish Film (Galway Film Fleadh) • 4 IFTA Awards (including Best Film & Best Director)
📝 Synopsis
After getting kicked out of his latest foster home, 17-year-old Christy (Danny Power) returns to Cork to move in with his estranged older brother. As he tries to figure out his future, he is forced to confront dark secrets from his tragic past. While navigating these painful revelations, Christy begins to rebuild a bond with his brother and rediscover his place within a vibrant, working-class community that he might finally call home.
Colours of Time (La Venue de l'avenir) (2025) 🎬
A sumptuously realized, charming comedy-drama from director Cédric Klapisch. This delightful film weaves together stories from one family’s 19th-century past and their 21st-century present in a touching exploration of art, history, and connection.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: France / Belgium
- Genre: Comedy, Drama
- Runtime: 2h 04min (124min)
- Language: French (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Suzanne Lindon, Abraham Wapler, Vincent Macaigne, Julia Piaton, Zinedine Soualem
- Festivals & Awards: Cannes Film Festival (Official Selection 2025) • Audience Award Winner (The American French Film Festival 2025) • RiverRun International Film Festival 2026
📝 Synopsis
When four cousins—completely strangers to one another—jointly inherit an old estate in rural Normandy, their investigation into their ancestors' lives transports them back to 19th-century Paris during the dawn of the Impressionist age. As their deep dive uncovers long-buried family secrets, the cousins discover that despite their modern differences, they are all profoundly shaped by a shared history they never truly knew.
Online Trailer/Clip https://youtu.be/_sTdOm2BID8?si=6t_JproGcvxXdkdZ
A Family (2026) 🎬
A quiet, powerful window into modern divorce from Dutch director Mees Peijnenburg. Told empathetically through the eyes of a brother and sister, this heartfelt drama explores a family caught in the crossfire of a bitter parental split.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: The Netherlands / Belgium
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 1h 27min (87min)
- Language: Dutch (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Celeste Holsheimer, Finn Vogels, Carice van Houten, Pieter Embrechts
- Festivals & Awards: Berlinale World Premiere (2026) • New Zealand International Film Festival (2026) • Biarritz Film Festival (2026)
📝 Synopsis
As their parents (played by Carice van Houten and Pieter Embrechts) wage a bitter, frustrating divorce war, young siblings Celeste Holsheimer and Finn Vogels are left to navigate the emotional wreckage. This quietly observed drama steps away from the adult conflict to focus entirely on the perspective of the children, following the brother and sister as they try to process their sadness, find their own way forward, and protect their bond with each other.
Online Trailer/Clip https://youtu.be/pEwRflNTSmY?si=l2lgvrzm5D6GRuLX
Fatherland (Vaterland) (2026) 🎬
An intimate, heartbreaking historical drama from Oscar-winning director Paweł Pawlikowski. Shot in stark black-and-white, the film follows legendary author Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika on an emotionally fraught journey across a grieving, fractured nation at the dawn of the Cold War.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: Poland / Germany / Italy / France
- Genre: Drama, Docudrama, History
- Runtime: 1h 22min (82min)
- Language: German (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Sandra Hüller, Hanns Zischler, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Anna Madeley
- Festivals & Awards: Cannes Film Festival In Competition (2026) • Best Director Winner (Paweł Pawlikowski, Cannes 2026)
📝 Synopsis
Set in 1949 against the backdrop of a post-WWII Germany trying to grapple with its past horrors, Fatherland centers on the complex, difficult relationship between writer Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller). As the pair travel across the divided nation, they must navigate personal grief, family trauma—including the struggles of Erika's brother Klaus (August Diehl)—and a rising political chill.
Online Trailer/Clip https://youtu.be/k6Gt4BZGK5c?si=yG1SclDrM_Toq2VD
Franz (2025) 🎬
An energetic, bright biopic from veteran director Agnieszka Holland. The film gently pushes genre boundaries to explore the elusive mystery of literary genius Franz Kafka, his troubled relationship with his father, and the future of his massive legacy.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: Czech Republic / Poland / Germany / France / Turkey
- Genre: Biography, Drama, History
- Runtime: 2h 07min (127min)
- Language: German, Czech, Yiddish, English, French, Japanese (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Idan Weiss, Peter Kurth, Daniel Dongres, Jenovéfa Boková, Sebastian Schwarz
- Festivals & Awards: World Premiere (Toronto International Film Festival 2025) • Best Actor Winner (Idan Weiss, Gdynia Film Festival)
📝 Synopsis
The film tackles the short life and outsized literary influence of Franz Kafka (Idan Weiss). It centers on the intense friction between the anxious, dreaming young writer and his overbearing, conservative father Hermann (Peter Kurth). While Franz remains dedicated to a craft that brings him neither money nor recognition, his choices infuriate his father, driving massive psychological tension through their fragile household.
Online Trailer/Clip https://youtu.be/q9e3FdvYQZs?si=wX7ANB_n0JfhOY-O
La Grazia (2025) 🎬
An elegantly styled, intimate drama from Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino. Set against the gritty backdrop of Italian politics, the film explores love, duty, and legacy as a leader prepares to step down from power.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: Italy
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 2h 12min (132min)
- Language: Italian (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Toni Servillo, Anna Ferzetti, Orlando Cinque
- Festivals & Awards: Venice Film Festival Premiere (2025) • Best Actor Winner (Toni Servillo, Venice 2025)
📝 Synopsis
Outgoing Italian president Mariano De Santis (Toni Servillo) prepares to leave the political stage while facing fateful final decisions. As memories of his late wife flood his mind and his loyal daughter Dorotea (Anna Ferzetti) works to support him, Mariano must confront long-unanswered questions from his past. Together, father and daughter navigate what kind of life he wants to live next and what legacy he will leave behind.
Online Trailer/Clip https://youtu.be/lyyzUH9v_8M?si=FpbjWHKP6cFbxwmR
The Last Viking (Den sidste viking) (2025) 🎬
A madcap, blackly comic crime-noir and moving family drama from director Anders Thomas Jensen. This anarchic Danish thriller reteams the director with superstar Mads Mikkelsen for a wild, emotional rollercoaster involving dysfunctional brothers, past secrets, and the Beatles.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Countries: Denmark / Sweden
- Genre: Dark Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Runtime: 1h 56min (116min)
- Language: Danish (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Sofie Gråbøl, Søren Malling
- Festivals & Awards: Venice Film Festival World Premiere (2025) • Toronto International Film Festival • Audience Award Winner (Danish Film Awards)
📝 Synopsis
Superstar Mads Mikkelsen leads a star-studded cast in this violent, hilarious crime caper about a highly dysfunctional family. Alongside a stellar supporting cast of Nordic noir legends like Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Sofie Gråbøl, the story follows brothers navigating mental health struggles and dark, long-buried family secrets. Supported by an eccentric circle of friends, the family's twisted journey delivers heavy genre thrills while packing a deeply moving emotional punch.
Online Trailer/Clip https://youtu.be/0Rr6oA5F02U?si=sS7VorClHDLPLVrZ
My Father's Shadow (2025) 🎬
A vital, bold feature debut from British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr. Co-written with his brother and inspired by memories of their own father, this poetic childhood-perspective drama features a career-best performance by Sope Dirisu alongside talented young newcomers.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: United Kingdom / Nigeria / Ireland
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 1h 34min (94min)
- Language: English, Yoruba (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Sope Dirisu, Chibuike Marvellous Egbo, Godwin Egbo
- Festivals & Awards: BAFTA Award Winner (Outstanding Debut) • Caméra d'Or Special Mention (Cannes Film Festival) • UK Official Submission for the 98th Academy Awards
📝 Synopsis
On a sweltering summer day in June 1993, bored brothers Remi and Akin are surprised when their usually absent father, Folarin (Sope Dirisu), unexpectedly takes them on an urgent trip to Lagos. As they travel toward the city, political tensions boil over due to the historic general election. Seen through the eyes of the young boys, the journey forces them to uncover unsettling truths about their father's past and present, leaving them caught in the middle of a major national uprising while desperately trying to make it back home to their mother.
Online Trailer/Clip https://youtu.be/drRLw7-ttp0?si=t0YNpS9XjLvwTPUA
Porcelain War (Порцелянова війна) (2024) 🎬
A beautiful, heartfelt Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev. The film captures the unbreakable spirit of Ukraine through the lives of three artists turned soldiers, proving that like porcelain, the people are easy to break but impossible to destroy.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: Ukraine / United States / Australia
- Genre: Documentary, War
- Runtime: 1h 27min (87min)
- Language: Ukrainian, Russian (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko, Andrey Stefanov
- Festivals & Awards: U.S. Grand Jury Prize Winner (Sundance 2024) • Academy Award Nominee (Best Documentary Feature 2025)
📝 Synopsis
When the Russian invasion brutally upends their lives, Ukrainian nature lovers and porcelain artists Slava Leontyev, his wife Anya, and their friend Andrey Stefanov choose to stay behind on the frontlines. Filmed at great personal risk using footage shot by the subjects themselves, this documentary charts their transformation into active soldiers. Amid the horrors of the warzone, the trio fiercely retains their passion for art and delicate craftsmanship as they fight for their families, freedom, and country.
Online Trailer/Clip https://youtu.be/87IqPSk7Te8?si=Jz7-Q_e-lu_iLWKZ
Young Mothers (Jeunes mères) (2025) 🎬
A gritty, deeply empathetic social realist drama from the legendary Palme d'Or-winning Dardenne brothers. The film paints an intimate portrait of resilient young women supporting one another through early parenthood after being marginalized by their families and society.
ℹ️ Film Info
- Country: Belgium / France
- Genre: Drama
- Runtime: 1h 45min (105min)
- Language: French (with English subtitles)
- Cast: Babette Verbeek, Elsa Houben, Janaina Halloy, Lucie Laruelle, Samia Hilmi
- Festivals & Awards: Cannes Film Festival Selection (Best Screenplay Winner) • Belgium's Official Submission for the 98th Academy Awards
📝 Synopsis
In the Belgian city of Liège, a group of young women—many still school-aged teenagers—find refuge at a local care shelter. Despite facing intense social stigma, poverty, addiction, and parental abandonment, they have courageously chosen to give birth. With only each other and the shelter's dedicated staff to rely on, these young mothers must confront deep issues of self-worth while learning to navigate the raw challenges of raising the next generation.
Online Trailer/Clip https://youtu.be/br3boRnJ_qE?si=d7CYo_v5FcvjARk6