2026 European Union Film Festival

European Union Film Festival: Europe's Moving Images

Democracy, Community and (Space) Aliens!

January 28 - February 7, 2026

Theatrical Screening Locations

Harris Theater
809 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

*Free Admission for students with University and College ID
*Free with Pitt ID for Faculty and Staff

General Admission visit: Harris Theater 

University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260

External Action: At the Heart of European Diplomacy

Spain
2024
Director: Dir. Albert Solé
Documentary, 54 MIN

A rare, behind-the-scenes look at how the EU navigates an increasingly chaotic geopolitical landscape. This documentary follows Josep Borrell through real-time diplomatic crises, revealing how global policy actually gets made.

Interview
Marijas klusums [Maria's Silence]

Latvia
2024
Director: Dāvis Sīmanis
Historical Drama, 104 MIN

A Latvian actress enters Stalin’s USSR seeking her grandchild and finds herself trapped inside a machinery of terror. This gripping historical drama exposes the everyday innocence shattered by ideology and violence.

Trailer
Elfogy a levegõ [Without Air]

Hungary
2023
Director: Katalin Moldovia
Drama, 105 MIN

A Hungarian literature teacher faces a moral and political firestorm after recommending a film about queer poets. This timely drama captures the pressure of censorship, fear, and courage in a community on edge.

Trailer
Interview
Kyiv Theater, An Island of Hope

Ukraine/France
2024
Director: Duccio Bellugi-Vannuccini & Thomas Briat
Documentary, 110 MIN

A legendary French theater director brings a workshop to wartime Kyiv, igniting a creative refuge amid destruction. The film celebrates the power of performance and the unshakeable spirit of Ukrainian artists.

Trailer
Interview
Petra Kelly, Act Now!

Germany
2024
Director: Doris Metz
Documentary, 104 MIN

Looking for a politician of stature in a moment of dramatic political change? As a founding member of the Green Party, Petra Kelly played a decisive part in shaping political discourse in West Germany in the 1980s.

 

 

Trailer
Interview
Terytorium [Territory]

Poland
2025
Director: Bartek Paduch
Drama, 97 MIN

A Polish cop uncovers a disturbing case that pulls him into a web of secrets uncomfortably close to home. Tense and tightly wound, it’s a European thriller with emotional stakes that hit universally.

Trailer
Interview
Les Barbares [Meet the Barbarians]

France
2024
Director: Julie Delpy
Comedy/Drama, 101 MIN

When a French village accidentally welcomes the “wrong” refugee family, their assumptions get turned upside down. Julie Delpy’s warm, funny dramedy asks who the real barbarians are when fear meets humanity.

 

Trailer
Franta mimozemstan [Space Frank]

Czech Republic
2024
Director: Rudolf Havlik 
Sci-Fi, 109 MIN

Strange happenings in a quiet Moravian village spark an offbeat alien mystery no one is prepared for. Campy, charming, and deeply European, this sci-fi romp asks what happens when your weirdest neighbor might actually be from space.

Trailer
Dahomey

France, Benin, and Senegal
2024
Director: Mati Diop
Documentary, 68 MIN

As 26 stolen royal treasures finally return home from France to Benin, the objects themselves narrate a story of colonialism and reclamation. Mati Diop’s Golden Bear–winning documentary sparks a vibrant debate about history, democracy, and the future of cultural memory.

Trailer
Teen Angst

Ukraine/Germany
2025
Director: Inga Pylypchuk
Documentary, 37 MIN

Nine young Ukrainian women document life in a war zone with honesty, humor, fear, and resilience. Their collaborative desktop film captures what coming-of-age looks like when the world is on fire.

Trailer
Interview
Desktop Documentary Films by Lého Galibert-Laîné

France

A bold selection of experimental works exploring how cinema, the internet, and memory collide. These shorts push the boundaries of the video essay form, inviting viewers into an inventive new mode of storytelling.

Screening Schedule:

University of Pittsburgh: Wesley W. Posvar, Room 4130 

6:00 PM: External Action: At the Heart of Diplomacy (Spain)

 

University of Pittsburgh: Public Health, G23

8:00 PM: Franta Mimozemstan [Space Frank] (CZ/SK)



 

Harris Theater
809 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

7:30 PM: Les Barbares [Meet the Barbarians] (France)

*Free Admission for students with University and College ID
*Free with Pitt ID for Faculty and Staff

General Admission Tickets can be purchased using this link:  Les Barbares/Meet the Barbarians 

 

Harris Theater
809 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

5:00 PM: Marijas klusums [Maria's Silence] (Latvia) 
7:30 PM: Terytorium [Territory] (Poland)

*Free Admission for students with University and College ID
*Free with Pitt ID for Faculty and Staff

General Admission Tickets can be purchased using this link:  Maria's Silence  and Terytorium/Territory

Harris Theater
809 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

5:00 PM:  Petra Kelly, Act Now! (Germany)
7:30 PM:  Elfogy a levegõ [Without Air] (Hungary)


*Free Admission for students with University and College ID
*Free with Pitt ID for Faculty and Staff

General Admission Tickets can be purchased using this link: Petra Kelly, Act Now!   Elfogy a levegõ [Without Air] 

University of Pittsburgh: Public Health, G23

6:00 PM:  Desktop Documentary Films by Lého Galibert-Laîné (France)
Curated and Introduced by Charlotte Scurlock, Film and Media Studies

Featuring four short films: 
Flanerie 2.0 (2018, 11 minutes)
Watching the Pain of Others (2020, 31 minutes),
Forensickness(2020, 41 minutes)
I Would Like to Rage (2023, 11 minutes)
 

University of Pittsburgh: Public Health, G23

6:00 PM: Dahomey (France/Benin/Senegal) with Group Discussion 
 

University of Pittsburgh:  121 David Lawrence Hall 

Double Feature:  Voices of Hope from Ukraine

6:00 PM:  Teen Angst (Ukraine/Germany)
                  Kyiv Theater, Island of Hope (Ukraine/France)

Film Festival Sponsors

European Studies Center
University Center for International Studies
Harris Theater, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Africana Studies
Center for African Studies
Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Department of German
Film & Media Studies Program 

Our Partners: 
Institute of European Studies, Indiana University
The Ohio State University
University of Cincinnati 
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill