The Czech Center, along with European Union National Institutes for Culture and Other European Partners, Presents the Fifth Annual Disappearing Act European Film Festival in New York. This year's opening night will take place at the IFC Center and festival screenings will be held at the Bohemian National Hall and the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI). Disappearing Act V, an European Film Festival
held annually in New York, features film screenings in three prestigious venues, with opening night at the IFC Center on Wednesday, April 10 and a special screening on April 18; screenings at the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) from April 19-21; and screenings at the digital cinema at Bohemian National Hall from April 11-20. The festival will present 24 contemporary European films from Austria, the Wallonia-Brussels region of Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Institutional members of the Festival Board are the Czech Center New York (chair), the Goethe-Institut New York, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York and the Polish Cultural Institute New York. Now in its fifth year, Disappearing Act was launched as an annual event in 2009 and instantly became a popular event in New York for its unique, carefully curated celebration of the vitality of contemporary European cinema. The program presents films that have gained acclaim on the festival circuit and with critics, yet remain largely unknown to American audiences. Though some of the films have secured U.S. theatrical distribution and a DVD release, the unbending financial demands of the current distribution system prevent them from reaching wider audiences. Disappearing Act brings these titles back to the attention of the media and the public, giving them another chance to be seen. Although the festival does not hunt for premieres and discoveries, the program includes a number of theatrical and festival New York and U.S. For the third consecutive year, the festival presents films from South Eastern European countries. The presentation of three films, accompanied by their filmmakers, is provided this year by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, which supports cultural exchange between the United States and Central and Eastern Europe. The Disappearing Act program includes a panel discussion, to be held on April 9 at the Bohemian National Hall as a pre-festival event. This year’s panel turns its attention to access to European cinema through various forms of streaming, from private viewing (such as Netflix and VOD) to streaming in cinemas and other cultural venues. Previously, panel discussions have been led by Richard Pena of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, A. O. Scott of The New York Times, John Vanco of IFC Films, journalist Eugene Hernandez and others who have explored industry topics such as access to foreign-language films by American audiences. For the second year in a row, the festival also opens itself as an educational resource to university students of cinema studies programs, providing an opportunity for them to introduce films and to post online reviews of festival films on the Disappearing Act festival blog. Disappearing Act V is presented by the Disappearing Act Festival Board, chaired by the Czech Center New York, in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut New York, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, and the Polish Cultural Institute New York, organized in partnership with the Balassi Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center, the Belgian Tourist Office – French Speaking Belgium – Brussels Wallonia, the Consulate General of Cyprus, the Consulate General of Estonia, the Consulate General of Finland, the Consulate General of the Slovak Republic, the Consulate General of Sweden, the Consulate General of Switzerland, the Embassy of Portugal together with Instituto Camoes, the Embassy of Slovenia, the EYE Film Institute Netherlands, the IFC Center, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Museum of the Moving Image, the Norwegian Consulate General, the Onassis Foundation (USA), together with the Consulate General of Greece, Pragda, and the Romanian Film Initiative, and with support from the +421 Foundation, Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association, the Cyprus Federation of America, the Finnish Film Foundation, the Slovak Film Institute, Slovenian Film Centre, Spain Culture New York, and Wallonie Bruxelles Images. Disappearing Act V is an official project of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), sponsored in part by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, and the EU Delegation to the United Nations. Curated and produced by Irena Kovarova. Production assistance by Sven Buehrer. Special thanks to Alex Zucker, Jaap Verheul, Tomas Mazalek and Amber Shields.
