Gearing up to wind down, the 2026 Europa¡ Europa Film Festival, which makes a point of being accessible to audiences from across the board[1], has officially rolled into its final encore stages – and it’s high time you rushed to your nearest related cinema!
The visually and narratively rich cinematic offering celebrates the diversity of European cinema, with “43 films from 22 countries” screened at venues across Australia and New Zealand. Film aficionados in Melbourne who venture down to the historic Classic Cinemas in increasingly multicultural Elsternwick (its ultra-orthodox Jewish community constitutes a thankful counterweight to capitalistic modernity) still have a few breathless days to catch these Final Fantastic Four/s, all from 2025[2].
Damiano Michieletto’s arresting Vivaldi-inspired Primavera, with an innovative female twist and whose heart wrenching symbolic opening sets the tone for things to come, Michał Kwieciński’s captivating Chopin, a Sonata in Paris (presented in the film festival booklet as “[r]eminiscent of Miloš Forman’s Oscar-winning Amadeus, this stunning biopic transports us back in time to the rise of the masterful composer Chopin – an electrifying, hedonistic, artistically fertile Paris in the 1830s”[3] and starring a mesmerizing Eryk Kulm in the lead role), “kaleidoscopic biopic”[4] Franz, as well as Moroccan Maryam Touzani’s Calle Málaga imbued with its own Carmen Maura-fuelled charm and shot on location in Tangier.[5]
One of the first ‘chicas Almodóvar’, Maura left an indelible mark during the ‘happy-go-lucky’ immediate post-Franco Movida Madrileña-years of the late 1970s and 80s – in films that have forever and ever gone to cinema history. Pepi, Luci, Bom, y otras chicas del montón, Laberinto de pasiones, and, much less upbeat, ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!! stand the test of time and encapsulate an entire Spanish era. In more light weight (can anyone ever beat Pedro Almodóvar as the maestro of all maestros?) Calle Málaga, an elderly Maura adds her warm and compelling charisma to a rather whimsical plot where regular street scenes add cultural flair and liveliness to this highly authentic film.
With a special additional focus on Antonioni (L’Avventura, La notte, L’eclisse, and Red Desert) and French filmmaker Éric Rohmer – whose penchant for the naturalistic, moralistic and existentialist translates into films heavy in dialogue – Europa¡ Europa appeals to, rather surprisingly, younger audiences in Melbourne appreciative of retrospectives (this, according to Lindy Tamir who I had the spontaneous pleasure of speaking to prior to the last screening of Primavera yesterday and who is, literally, the second half of “the powerhouse couple behind Melbourne’s Classic, Lido and Cameo Cinemas, Sydney’s iconic Ritz Cinemas, and the JIFF Jewish International Film Festival”)[6]. The following films have been selected to represent the latter almost equally iconic French director: A Tale of Springtime, A Tale of Winter, A Tale of Summer, and A Tale of Autumn (as part of Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons).
Europa¡ Europa 2026 likewise makes a point of striking a chord for German language acquisition in a clever effort to marry foreign language films with foreign language learning, and the Goethe Institut is – not surprisingly – a sponsor of this festival, among several others such as the Istituto Italiano di cultura, The Guardian, Instituto Cervantes, and Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Canberra [7].
Europa¡ Europa is living proof of the presence of Europe, or a ‘European mindset’, in Australia: physically and mentally. A vast southern hemispheric continent whose population hail, largely, from a European background, Australia has roots that matter. And the Jewish community and its traditions are likewise boldly represented in the annual JIFF Jewish International Film festival at aforementioned Classic Cinemas – where the Tamir power couple is again in majestic charge. Keeping in touch with one’s roots matters; no matter where these roots may be from.
The 2026 Europa¡ Europa film festival is timely indeed. In the globally acknowledged 98th Academy Awards taking place just the other day, on 15 March, Sweden (which, interestingly, was not covered in Europa¡ Europa) was applauded for Sentimental Value as a Swedish/Norwegian collaboration with seasoned Stellan Skarsgård as well as Renate Reinsve at the acting helm and Joachim von Trier as well-spoken director and artistic visionary.
The widely celebrated film claimed the award for Best International Feature Film. As per tradition, the Oscars ceremony was, again, held at the almighty Dolby Theatre in almighty Los Angeles and Hollywood, where almighty television host Conan O’Brien has a surname as Irish as it gets; one that works in perfect harmony with that of main actress, award-snatching Jessie Buckley – who was applauded for her noteworthy role in Hamnet.[8]
In terms of AI, German Babystar was one of the highlights of Europa¡ Europa 2026. Stuck as we are, for worse rather than better, in an artificial universe, this thought-provoking and razor-sharp movie makes its stark point in a jiffy, scales it all down to the undesirable artificial essence, and leaves us with the realisation that we are on the, oh so wrong path. The Germans got it right for once and leave us with THIS important message: the absolute necessity for us to stand strong in the face of AI overflow and imminent takeover.
Eastern Europe leaves an impact in the Europa¡ Europa festival, with all its Hungarian Wedding/s and dances and Ungrateful Beginnings (Olmo Omerzu, 2025). Other key movies are Stephan Komandarev’s Made in EU, Ignas Miskinis’ The Southern Chronicles, Olivier Sarbil’s Ukrainian ”sensual portrait” Viktor, as well as Latvian (Eastern/Northern Europe) Renovation.
Europa¡ Europa is a perfect mix of this and that, of them and us, and demonstrates how we are all (inter)connected whether we like it or not at a time when unconventional, slow-moving audio-visual ponderings like hypnotic and (not so) open-ended thriller Belgian Reedland (Rietland) make a real difference.
Evocative of unforgettable La isla mínima (Alberto Rodriguez, 2014) Rietland reminds of Rodriquez’ endeavours to showcase the stark photography of Atín Aya, whose documentary cinema reflects the ‘eternally claustrophic’ landscape that weaves its own unpleasant ‘magic’.[9] Rietland similarly manages to convey a foreboding sense of suspenseful/anxiety-ridden claustrophobia and in the film the often-eerie landscape becomes a character in its own right.
Also to be acknowledged in this brief review of European cinematic endeavours, is Alberto Serra’s 2024 Afternoons of Solitude. This, too, is similar to Almodóvarian feats – in this case Hable con ella. As such, Serra’s film is no longer a novelty and, rather, becomes rather un-noteworthy as it’s all been done before – albeit in a fictional context. A whopping 22 years after Almodóvar and 12 years after Pablo Berger’s exquisitely multi-layered black and white Blancanieves, Serra now leaves his (documentary) commentary on bullfighting as a complex art.
Also Spanish, hilarious The Dinner stars Lorcaesque La novia protagonist Asier Etxeandia, who argues that The Dinner “is reminiscent of old movies with great actors”[10]. The comedy brings a feisty finale to the 2026 Europa¡ Europa film festival and boldly delivers a pun on the Franco regime.
Finally, The Portuguese House was officially selected for The San Sebastian International Film Festival 2025, the Málaga Film Festival, 2026 – Official Competition, and Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, 2025 – SIGNIS Special Mention, and stars Manolo Solo in one of the main roles. He made a refreshingly matter of fact impression in aforementioned crime/mystery La isla mínima (Marshland).
All in all and all come together:
Europe might not reign superior but it sure influences the Aussie mind!
Go watch the encores!!!
Europe Reigns Supreme: The Europa¡ Europa Film Festival Calls for YOUR Attention!
Words: Dr Jytte Holmqvist
Images: Chopin, a Sonata in Paris (film still) | Primavera (supplied) | Calle Málaga (film still) | Babystar – photo by Jakob Fliedner (film still) | Rietland (Reedland)
Footnotes:
[1] See this 2025 interview with creative counterparts Lindy and Eddie Tamir: wwwthesocialblueprint.org.au
[2] Alternatively, you might prefer the Lido Cinemas (Hawthorn) or Cameo Cinemas (Belgrave) – unless, of course, you are based in Sydney, Brisbane or Hobart as additional indirect representative European focal points.
[3] www.europafilmfestival.com.au/films/chopin-a-sonata-in-paris
[4] www.europafilmfestival.com.au/films/franz
[5] www.europafilmfestival.com.au
[6] www.thesocialblueprint.org.au/podcasts/lindy-eddie-tamir/
[7] www.europafilmfestival.com.au/resources/europa-2026-program.pdf
[8] According to Almighty AI, and for the sake of making a point for no particular reason at all, “The Irish surname Buckley is an Anglicized form of translating to “descendant of Buachaill,” meaning “cowherd” or “servant”).
[9] See Atín Aya: Retratos del silencio (Hugo Cabezas and Alejandro Toro, 2024).