From 20 till 22 November the fifth edition of the European Minority Film Festival will take place in Husum, Germany. Under the motto of "Great Films From Small Nations", the Frisian association “Friisk Foriining” (www.friiske.de), in cooperation with Kino Center Husum, will present movies shot in languages of European minorities that do not have a cultural motherland.

In former editions there have been films in West Frisian, Romanes, Rhaetian, South Jutlandic and even in Sami and Nenets. This year will feature Welsh, Aromanian, Basque, Sorbian and Gaelic as the original languages; of course shown with English or German subtitles.

At the opening of the festival on Thursday (20 Nov) at 18:00 a photo-film will be shown outside of competition, produced by the young artist Wiebke Mörig: “Sölring - Gesichter des Sylter Urdialekts” (Sölring – faces of the ancient dialect of the island of Sylt).

Afterwards, at 19:30, the first festival entry will start: the Welsh production “Y Syrcas” (The Circus) from director Kevin AIIan, in which clergyman’s daughter Sara succumbs to the magic of a travelling circus. The organisers Gary Funck and Manfred Nissen expect to welcome the leading actors from Wales. It is followed by the first ever movie produced in Aromanian: “I'm not famous but I'm Aromanian”. Toni Caramuşat, a famous movie director, sets out for a search for the fundamental truth about the Aromanians.

The Basque festival entry “80 Egunean” (80 hours) will be shown at the second day (22 Nov., 19:00 hr). During the era of repression, Axun and Maite got acquainted at secondary school. Later their paths diverged. Fifty years later they incidentally meet each other while visiting a patient in hospital. 

In the next movie, the Sorbian film “Matej a kuztarski klobuk”, the little gnome Koblik asks the boy Matej for help to rescue the world from pollution and destruction. Director Toni Bruk will be ready to answer to questions from the audience. 

At the last day of the festival (22 Nov, 18:00 hr), in the Gaelic-spoken film “Bannan”, the young girl Mairi searches for her past and present in a fascinating family saga. The main actor will be present at the festival.

For all the films, there will be the opportunity, before and after the films are shown, to ask questions to the actors, producers or directors. An international jury will decide at the end who will get the EUROPEAN MINORITY FILM AWARD 2014. Furthermore, there will also be an audience award. The artist Arne Prohn from Almdorf has been responsible for the design of the award. 

The festival will be concluded with a grand gala in Husumhus, at Neustadt 95, where the award ceremony of the film prize will take centre stage. The gala, with a mix of film scenes, magic and live music is open for everyone who is interested and there is free entrance. There will be performances of the Danish magician Henning Nielsen, the young singer Elke Boysen from Risum-Lindholm and a saxophone-quartet from the district music school.

The EUROPEAN MINORITY FILM FESTIVAL 2014 is the only festival of its kind in Europe. The project is supported by the Commissioner of the German Federal Government for Culture and Media, through the Frisian Council, by Kino Center Husum and by Sydslesvigsk Forening.

For more information about the festival and the trailers of the films, please take a look at minority-film.eu.