Mary's Month of Movies

After 8 years, work didn’t need me anymore. So I repurposed my time and delved into one of my other passions: European culture and language. For the month of December, I went to as many showings as I could at the European Union Film Showcase at the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, MD. I have attended this showcase almost every year since 2000. It's one of my favorite parts of living in DC! I usually only see 1-2 films per year. But December 2025 was Mary's Month of Movies!

How to film fest like a pro

I excitedly purchased my passport. I haven't purchased one before since I usually only see 1-2 movies, but this time, the $250 cost was worth it since I planned to see at least 16 movies at $15 a pop ($240).

Next was the task of deciding which films to see. Not as easy as it sounds. With 56 films, that was a lot of movie descriptions to work through, but it helped me pass time at the airport. And because some films are shown concurrently, and some films had multiple showings, my brain required a spreadsheet to process this complicated problem. So, I did a whole big long tedious project in Google calendar, but it resulted in a perfectly curated setlist just for me!

Then, I created a Notion board to set up a formal process for rating and reviewing each film. I chose categories that matter to me in a film: scenery, plot, acting, and impact/feels. I'm allllll about the scenery. Doesn't have to be beautiful necessarily; I just want to get to know a place the way it is.

A snippet of my Notion board to where I ranked and reviewed each film

Because I'm unemployed with time on my hands that employed people don't have, I went solo to most of these films. I actually preferred it this way in general so that I can fully immerse myself into an experience that is so important to me. I even enjoy the cold and lonely bus rides and walks to the theater.

But thanks to Google calendar's share feature, I was able to share my schedule with friends so they could join when convenient/wanted. In the end, only my husband, Max, was able to go with me for a few shows, and it was kind of magical that it worked out that he was there for ones that were amazing to experience together. For anyone who wished that they could have joined, here's your look into my thoughts on films that may not be otherwise available in the US!

My results

Warning: while I don't really summarize movies in this blog per se, there are some spoilers.

My # of films: 10

My # of countries: 9

My passport!

My passport stamps!

Because life is complicated, I didn't end up getting to see enough films to equal the cost of the passport. (I paid $250 for $150 worth of films). But I still don't regret getting the passport for three reasons:

1. With the passport, you can bypass the ticket line, no reservations needed,

2. Passport holders get guaranteed entrance, which is handy because a lot of films sell out,

3. It's just plain fun to get your passport stamped!

Convenience and joy can't always be assigned a monetary value (although sometimes it can if you're unemployed).

Map of EU countries from which I saw movies at the EU Film Showcase, labeled with clapperboard icons. I designed this map of EU member countries with the help of AI; please forgive unintentional errors.

My ratings for each film

• 5 stars: Masterpiece. Went above and beyond to do something spectacular.

• 4 stars: Excellent. The best it could be without going above and beyond.

• 3 stars: Good. Worth watching but not groundbreaking.

• 2 stars: Mediocre. Not engaging but not terrible.

• 1 star: Poor. Barely watchable or waste of time.

• 💣 : Hatred for this movie.

Film	Country	Overall	Scenery	Plot	Acting	Impact/ feels
Rolling Papers	Estonia	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Köln 75	Germany	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Visitor	Lithuania	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Franz	Poland	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Private Life	France	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Birthday Party	Greece	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
La Grazia	Italy	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️
Soffleur	Austria	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️
Little Trouble Girls	Slovenia	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️	⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sound of Falling	Germany	💣	💣	💣	💣	💣

My reviews for each of the 10 films

1. Rolling Papers (Estonia) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   
   

   This was my favorite movie of the festival.

   
   

   One word: Soundtrack. The music had all the vibes and was perfectly matched to the plot. I even did the dreaded covering-myself-with-my-flannel to type a reminder in my phone to make sure I found the soundtrack after the movie. But I can’t find the soundtrack anywhere, not even using chatgpt. It appears that the music was developed by Meel Paliale for the film, not for release. What a shame. The soundtrack brought the movie to life, and I would love to continue to live it. The music felt like home to me.

   
   

   Next descriptor: Portrait of a generation. I love this kind of movie. I loved seeing this portrait of Gen Z. And what's more, it could have been Gen X. Not only were the vibes very Gen X but also the styles were very Gen X, like the long grunge hair. So, as a Xennial, I felt warm and fuzzy with nostalgia, giving me a really nice experience. Reality Bites did this for Gen X (and I love that movie), but I like this one even better.

   
   

   The characters were doing exactly what we all do in our twenties, and they performed it achingly beautifully. Their search for purpose felt so real that it felt more like a documentary of his life with his real friends and real conversations. I even noticed Max having a physical response to a moment in the film when the main character acted out a very relatable emotion.

   
   

   Plus, the movie didn’t go down any predictable roads or use any tired plot devices. At one point, it felt like the film was going to go meta and become aware of the fact that this was a film. But it did not. Max and I particularly appreciated how (spoiler alert) the side character with big aspirations accepted the final decision by the main character to stay home. Max and I think that the side character is content that the main character's life may unexpectedly take a different path than the one they had planned together, and he’s not trying to trap anyone into his fantasy life. He will patiently wait till just the right person comes along that is as naturally pulled by the sun as he is. It was nice to see that play out. We've all struggled through this.

   
   

   Additionally, this movie pushes all my little Mary buttons. Estonian people partying and just being. This movie has a niche that so specifically speaks to me. To the point that I’m surprised there’s someone who actually thought to make this movie, and then this faraway movie somehow ended up being in my life.

   
   

   Probably only a few people know that I wrote my Master’s thesis on Estonia. I’m a true Estonia nerd. 🤓 This movie gave me something that I really, really wanted.

   
   

   Another way in which this movie feels like home to me: The Estonian language sounds so beautiful to me. The dialogue and voices sounded so smooth because the language sounds so beautiful. I almost didn’t notice I was listening to a foreign language because it sounded as natural to me as my maternal language (I say this while I don't understand a single word and rely entirely on subtitles). While French is also a very beautiful language, I’m always very aware of it being another language. French is quite possibly the most beautiful language in the world IMO, but it doesn’t just melt away into my feels the way the Estonian language does.

   
   

   I came out swooning with vibes for every reason.

   
   

   Bonus note: Bravo to the Embassy of Estonia in Washington, DC for sponsoring the post-screening reception for this film. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend it, but trust me, I had serious FOMO. Alas, I had other plans that night. I saw the film when it was re-screened. Congrats to Estonia and the director, Meel Paliale, on this brilliant movie. Thank you to the embassy for bringing folks together to celebrate such a masterpiece. I have enjoyed many great visits to the Embassy of Estonia during the annual Events DC’s EU Open House.

   
   

2. Köln 75 (Germany) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   
   

   I love a movie based on a true story! Especially when it’s about jazz!

   
   

   The movie centers around legendary jazz pianist, Keith Jarrett, and his teenage German promoter, Vera Brandes.

   
   

   This movie has it all:

   
   

   1. I loved the scenery that took me to 1970s Germany, with nice nods to the feminist movement through armpit hair.

   2. I loved the haunting scenes of the genius pianist in a dark room with the audience captivated.

   3. I loved the sublime overnight driving scene. Tortured artist, Keith, is being further tortured with his talkative driver’s thoughts, and there is interesting spoken insights about jazz. It was haunting and beautiful with an early morning birdsong chorus, which felt surely like a nod to me. 😉

   4. I instantly became a loyal Keith Jarrett fan even though I had never heard of him before. I'm also became a fan of the actor who expertly played him, John Magaro, who had already charmed me in his role as Leonard Peabody in the Umbrella Academy.

   5. I don’t know if it was on purpose, but I felt strong references to another awesome German movie, Run Lola Run, because the main character always runs from scene to scene.

   6. I liked that the movie was funny and cute, but not too funny and cute.

   7. I liked that, during the credits at the end, they rolled footage of the real Vera with the two actresses who played her.

   
   

   Two dings:

   1. Mostly in English. I understand that a main character was an American who didn’t speak German, so I have no basis for this complaint. But still, I was hoping to hear more German.

   2. Didn’t let us hear Keith’s performance at the end. The whole movie built up to this performance, which ended up being the most successful recording of his career, and they instead played some irrelevant pop song over it. What a huge letdown! We didn’t get to feel the feeling that the whole movie was about—improvised jazz. This was a big terrible bad part of the movie.

   
   

   Listen to the audio recording on YouTube!

   
   

   I have to credit some of my excitement about this movie to my husband, Max, who came with me. We both love dancing together to jazz music, and we have both travelled to Germany together. So, we had such a fun time watching this together. But regardless, it’s a great movie either way!

   
   

3. The Visitor (Lithuania) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   
   

   I really enjoyed this movie. It took me a while to realize what was going on. I was enjoying the language and scenery but wondering where it was going. At first I thought it might be another party movie like Rolling Papers. Then, they made me feel like the main character is just lazy. But then I finally realized that the film was about solitude, as the main character was simply back at his old flat by himself trying to sell it. And I maybe sensed some quiet nostalgia from him too since he was moving away from his home and his country.

   
   

   He wasn’t trying to escape his new life in Norway with his wife and baby. Rather, he was saying goodbye to his home country, taking in whatever experiences came his way or that he could wander his way into while he waited for his flat to sell. He was content with the simple, quiet, restful things. I felt a real connection with him and went on his lil ride.

   
   

   I don’t want to say he was exploring. That would imply intention. He was wandering.

   I’m enjoying thinking back on this movie. I almost feel like it’s my hometown now. I think I would feel at home in Lithuania. It’s like the country-next-door rather than a flashy glitzy destination.

   
   

   I’m still curious why that guy in a speedo was running around the beach with a float trailing behind him.

   
   

   I loved the Lithuanian language almost as much as Estonian. I almost didn’t even notice the film was in another language. Not that I understood a single word, but it just sounded so smooth as to sound as natural as breathing.

   
   

   In fact, I’m noticing a pattern that the Baltic movies at this film showcase feel like home to me.

   I was wondering as I watched if my husband, Max, would also enjoy it. Maybe he would get bored with the pace of the movie, especially since he doesn’t quite have the affinity for Eastern Europe that I do (my Master’s degree is in Eastern Europe, so it’s a tall order to find this kind of kindred), but I still think Max would enjoy it because we’ve been to Eastern Europe together four times now, and he now has a deep connection. He may even think it’s a nice idea for a movie. But maybe not also.

   
   

4. Franz (Poland) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   
   

   I knew from the title that I would need to see the movie Franz. Franz Kafka is one of the interesting fellows from high school and college literature and philosophy courses. And I knew from the opening scenes that I was hooked.

   
   

   The film opens with great use of cinematography to add artful and stunning imagery, including Escher-esque buildings, as well as to illustrate the going theory that Franz was on the spectrum without saying it with words. This creative cinematography—in addition to the superb actor who brought Kafka to life—pulled me in from the very first scenes.

   
   

   The film uses many other strategies too, like breaking the 4th wall, which I’m not a fan of, and I don’t typically like quirky movies that do that, but I don’t think they went overboard with it.

   
   

   I loved that the film featured some deep philosophical conversations and references to Kafka’s work. But sometimes it went by too quickly for a layperson to keep up (I’m pointing at myself here). But I love that it's there. Not like the less worthy material that felt crammed into the Birthday Party that made it hard to follow. I was glad to have a movie—which was about Kafka’s life rather than his work—still included some of his thoughts and work. A movie about Kafka needs that. People are fascinated by Kafka’s absurdist and surrealist philosophy and writings, and the movie draws us in using our fascination and shows us the person behind it.

   
   

   I was mad at the beginning when the deep conversations were going on concurrently with graphic sex scenes, and felt insulted that I, as the audience, couldn’t be trusted with deep material without needing sex to entertain me. But it didn’t keep doing that for the rest of the movie. Instead, I realized that they were just giving some important context.

   
   

   I also liked the director’s other goal of showing the real-life Kafka tourism. It was sad to see his work devolved into cheesy tourist museums and the like. That’s a sad social commentary on today’s time even when compared to the extremely sad social and political context of Kafka’s time.

   
   

   There were some scenes I didn’t get the significance of, such as the sanatorium with naked men parading around with dicks out, with Franz jumping around in glee with no explanation. Was he gay? Was he autistic? What part of Kafka do I need to learn about to understand those parts of the movie? I want to know. But I suppose the director shouldn’t have to spoon feed me. I should have some responsibility in knowing more about this important historical figure, and maybe the director felt that spoon feeding during those scenes would diminish their impact. Who knows. Also maybe it’s fine that I don’t understand every detail that I’m shown. Maybe I can just appreciate Franz’s apparent comfort with playing with naked guys as just simply that.

   
   

   The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5: It didn’t need to be so graphic. The scene in question was short, but I had to close my eyes, cover my ears, and hum to avoid hearing it. I didn’t want to see that, and I didn’t want to disturb others around me with my humming. A scene that graphic didn’t have a place in a movie that had otherwise dealt with uncomfortable material in such an artful and watchable way. The decision to include it felt gratuitous in this movie, enough for me to deduct a star from the impact/feels category.

   
   

   Bonus note: In addition to this being a great film, a representative from the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, DC introduced the film and provided interesting background on the director, Agnieszka Holland. After the screening, the embassy hosted a great reception. My husband, Max, was with me for this sold-out film, so we stayed to enjoy the reception and revel in the excitement pouring out from the crowd. Congrats to Poland and the director for this excellent film, and thank you to the Embassy of Poland for bringing us together to celebrate this masterpiece.

   
   

5. A Private Life (France) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   
   

   Who doesn’t enjoy the cerebral ride of a good who dunnit? And this film was unique with an interesting spin. And with some great acting by Jodie Foster, and a couple flashes of beautiful France in the background, what's not to like?

   
   

   I got excited at a trippy scene early in the movie that made me think the movie was going to go down an entirely different path, but then it just jumped back to regular and stayed there. And that was ok.

   
   

   This movie was just fine. Nothing remarkable except Jodie speaks French without a terrible American accent, and the plot was unique, but it didn’t shake up my feels or anything.

   
   

6. The Birthday Party (Greece) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

   
   

   This movie is about the lengths a wealthy tyrannical father will go to control his daughter. And it is done in the one of the most beautiful places you can think of, and there is no shortage of gratuitous footage of lavish partying on a stunning Greek isle.

   
   

   And, once again, Willem Dafoe steals the show and acts the heck out of his character.

   There are only a few minor distractions. There seemed to be a lot of random events that occurred without any apparent reason or build up to them. It made more sense when Max told me that it was based on a novel because the movie is probably trying to throw in everything from the book without enough time to go into the detail that it needs to make sense. For example, one of the maids is taking secret pictures, but that story leads nowhere. Another example is that there was a woman with a wig and an eyepatch, but we don’t know who she is and what that was about.

   
   

   But all in all, the film was visually stunning, well acted, keeps your attention, and doesn’t take the easy way out by ending things in murder or suicide, which I kept worrying it was going to do.

   
   

   A major theme that drove the movie was that kids have to become awful in order for the parents to be able to live without them. If they are always sweet, the parents can’t detach. This theme jumped out at me and practically ringed my neck and shook me because this is something I see and fear in life.

   
   

   The closing scene was icing on the cake for me because it ended with some spoken word that could only come from Willem Dafoe’s incredible voice. Loved that!

   
   

7. La Grazia (Italy) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

   
   

   I’ve lived in DC for most of my life, so it’s part of my psyche to love a political thriller, earning this movie 5 stars from me before it even started. But, I’ve also seen so many good political dramas recently (e.g., the Diplomat, Madame Secretary, the Americans, House of Dynamite, the Crown, Anatomy of a Scandal, Death by Lightning), and this one just didn’t quite compare to those. This one kind of crept along slowly even though the plot was most certainly compelling and interesting.

   
   

   That’s not to say that it didn’t have some great parts. The main character—the aging president of Italy near retirement—was mentally stuck in a day and age from his youth, as evidenced by his inability to connect to today’s music, including electronic and rap music. The way in which the film incorporated those types of music into the plot was very clever and was my favorite part of the movie.

   
   

   So, the Italian president spends the entire movie with the dilemma of deciding whether to pass euthanasia legislation. On the one hand, the Pope weighed in with him often and craftily, obviously opposed. On the other hand, his daughter—and most important person in his life—has devoted her life to passing this legislation. It’s a great premise.

   
   

   But as the movie closed and he finally made a decision, I was disappointed in his reasoning for his decision. I don’t necessarily disagree with his decision, but I disagree with his reasoning. He said that at some point, people need to make decisions based on what their children want. This disregards the impact of the decision on the rest of society.

   
   

   But I don’t mind that I don’t agree with him. I appreciate movies that provide another point of view and challenge what I think and give me a new way to see something.

   
   

   Plus, upon reflection, his eventual siding with his daughter (i.e., the younger generation) probably links back to the whole interesting thing they did with the music of the new generation.

   
   

   Pretty good movie.

   
   

   Bonus note: this was the opening film of the showcase. It was a packed house and screened in the biggest, most glorious theater at AFI Silver. I sat right in the middle of the theater, and enjoyed feeling the excitement buzzing through the theater. The film was introduced by the showcase organizer and some other distinguished guests. The audience was clearly excited about this film, and included many Italians. I want to extend so much gratitude to the Italian Cultural Institute Washington for hosting such a fabulous reception after the screening! I was alone and shy, so I didn’t socialize, but I did enjoy soaking up the vibe and appreciated the institute supporting this foreign language and cultural event as well as the folks who came out in the cold for it. Truly one of the best parts of living in DC!

   
   

8. Soffleur (Austria) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

   
   

   I checked out right away because the film was In English, and I came to hear foreign languages. Next year, I need to find a systematic way to ding movies that are done in English. Hey, it's up to the director what language they think is best for their movie, but this is my review using my criteria. 😁 I want to hear the language native to the country.

   
   

   Willem Dafoe’s performance made this movie. He made it watchable and compelling. I felt empathy for him, and it touched a part of me that ached from the destruction of a precious home in my own life. The scenes of him spraying the ice rink were particularly touching.

   But it is still not a movie that I’m compelled to recommend my friends run out and see.

   
   

   The title of the movie is what drew me in. I thought we would see beautiful soufflés in the kitchen (but I don’t care that we didn’t). Instead, the title serves as a metaphor for the rise and fall of the hotel, as a soufflé rises but can fall without the utmost care. Clever title, but the movie still didn’t deliver something as compelling as it maybe could have.

   
   

   I did enjoy some of the artful and still cinematography and flashes of the hotel’s glory days.

   
   

9. Little Trouble Girls (Slovenia) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

   
   

   The movie is a coming of age story (i.e., sexual awakening) of a 16-year old girl in the context of a strict religious background. While away at an all-girls choir camp at a monastery, she gets up to some things that she worries are sinful.

   
   

   Here are some things I liked about it:

   
   

   —The Slovenian monastery brought back good memories of a recent trip I took to Rila monastery in Bulgaria.

   —It was certainly watchable. In fact, you can’t turn your eyes away. But you may feel awkward about it depending on who you’re watching the movie with.

   —I detected an Ophelia reference. Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare play, and I’m a huge Shakespeare fan.

   
   

   Here are some things I didn’t like about it:

   —It just ended. No resolution. I left wondering why the filmmaker wanted us to see it.

   —There was a lot of whispering as narration in the movie. There were no subtitles to translate it, so I don’t know if they were actual words or just sounds. But I personally don’t like whispering. ASMR gives me the creeps.

   
   

   Concluding thoughts:

   —Coming of age is a real and worthy theme. The main character was dealing with some very real and relatable things. But, really, that’s just the bare minimum that any movie should have. There just wasn’t much else there for me beyond an acceptable framework and beauty.

   
   

10. Sound of Falling (Germany) 💣

    
    

    This was absolutely the worst, most foul movie I’ve ever seen. It was so horrifying that I left a few minutes before it was over, and I wish I had left sooner. I can’t unsee the horror that I saw. The images and sickly feeling it gave me still linger in me a month later.

    
    

    I’m not only rating this movie as a bomb just because I’m not a fan of horror. That wouldn’t be fair to the people who like horror movies. But there was also just nothing redeeming about this film. The plot didn’t go anywhere meaningful, and I felt zero connection to any character. It never got more interesting as it went along. I wanted to leave the movie much earlier on out of both disgust and boredom. But I forced myself to give it a chance. I should have gone with my gut. The characters were visually grotesque. I’m sure this is what the director intended, but still, I have no idea what the purpose or theme of this movie was.

    
    

    I didn’t think that I’d be able to write this review because I didn’t want to relive those scenes in my mind. It’s taken me a month to finally do it.

    
    

    I wish this movie hadn’t been chosen as part of the showcase. Or, at least I think it should have come with a warning. This was one of the movies that sold out. I can’t believe that I was the only one to leave early. I am coming to accept that I might be alone in my hatred of this movie. I’ve always known that I’m more sensitive than many about watching torture. I’m simply not qualified to rank a movie with torture scenes. But I saw it, and this is how I feel. It was repugnant and worthless.

    
    

    Because I was so sickened, I was scared to even go into the next movie that night. What if I saw something horrific? I couldn’t bear to risk seeing another painful movie, so I just went home. I had already gotten my passport stamped for Romeria (Spain), but I didn’t actually get to see it. It’s a bummer because it was probably pretty visually stunning.