Sci-fi romance 'Vanishing Waves' and Serbian youth drama 'Clip' open March 15 (Photos)

Artsploitation Films announced today a New York theatrical release date double-header for "Vanishing Waves" and "Clip."

Both films will debut at the Cinema Village in New York on March 15, 2013 with more cities to follow.

"Vanishing Waves" swept all the major awards – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Jurga Jutaite) – at last year's Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.

It also won Best Film at the Rio Grind Film Festival in Vancouver where it was described by the festival director Rachel Fox as “the most acclaimed film – by a female filmmaker, or anyone period, of 2012.”

The film also played at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Palic European Film Festival, Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival and Sitges Film Festival.

Described as a bold, visionary work of science fiction cinema that recalls the genre in its cerebral 1960s-1970s golden age, "Vanishing Waves" simultaneously forges new territory with its unique fusion of emotional melodrama and hallucinatory widescreen spectacle and is one of the most accomplished and distinctive European films in recent memory.

Its the second solo feature from Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte, following her acclaimed 2008 debut "The Collectress."

Buozyte fills the frames of the film with frequently breathtaking visual and technical gifts matched only by her interest in complex characterizations, adventurous narratives, and challenging themes.

"Clip" is described as a dynamic, disturbing portrait of contemporary Serbian youth. Jasna, played fearlessly by Isidora Simijonovic, is a pretty girl in her mid-teens. With a terminally ill father and dispirited mother at home, she is disillusioned by her unglamorous life in a dismal Belgrade suburb. Opposing everyone, including herself, she goes experimenting with sex, drugs and partying.

"Clip" director Maja Miloš was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1983 and graduated in Film Directing at the University of Arts in Belgrade in 2008. She directed 11 short films during her studies, including "Interval" and "Si Tu Timazin."

As Miloš's first feature-length film "Clip" had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival last year.

In "Clip," Jasna, a teenage Serbian girl, grapples with random sexual encounters and an uncertain future. With her father plagued by illness, Jasna is left with nothing to help her navigate her world other than her camera phone and a strong desire to capture clips of her life speeding by.

The film won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s International Film Festival of Rotterdam. It won Best Director honors for Miloš at the Transylvania International Film Festival. It won the White Iris Award at the Brussels European Film Festival and the Kingfisher Award at the Ljubljana International Film Festival.

It also played the Toronto International Film Festival, Montreal’s Festival du Noveau Cinema, The Chicago International Film Festival and AFI Fest in Los Angeles respectively.

As a close collaboration between Miloš and her precocious ingénue, Isadora Simijonovic, the film is a raw, unflinching look at the perilous world of a rootless teenager in the line of Larry Clark’s "Kids," a film centered on the daily lives of a group of sexually active teenagers in the mid-1990s New York City.

VANISHING WAVES
Director: Kristina Buožytė
Running time: 124 minutes
Country: Lithuania, France, Belgium
Language: Lithuanian with English subtitles
Screenwriters: Kristina Buožytė & Bruno Samper
Cast: Marius Jampolskis, Jurga Jutaitė, Rudolfas Jansonas, Vytautas Kaniušonis, Brice Fournier, Philip Lenkowski, Martina Jablonskytė, Macej Marczewsky, Frédéric Anscombre, Frédéric Andrau, Darius Meškauskas Creative Director: Bruno Samper Producer: Ieva Norviliene Cinematography: Feliksas Abrukauskas Editor: Suzanne Fenn Music: Peter von Poehl

CLIP

Director: Maja Miloš
Running time: 101 minutes
Country: Serbia
Language: Serbian with English subtitles
Screenwriter: Maja Miloš
Cast: Isidora Simijonovic, Vukašin Jasni, Sanja Mikitišin, Jovo Maksic, Monja Savic, Katarina Pešic, Sonja Janicic, Jovana Stojiljkovic, Vladimir Gvojic, Nikola Dragutinovic Producer: Jelena Mitrovic Cinematography: Vladimir Simic Editors: Stevan Filipović Music: Ognjen Popić, Zoran Maksimović