The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today the complete slate of films for the 2017 edition of its AFI European Union Film Showcase, taking place December 1–20 at the historic AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, MD. This year's AFI European Union Film Showcase is presented in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. Now in its 30th year, the Showcase highlights the year's best European filmmaking, with 44 films representing 27 of the 28 EU member states, including international film festival award winners, regional box-office hits, debut works by promising new talents, nine U.S. premieres and 13 countries' official submissions for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award®.

This year's AFI European Union Film Showcase will open on December 1 with BORG VS MCENROE (Sweden), the narrative debut of Danish documentarian Janus Metz (ARMADILLO). The 1980-set film chronicles the rivalry between then four-time Swedish tennis champ Björn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason, A SERIOUS GAME, THE CIRCLE) and rising American star John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf). The film debuted as the Opening Night selection at this year's Toronto International Film Festival and also stars renowned Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård as Borg's laser-focused coach.

The Showcase closes with the U.S. Premiere of WILD MOUSE (Austria), actor-turned-director Josef Hader's (THE BONE MAN, STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE) hilariously dark debut about a revengedriven music critic (Hader) beset by an unexpected mid-life crisis.

Additional Showcase highlights include: two films starring Isabelle Huppert — Michael Haneke's  Cannespremiered social satire HAPPY END (Austria, France, Germany) and Laura Schroeder's (SCHATZRITTER) intelligent mother-daughter drama BARRAGE (Luxembourg, Belgium, France); IN THE FADE (Germany), Fatih  Akin's (THE EDGE OF HEAVEN, HEAD-ON) provocative look at domestic terrorism starring Diane Kruger, Best Actress Award winner at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival; ON BODY AND SOUL (Hungary), winner of the Golden Bear at the 2017 Berlinale; and this year's co-winners of the Cannes Directors' Fortnight SACD Prize, LET THE SUNSHINE IN (France), Claire Denis' crowd-pleasingly off-kilter romantic comedy starring Juliette Binoche, and LOVER FOR A DAY (France), Philippe Garrel's bittersweet tale of love and friendship, which stars his daughter Esther Garrel (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME).

The Showcase will also feature the U.S. premiere of Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's (CAESAR MUST DIE, THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS) WWII drama RAINBOW – A PRIVATE AFFAIR (Italy); THE WORKSHOP (France), the latest from Palme d'Or-winning director Laurent Cantet (THE CLASS); Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck's (I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO) Berlinale-premiered biopic THE YOUNG KARL MARX (Germany); breakout family drama CUSTODY (France), winner of the Best Director award at the 2017 Venice Film Festival; RACER AND THE JAILBIRD (Belgium), a Toronto-debuted heist thriller starring Matthias Schoenaerts (RUST AND BONE) and Adèle Exarchopoulos (BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR); Agnieszka Holland's (EUROPA, EUROPA, IN DARKNESS) dark eco-satire SPOOR (Poland); and the U.S. premieres of two acclaimed new thrillers — GUTLAND (Luxembourg), a rural neo-noir starring rising star Vicky Krieps (soon to appear opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in Paul Thomas Anderson's PHANTOM THREAD) and YOU DISAPPEAR (Denmark), Peter Schønau Fog's (THE ART OF CRYING) psychological mind-bender featuring Trine Dyrholm (A ROYAL AFFAIR, THE COMMUNE) and the late Michael Nyqvist (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO) in one of his final roles.

This year's lineup will also showcase four acclaimed documentaries: poignant WWII memoir NAPLES '44 (Italy), narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch; SEA SORROW (UK), a highly personal and timely examination of Europe's current refugee crisis from celebrated British actress Vanessa Redgrave; Gaelic music documentary SONG OF GRANITE (Ireland), a poetic look at beloved sean nós singer Joe Heaney; and fashion documentary FRANCA: CHAOS AND CREATION (Italy), an ode to the late Franca Sozzani, legendary editor-in-chief of Italian Vogue, directed by her son Francesco Carrozzini, who will appear in person to introduce the film on December 14.

Thirteen films in this year's Showcase are 2018 Oscar® submissions for Best Foreign Language Film: A CIAMBRA (Italy); BARRAGE (Luxembourg); HAPPY END (2017) (Austria); ICE MOTHER (Czech Republic); IN THE FADE (Germany); THE MINER (Slovenia); NOVEMBER (Estonia); ON BODY AND SOUL (Hungary); RACER AND THE JAILBIRD (Belgium); SONG OF GRANITE (Ireland); SPOOR (Poland); SUMMER 1993 (Spain); and YOU DISAPPEAR (Denmark).

Complete list of U.S. Premieres:
3/4 (Bulgaria)
GUTLAND (Luxembourg)
LITTLE HARBOUR (Slovakia)
THE MINER (Slovenia)
RAINBOW – A PRIVATE AFFAIR (Italy)
RAVENS (Sweden)
A VIOLENT LIFE (France)
WILD MOUSE (Austria)
YOU DISAPPEAR (Denmark)

A complete schedule of all festival screenings can be found here. For photos, contact Abbie Algar at AAlgar@AFI.com. For updated information and tickets, go to AFI.com/Silver/EUShowcase.