Today, the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center announced the complete slate of films for the 2023 AFI European Union Film Showcase, taking place November 30–December 19 at the American Film Institute’s historic theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland. Now in its 36th year, the Showcase highlights 51 films representing all 27 EU member states, including award winners, regional box-office hits, debut works by up-and-coming talents and new works by leading auteurs, plus 21 of the top contenders for this year’s Academy Award® for Best International Feature Film and seven U.S. premieres. The Showcase is set to open with Juliette Binoche in Trần Anh Hùng’s French Oscar® selection THE TASTE OF THINGS. The film is a rapturous ode to French gastronomy, and the love between two people pursuing a shared passion, for which the director won the Best Director award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Director Trần Anh Hùng is expected to attend and participate in a Q&A to follow the screening.
The Closing Night selection is CREATURA (Spain), directed by Elena Martín Gimeno (JÚLIA IST), a powerful and frank story of a young woman’s sexual awakening and repression, featuring a fearless performance from Martín Gimeno, working from a script co-written with fellow Catalan filmmaker and screenwriter Clara Roquet (10,000 KM, LIBERTAD). CREATURA won the Europa Cinemas Award for Best European Film in the Directors’ Fortnight competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Filmmaker and actress Elena Martín Gimeno is expected to attend and participate in a Q&A to follow the screening.
Additional highlights include several eagerly anticipated new works from some of Europe’s best-known filmmakers, including Aki Kaurismäki’s (LE HAVRE, THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE) deadpan romance and Cannes Jury Prize winner FALLEN LEAVES (Finland), Finland’s official Oscar® submission; Agnieszka Holland’s (EUROPA EUROPA, SPOOR) urgent refugee drama GREEN BORDER (Poland), winner of the Special Jury Prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival; Steve McQueen’s (12 YEARS A SLAVE, SHAME) rigorous World War II documentary OCCUPIED CITY (Netherlands); Alice Rohrwacher’s (HAPPY AS LAZZARO, LA PUPILLE) funny, folkloric and romantic drama LA CHIMERA (Italy) following English expat archaeologist Josh O’Connor in 1980s Tuscany; and Wim Wender’s breathtaking documentary ANSELM 3D (Germany), which explores the life and work of artist and iconoclast Anselm Kiefer.
Other standouts from among the 21 official Best International Feature Film Oscar® submissions featured in this year’s lineup are Jonathan Glazer’s (UNDER THE SKIN, BIRTH) Cannes Grand Prix winner THE ZONE OF INTEREST (UK/Poland), a startling Holocaust drama set outside the walls of Auschwitz; THE PROMISED LAND (Denmark), a rollicking period Danish Western starring Mads Mikkelsen (ANOTHER ROUND, A ROYAL AFFAIR); THE PEASANTS (Poland), another crowd-pleasing oil-painted animated film from the team behind LOVING VINCENT; Matteo Garrone’s (GOMORRAH) stirring Senegalese refugee drama ME CAPTAIN (Italy); the U.S. Premieres of submissions from Croatia (TRACES) and Latvia (MY FREEDOM); and visiting filmmaker guests from the Portuguese (BAD LIVING director João Canijo) and Luxembourgish (THE LAST ASHES director Loïc Tanson) submissions.
View the full lineup and learn more about ticket and passes information at AFI.com/Silver/EUShowcase.
