31st Days of European Film - News - Press conference in Edison

From April 4, the European Film Days (DEF) festival will offer a varied selection of films from all over Europe. This year's 31st edition will be opened by Quentin Dupieux's successful comedy Daaaaaalí!, which we presented for the first time today at a press screening at the Edison cinema.

In the eccentric film portrait of the world-famous painter Salvador Dalí, reality mixes with fantasy, and the director serves the audience a story as original as the paintings of the surrealist master. It follows journalist Judith (Anaïs Demoustier) as she tries to film an interview with the artist. However, he makes more and more bizarre demands. "I don't have Dalí's genius. So my film is, in all modesty, an attempt to pay him the craziest and freest tribute possible," says director Quentin Dupieux, who entrusted the character of Salvador Dalí to five actors (Gilles Lellouche, Edouard Baer, Jonathan Cohen, Pio Marmaï, Didier Flamand). The audience experience is enhanced by the music of electronic musician Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk). The film premiered last year at the International Film Festival in Venice. "Daaaaaali! hooked me from the first shot. I'm fascinated by Dupieux's playfulness and sense of absurdity, but also the dexterity with which he weaves the story together on several levels, similar to what Christopher Nolan does, for example," adds festival dramaturg Šimon Šafránek. The Prague screening will be complemented by a discussion by film publicist Aleš Stuchlý from the Mental Hygiene series, and in Brno, the film will be followed by a lecture that will reveal the fascinating world of surrealist genius. Movie Dali! is distributed by Film Europe, and the festival presents it in the Czech preview.

This year, the Days of European Film festival offers mostly Czech premieres of three dozen films by leading European directors and reveals debuts from the upcoming generation of filmmakers. Novelties awarded with prizes from festivals in Cannes, Venice, and Karlovy Vary. As every year, a rich accompanying program is prepared for festival visitors, which offers a variety of discussions, screenings for seniors and schools, seminars for film professionals and workshops for children. The main part of the Days of European Film will take place from April 4 to 9 in Prague at Světozor, Edison Filmhub and Přítomnost cinemas, Art cinema in Brno and Minikino in Ostrava, after which the event will move to dozens of other cinemas in the Czech Republic. The ceremonial announcement of the winners of the competition sections will take place on April 9.