Vlissingen 2023: Twelve Recommendations

Perfect Days

This is the film which will open the festival on Friday evening with a special gala screening, but several regular ones are planned as well throughout the festival.

The new film from Wim Wenders deals with someone who seems perfectly content living alone, cleaning toilets in Tokyo, until a visit from a family member reveals there may be more to his reclusive lifestyle.

This was nominated for the Golden Palm in Cannes and lead actor Yakusho Kôji won the price for best actor there.

The Taste of Things

Speaking of Cannes, Trần Anh Hùng won the price for best director with this gentle period drama about one cook professing his love for the other by doing what he does best: cooking a perfect meal.

A review will follow soon.

White Plastic Sky

The festival doesn't refuse genre fare, as this ambitious science fiction animation from Hungary proves. Eight years in the making, the film shows Budapest a hundred years from now, in which people live in a secluded dome until they reach a certain age and are turned into trees.

Martin Kudlac reviewed the film at the Karlovy Vary festival earlier this year and really liked what he saw.

One Last Evening

A crowd favorite at the Rotterdam festival earlier this year, the film shows the last evening of a young couple about to move to a different city. They're holding a farewell party but, judging from the people that visit, what exactly are they saying goodbye to?

You can check out my full review here.

Nastassja Kinski & Paris, Texas

This year, actress Nastassja Kinski is a guest of honor at the festival, and after a talkshow with her, Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders (him again) will be shown with the actress present. That film is a certified masterpiece of cinema, a small drama elevated to great heights by the acting of Harry Dean Stanton, the cinematography by Robby Müller and the music by Ry Cooder.

Dark Satellites

Speaking of Nastassja Kinski, she happens to be a lead actress in this drama-anthology from Germany as well. The film shows several mismatched loners at night in the city of Leipzig, who gain an unexpected connection to each other. It's an international première and I will be writing a review.

Sira

And now for something completely different: basically a rape revenge thriller from Burkina Faso and Senegal. A caravan is attacked by ISIS-soldiers, who kill all the men and capture all the women, except for Sira who is raped and left for dead in the desert. But Sira knows the desert well and manages to survive long enough to reach an ISIS-camp. Stealing food and water, she contacts the sex-slaves held captive there, and it's the beginning of a very satisfying second half as the women start to fight back.

It's the winner of the audience award in Berlin earlier this year, and a review will follow soon.

Alma & Oskar

A historical drama about the affair Alma Mahler (widow of famous composer Gustav Mahler) had with the expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka. Alma Mahler was in her time often described as a decadent maneater, but she was an accomplished composer herself and a capable manager. Director Dieter Berner tries to show the whole picture, and a review will follow soon.

Under the Naked Sky

A world première, this Dutch film shows ten-year-old Elvie, living in a trailer in a forest with her mentally impaired mother, a loving but very naive woman. As time moves on, Elvie starts to understand the world around her in a way her mother will never be able to, which leads to frustration, loneliness and issues of trust.

A review will follow soon.

Blackmail & Goodfellas & Casablanca

There are more classics to see at the festival (besides Paris, Texas), and these include Casablanca and Scorsese's magnificent gangster drama Goodfellas. But the St. Jacobschurch will be hosting what may be the most special screening of the festival: Hitchcock's 1929 thriller Blackmail, in its silent version, with a live orchestra providing the music. Shown in the screenshot here is the film's iconic chase sequence through the British Museum.

Unicorn Wars

Alberto Vázquez' crazy fantasy epic, in which teddy-bears are stuck in a terrible war with the unicorns of the forest, is definitely worth a view. Cramming as many war film tropes in a film as possible, adding a rise-and-fall story of fascism and a turbo-charged mythology, Vázquez makes his film veer wildly between ridiculous and awesome.

Check my full review here.

Past Lives

In Celine Song's film, lifelong friends ponder how their lives might have been if they had had different relationships with each other. That sounds a bit maudlin and trite, but Song makes something really special out of it, judging from audiences' reception of the film.

Check out Shelagh's review here.

Vlissingen 2023: Twelve Recommendations

Ard Vijn, Editor, Europe; Rotterdam, The Netherlands (@ardvark23)

September 8 2023, 3:00 AM

Today sees the start of the 25th Film by the Sea Festival in the town of Vlissingen (Flushing), the Netherlands. Over the years, the festival grew from a pretty small event (5000 tickets sold) to one of the largest film festivals in the Netherlands (over 40,000 tickets sold).
The Festival focuses on worldwide cinema and is often the first chance for Dutch audiences to check out those titles that won awards in Cannes. This year, there is extra attention for films from France, and films which are adaptations of famous books.

So if you're near the South-West of the Netherlands and fancy some cinema along with a trip to the beach, here are twelve recommendations. Click on the sides of the pictures to get the next one. And do check out the festival's whole line-up though: there are over a hundred movies and events to enjoy!

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