Culture

The Gene Siskel Film Center presents the13th Annual European Union Film Festival, the largest showcase in North America for the cinema of the European Union nations. All 27 EU nations are represented in this year’s festival, which includes 59 feature films, all Chicago premieres.

Flanders House supports two screenings of The Misfortunates at the film festival in Chicago. Belgium’s official Academy Awards submission follows in the recent Belgian tradition of the darkest of black comedies. Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Dimitri Verhulst, the story follows the rocky coming-of-age of young Guenther, growing up in the hairy bosom of a mostly-male clan of alcoholic louts with a long, proud history of unemployment. Role models are hard to come by when family milestones include acing a beer-drinking competition or winning the town’s nude bicycle race.