Date and Time for this Past Event
- Thursday, Dec 12, 2024 7pm
Details
Now in its 37th year, the AFI European Union Film Showcase continues its tradition of bringing the best in European cinema to Washington, DC-area audiences. The full lineup includes 54 films from all 27 member states, six U.S. premieres and 12 Best International Feature Film Oscar® submissions.
Special Presentation | 2025 Oscar® Selection, Poland | Post-screening reception sponsored by the Embassy of Poland
Damian Kocur’s follow-up to his acclaimed debut BREAD AND SALT (2022) made its U.S. premiere at AFI FEST a decade after his short 21 DAYS premiered at AFI DOCS in 2014. In the Polish filmmaker’s sophomore feature, a Ukrainian family of four vacationing abroad in the Canary Islands is suddenly forced into physical and existential limbo when Russia invades Ukraine on the day before they have planned to return home. The tourists become refugees overnight, witnessing the war from afar and experiencing its turmoil indirectly. Soon tempers flare between teenaged Sofiia, her father Roman and stepmother Anastasiia, causing the threads of this patchwork family to fray. Led by strikingly authentic performances that capture coexisting feelings of guilt, dread and relief, UNDER THE VOLCANO is a compelling observation of complex family dynamics and displacement.
