Annual Top Films Lists

Top 200 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2023: #100. Sudabeh Mortezai’s Europa

Published on January 12, 2023

Europa

We jumped the gun a bit last year when we included the latest project by Austrian–Iranian filmmaker Sudabeh Mortezai in our most anticipated list but we can expect this third fiction feature film project to drop at a major film fest this year. Production on Europa began around the month of June last year on what is can be described as a relationship drama between friends with a certain air of malaise. Albania is the backdrop here. Following 2014’s Macondo (Berlinale preemed) and 2018’s Joy (Giornate degli Autori preemed), Europa stars Lilith Stangenberg, Jetnor Gorezi and Steljona Gjika in this Austria-United Kingdom co-production. Cinematographer Klemens Hufnagl reteams with Mortezai.

Gist: This is a portrait of two worlds colliding. Beate represents global, neoliberal capitalism. Jetnor loves the trees and bees more than the achievements of modernity. This confrontation will not end well.

Release Date/Prediction: While Berlinale and Venice are legit world premieres lieus we think an Un Certain Regard premiere in Cannes is a stronger possibility.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).