OINK and Pink Moon at AFI European Union Film Showcase 2022

Thu, Dec 1 - Tue, Dec 20  2022

AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center - Washington Embassy Region

The AFI European Union Film Showcase screens 2 Dutch Films this year. Pink Moon debuted in the US at Tribeca Film Festival this year. OINK is now in contention for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

PINK MOON (2022), directed by Floor van der Meulen

Sun, Dec. 11, 5:00 p.m.; Wed, Dec. 14, 4:45 p.m.

At an otherwise routine family dinner, 74-year-old Jan (Johan Leysen) announces that he’s ready to die by his next birthday. He’s not sick, he’s just had enough of life. This bomb drop leaves his daughter Iris (Julia Akkermans) and her older brother Ivan (Eelco Smits) struggling to understand the absurdity of the situation. Iris especially is spiraling, so she quits her job and moves in with her dad, even planning a surprise road trip to the snowy Slovenian mountains in a last-ditch effort to change his mind and understand the reasoning behind his choice.

Flecked with moments of comedy, filmmaker Floor van der Meulen’s first narrative feature resists the maudlin, instead finding honest moments of family drama, culminating in a breathtaking final tracking shot. Winner, Best New Narrative Director – Special Jury Mention, 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. DIR Floor van der Meulen; SCR Bastiaan Kroeger; PROD Koji Nelissen, Derk-Jan Warrink. Netherlands/Slovenia, 2022, color, 95 min. In Dutch with English subtitles.

Promotional Stills from Pink Moon (2022)

OINK (2022), directed by Mascha Halberstad

Sat, Dec. 10, 11:10 a.m. (dubbed); Sun, Dec. 11, 11:10 a.m. (subbed)

Babs and her parents are vegetarians living an idyllic life in the Netherlands, except for one missing ingredient: a puppy! That is all nine-year-old Babs wants for her birthday, so imagine her joy when her estranged grandfather Tuitjes reenters the family’s life and gifts the young girl an adorable piglet named Oink. Eager to ensure her new pet is welcome at home, Babs enrolls him in obedience school as grandpa generously plumps up the porker. Surely there’s no catch, not even if Tuitjes keeps a large, locked suitcase and the centennial celebration of the King Sausage competition — where local butchers compete to serve the most delicious wurst — is set to begin in just a few days.

This stop-motion animated adventure is the feature-length debut from Dutch director Mascha Halberstad, a delightful little oinker of a film with cute puppets and charming scenery. Its pint-sized runtime makes it a perfect family treat. Official Selection, 2022 Berlin Film Festival. DIR Mascha Halberstad; SCR Fiona van Heemstra, from the book by Tosca Menten; PROD Marleen Slot. Netherlands/Belgium. 2022, color, 72 min.

Promotional stills for Oink (2022)

About AFI Film Showcase

Now in its 35th year, the AFI European Union Film Showcase continues its tradition of bringing the best in European cinema to Washington, DC-area audiences. This year’s lineup features 56 films representing all 27 EU member states, including award winners, regional box-office hits, debut works by up-and-coming talents and new works by leading auteurs, plus 19 of the top contenders for this year’s Academy Award® for Best International Feature Film and 12 U.S. and North American premieres.

Courtesy of AFI European Union Film Showcase