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New Delhi, Apr 20 (UNI) Indian cities of New Delhi, Pune, Kozhikode and Kolkata will host the nearly month-long European Union Film Festival, beginning April 27, showcasing the best of European cinematic offerings.

The filmfest is to be organised in New Delhi (April 27-May 4), Pune (May 4-11), Kozhikode (May 14-18) and Kolkata (May 19-24).

The EU Film Festival is composed of a bouquet of films that give vivid reflections of the cultural streams of Europe and stories that describe the European life in a certain socio-economic and cultural environment.

By presenting a selection of modern European cinema to the Indian public, the Film Festival aims to project the excellence of the European film art, contributing to the understanding and appreciation of film cultures and to the promotion of mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation among Indian and European citizens.

The event symbolises an important facet of the growing cultural relations between the EU and India. The EU Film Festival is now part of the EU-India strategic partnership established at the 6th EU-India Summit in September 2005.

This year the EU Film Festival showcases a package of 26 films from 23 EU Member State. The films being screened have been widely acclaimed in Europe and some have been awarded prestigious prizes in recent years.

The films that will be screened are Step by Step (Belgium), Crazy Day (Bulgaria), Journey to Jerusalem (Bulgaria), Hanele (Czech Republic), Wallah Be (Denmark), The Life of Others (Germany), Four Minutes (Germany), Shop of Dreams (Estonia), Dancing at Lughnasa (Ireland), Iberia (Spain), By the Pricking of My Thumbs (France), Three Days of Anarchy (Italy), Honey and Wine (Cyprus), Small Secrets (Luxembourg), A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda (Hungary), Do Not Disturb (Netherlands) and Workingman's Death (Austria).

The other films are Summer with the Ghosts (Austria), Persona Non Grata (Poland), A Shot in the Dark(Portugal), The Death of Mr.

Lazarescu (Romania), Labour Equals Freedom (Slovenia), Rain Falls on our Souls (Slovakia), Mother of Mine (Finland), As it is in Heaven (Sweden) and Warrior (UK).

The Festival is being organised with the support of the Nandan West Bengal Film Centre, Kolkata; Kerala State Chalchitra Academy, Kozhikode; British Council, New Delhi; India Habitat Center, New Delhi; and National Film Archives India, Pune.

The film festival will be inaugurated with on April 27 at India Habitat Centre in the national capital the screening of German film ''The Lives of Others'' (Das Leben der Anderen), directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

UNI