Not to be confused with Haider Rashid’s 2021 thriller of the same name, drama Europa (2023) from Iranian-Austrian writer-director Sudabeh Mortezai was nominated for Best Film in Official Competition at Lff 2023. A slow-burn thriller of corporate defiance and corruption set in rural Albania, it stars German actor Lilith Stangenberg in the lead role of Beate Winter, an ambitious executive of a mysterious corporation called ‘Europa’ that must persuade locals to part with land and livelihoods for unclear, nefarious reasons – all for the euro and not the environment.
The term ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ aptly fits here, as a compelling, stoic and quite ambiguous Stangenberg as Beate ‘hunts’ around stunning countryside, targeting her prey, befriending them and then spinning stories of woe or enlightenment to make the kill and get the contracts signed. With her male assistant Lasse (Tobias Winter) in tow, there is a sense that both are ‘stuck’ in...
The term ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ aptly fits here, as a compelling, stoic and quite ambiguous Stangenberg as Beate ‘hunts’ around stunning countryside, targeting her prey, befriending them and then spinning stories of woe or enlightenment to make the kill and get the contracts signed. With her male assistant Lasse (Tobias Winter) in tow, there is a sense that both are ‘stuck’ in...
- 10/20/2023
- by Lisa Giles-Keddie
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
"Albanian tradition. She should show respect." Memento Films has revealed a festival promo trailer for a film titled Europa, the latest from an Austrian-Iranian filmmaker named Sudabeh Mortezai. This recently premiered at the 2023 Sarajevo Film Festival, with extra stops at more European fests in the fall. Not to be confused with the harrowing refugees in Europe thriller also titled Europa from just last year. This Austrian production is about a woman named Beate, played by Lilith Stangenberg, an ambitious executive working at "Europa", a mysterious multi-national corporation looking to expand into the Balkans region. Seemingly promoting philanthropy, Europa actually needs to buy off lands from locals in a remote valley in Albania. She encounters pushback from a local farmer who refuses to leave the land of his ancestors and refuses any deal. The cast includes Jetnor Gorezi, Steljona Kadillari, Mirando Sylari, and Tobias Winter. This reminds me of Toni Erdmann,...
- 8/28/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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