NexT Film Festival prepares intricate lineup for takeoff

Short and medium-length intricate productions will be, as usual, part of the menu at the fifth edition of NexT International Film Festival. A “colorful” selection of films is described by organizers for this five-day feast for picture-goers, taking place between April 6th-10th at Cinema Scala, Cinema Elvira Popescu and the Carturesti Loft, in Bucharest.

This year’s competition comprises 26 titles, out of the 1000 enrolled, selected by Andrei Gorzo, the film critic and his co-selector for his year, Irina Trocan, the winner of NexT 2010’s critic competition. The directors and sound-designers of these movies are expected to attend the Festival, as NexT is also intended as a meeting place for all those who make films their passion. Besides these, a series of hors concours events will also take place, so that over 100 short and medium productions will be showcased throughout the festival’s duration. Among these, shorts awarded by the most important festivals in the world, films for kids, shorts made by students, debut feature films, absolute premiers from already well-known directors and many more, promise organizers.

NexT’s artistic director and well-known film critic, Andrei Gorzo, praises this year’s edition, which he describes as more “colorful” than ever before: “This year’s edition of festival will be loved by the audience more than any of the previous NexT competition editions. As we saw more and more of the films, we noticed, amazed, what a pleasant competition was starting to take shape. At a certain point we even started looking for some more uncomfortable films, so that the sets wouldn’t be like some sweet cakes, so easy to swallow. We started thinking of ways to make them harder to digest, but the way it all turned out, without our intention, made this year’s selection the most colorful and engaging competition so far. With genres we haven’t had before: Science Fiction, films with submarines, some very beautiful love stories, epoch films or pseudo-documentaries.”

This year’s competition trailer, containing scenes from the competing shorts, can be viewed by accessing the following link: http://tinyurl.com/NexT-competition.

The festival is dedicated to the memory of director Cristian Nemescu (considered to be part of the new wave of Romanian cinema and best known for directing California Dreamin’) and sound-designer Andrei Toncu (who also participated in the creation of California Dreamin’).

Cinema Scala is located on Bulevardul Magheru 2-4, Cinema Elvira Popescu on Bulevardul Dacia, Nr. 77 and Carturesti Loft on Strada Pictor Arthur Verona 13.