FRANCE Dance girl dance Philippe Grandrieux's La Vie nouvelle (The New Life, 2002) In this eloquent discussion (and passionate defense) of Grandrieux's second feature, Adrian Martin examines the controversial French filmmaker's "punk-Sadean view of the human animal and crumbling social structures". BULGARIA Leapfrogging into the present The 8th Sofia International Film Festival A few years ago, Sofia's film festival was little more than a local rock festival with some videos showing. Ronald Holloway takes a look at this growing international event, paying special attention to Bulgarian films. Film and identity in Benelux LUXEMBOURG Other faces Andy Bausch's Le Club des chômeurs (The Unemployment Club, 2002) Popular with audiences and controversial with critics, Le Club des chômeurs evokes the faded remains of Luxembourg's industrial glory to illustrate the identity of this "in-between," multicultural nation. Gérard Kraus examines Luxembourg's answer to The Full Monty. THE NETHERLANDS Starting out national Paul Verhoeven's Turks fruit (Turkish Delight, 1973) Verhoeven's glittering career in Hollywood making blockbusters disguises a lesser-known past making Dutch-language films, including directing what is acclaimed as the best Dutch film of all time. Matt Ross investigates.

Copyright © Kinoeye 2001-2011