By Robert St. Martin
Wednesday evening, April 30 at the Writer’s Guild Theatre in Beverly Hills is the gala opening night of the 20th Anniversary of the SEEfest South East European Film Festival. SEEfest runs for an entire week at various theatrical venues in the city of Los Angeles through Wednesday, May 7. The Gala opening night features the film The New Year That Never Came, winner of the Venice Horizons Prize at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. The New Year That Never Came re-examines, with inimitable humor, the pivotal events that shook Romania in the last days of December 1989. The New Year That Never Came is a tragicomedy whose action takes place in a single day, before the Revolution of 1989, in which the characters search for normality, safety, love, freedom and meaning, in an absurd world fueled by fear. This is a debut feature for director Bogdan Mureșanu, whose previous shorts films, Half Shaved” and The Christmas Gift have received attention by film critics. For the film schedule, tickets, and detailed program information, go to: SEEfest2025.eventive.org.
The venues for SEEfest vary so it is important to check out the schedule ahead of time. On Thursday, May 1, at the Laemmle Royal in West L.A. is When Santa Was a Communist, a delightful film by Bosnian award-winning director Emir Kapetanovic. The film takes place in December 2023, where an acting troupe goes on tour with a play about Santa Claus to spread holiday cheer in the small towns of post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. While the children are delighted, the appearance of Santa Claus reignites old conflicts between the adults.
This is preceded by At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking, a surprising film by Maja Novaković, with echoes of Sergei Parajanov’s poetics of heritage. In the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Emin, a man in his twilight years, toils alongside his faithful horse. Through bitter cold and harsh conditions, he seeks solace and warmth in nature’s embrace and finds fleeting comfort in sharing his burdens with his only true confidant.
On Friday, May 2, SEEfest moves to the Laemmle Town Center in Encino for the screening of three films from Bosnia-Herzogovina. Especially of interest is Supermarket – directed by Nemanja Bečanović, a Bosnian film director from Sarajevo. A homeless man has been living undisturbed in a supermarket for a year. During the day he is hidden in the ventilation system where he sleeps so that in the evening when the supermarket is closed and everyone has left, he comes out to enjoy the benefits of the offer. His peace was disturbed by Robert, a former supermarket security employee who, after being fired, also decided to “move in” in the store: since he worked in the surveillance sector, he knew how to bypass the alarm and surveillance cameras. The homeless man cautiously accepts new acquaintances and solves the problem of loneliness.
This film is preceded by the documentary Soil and Wings by Serbian director Stefan Malešević in a warm portrait of a Bektashi Muslim matriarch and her hard-working family shows gender equality blooming where least expected – in a rural community of pious Muslims devoted to family and tradition in a muddy tobacco-growing village in the Balkans.
On Saturday, May 3, SEEfest relocates to UCLA’s Bridges Auditorium for a series of short films and several feature films. Wingless directed by Bulgarian documentarian Nikolay Boikov Iliev, was the highest-grossing Bulgarian film for 2012 and 2013 in cinemas. The documentary was inspired by the true life story of Bulgarian paralympic “Long jump” triple world champion Mihail Hristov. The film follows Mihail from the moment he loses both his arms in an electric current incident and makes the life-changing decision of becoming a professional athlete as he goes through the catharsis of deciding to start a new life without arms. Cat’s Cry, a feature film directed by Sanja Živković, a Serbian–Canadian filmmaker. It takes place in a small Serbian town, where a young woman Milena dreams of fame and independence amidst the allure of a Serbian music channel. Her aspirations and plans for the future are challenged when she gives birth to a baby with a rare genetic condition called Cat’s Cry.
On Sunday, May 4, SEEfest has an array of films at UCLA Bridges Auditorium. Nasty is a documentary directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu, and Tudor D. Popescu – which explores the highs and low of Romanian tennis star Nastase, the controversies that surrounded him, and the enduring impact he had on the world of tennis in the 1970s. 1972 was a turning point in Ilie Nastase’s career: winning the US Open, reaching Wimbledon and Davis Cup finals.
Also on Sunday is a feature film motherMara, directed by accomplished Serbian filmmaker Mirjana Karanovi, who previously was awarded the FIPRESCI prize for her screenplay for White Iris. Mara, a successful businesswoman and single mother, suddenly loses her son Nemanja to an untimely death. She clamps up and refuses to show emotions being repulsive and unavailable for any communication on the subject with her friends and family. With buried trauma deep inside of her, she meets Milan, Nemanja’s friend. Milan is someone she intends to use to find out about her son’s life.
More about rest of the SEEfest lineup from Monday (May 5) through Wednesday ( May 7) in a separate follow-up article.
