East End Film Festival

The East End Film Festival is one of the biggest film festivals in London. In this, its ninth year, the festival offers a 9-day packed programme of features, documentaries and shorts, plus film-focused discussions and live music and arts events spread across thirty East End venues. Running Thursday 22 April to Friday 30 April, the festival will screen over 200 films, showcasing an impressive range of premieres from across the globe. As well as screening the best of East European, Middle Eastern, and South East Asian cutting edge urban cinema, East End Film Festival endeavours to keep its feet firmly planted in East London – and to this end will put East End filmmakers in the spotlight by screening new films from local emerging talent. Films by British filmmakers include COWBOYS IN INDIA, SHED YOUR TEARS AND WALK AWAY, LAND GOLD WOMEN, ANA BEGINS and THE COST OF LOVE. The festival will also hark back to the East End of yesterday, with a specially commissioned programme of heritage films. Indeed, the festival opens with a gala screening of the digitally restored HD version of cult 1969 classic BRONCO BULLFROG; with another highlight being a free outdoor screening in Spitalfields Market of Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1927 thriller THE LODGER, accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by Minima. Mindful of the general election, there'll also be a selection of thought-provoking films themed around cultural politics, such as a new cinematic version of acclaimed stage play SUS; a programme of films screening at Amnesty International's Human Rights Action Centre including TIBET IN SONG and PRESUMED GUILTY; and a series of events, debates and gigs celebrating ROCK AGAINST RACISM. Other musical highlights include TAQWACORE: THE BIRTH OF PUNK ISLAM, a screening at Whitechapel Gallery of ALL THE YEARS OF TRYING alongside a debate on punk poetry, and the World Premiere of THE RIME OF THE MODERN MARINER. Screening in atmospheric St Anne's Church, this artist documentary narrated by musician Carl Barat explores the culture, community and folklore of the London Docks, with a live music score performed by composer Anthony Rossomando, Rose Elinor Dougall, and very special guests. A pop-up cinema at Village Underground will combine film, alternative music and live performance; including the UK Premiere of DOWNTOWN CALLING. International highlights include UK Premieres of THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA, and anticipated Polish feature PIGGIES. Russian filmmaker Aleksey Balabanov will visit the East End to present his two most recent films CARGO 200 and MORPHIA. For more information on these and other films, plus details of shorts programmes, networking events and masterclasses, visit www.eastendfilmfestival.com

Documentary

Celebrating documentary from shorts to features, homegrown to international, EEFF prides itself on bringing audiences a wide and eclectic mix of the best true-life stories we can find.


FEATURES
Bilal
Genesis, Saturday 24 April, 6.30pm
88 min | India | 2009 | Dir: Sourav Sarangi
At first glance, Bilal is a normal 3 year-old kid. He goes to school; he plays with other kids in his neighborhood; he teases his younger brother. But dig beneath the surface and there's something a little bit special about Bilal. Looks can be deceiving, you see. In fact, they can be totally redundant. Bilal and his brother can see perfectly well, but both their parents are blind. All four live in a 12' x 8' room in central Kolkata. It's a tiny, tangible universe. Independent filmmaker Sourav Sarangi spent the best part of a year filming in this absorbing environment. The result is Bilal, a documentary that's rightly proving one of this year's big successes on the international festival circuit.

Cowboys in India + Q&A
Genesis, Sunday 25 April, 3.30pm
77 min | UK | 2009 | Dir: Simon Chambers
Documentary filmmaker Chambers (Every Good Marriage Begins with Tears) visits Orissa, India, where tribal people fight with bows and arrows against multinational mining moguls from London, fighting to save a sacred mountain whose resources will supposedly bring prosperity to the people. Chambers, aided by two hopeless local guides, searches for answers amongst conflicting allegations, as the truth becomes more and more elusive, as accusations of murder and whether company-built hospitals and schools actually exist, land these investigators in bigger trouble than expected.