Umeå is a small, but beautiful city (about the size of Galway) in the North of Sweden, that apart from its beautiful location on the river Umeå near the coast in one of the most forested parts of Sweden, is gaining an increasing reputation for its annual International Film Festival. According to the festival's Artistic Director, Thom Palmen, the festival has 'attempted over the past 19 years to establish a very broad programme both in terms of quantity, style and films – featuring everything from popular Hollywood productions to obscure and bizarre work from any part of the world.'This was reflected in this year's programme of over 200 films that included work from Jonathan Demme's recent remake of The Manchurian Candidate to the controversial work of German director Jörg Buttgereit. The festival included a retrospective of the work of this provocative director, including Nekromantik II (a story of a woman who 'wants to explore the pleasures of necrophilia') which was banned in Germany on its release in 1991 and led to Buttgereit being brought to court for the extreme images in this film. Buttgereit defended his films during the festival as a response to the increasing censorship of cinema in Germany in the 1980s and early 1990s, though, after watching Nekromantik II, it seems a weak excuse for what was to me simply poor filmmaking.

Apart from a competition for short films, all films shown at the festival were out of competition and among the most impressive featured was Michael Schorr's feature Schultze Gets the Blues, a subtle but beautifully observed (an occasionally hilarious) work concerning a recently retired German mine worker who acquires a new lease of life through the discovery of the energetic music of American's southern states, eventually inspiring a trip to Texas. Schorr doesn't rush the narrative but allows the story to unfold at a more natural pace, while the role of Schultze is superbly realised by the restrained, but perfectly timed, performance of Horst Krause.

Another notable feature was the Slovenian film Pod njenim oknom (Beneath her Window) a warm and sometimes quite funny story of a 30 year dance instructor, Dusha (played by the stunning Polona Juh), who, unhappy with her unfulfilling life and relationship with a married man, seeks solace in astrology and her eccentric friends. Her life takes an unexpected turn however, when she discovers somebody is breaking into her apartment, and subsequent events, including her unrelated pregnancy, bring new insights into love and life. With a strong script and accomplished direction, Pod njenim oknom is an auspicious debut from writer/director Metod Pevec.

One of the most innovative fiction pieces shown at the festival was Wenn der richtige kommt (When the right one comes along), a Swiss production co-directed by Stefan Hillebrand & Oliver Paulus. Wenn der richtige kommt is the story of a plain 30 years old cleaning lady, Paula (Isolde Fischer), who falls in love with the Muslim security guard, Mustafa (Can Sengül), in the building in which she works. When he fails to turn up for work one day, she sets out on a journey to find him which takes her to his homeland of Turkey. With the exception of the superb Isolde Fischer in the lead role and Helga Grimme who plays her best friend Ada von Dewitz (a former German aristocrat reduced to poverty), the film includes an entirely unprofessional cast of actors, many of whom work in jobs similar to those depicted in the film. The film itself is shot in a documentary style (including a sometimes shaky and, seemingly, uncertain camera) that frequently challenges the border between fiction and reality. Paulus remarked at the festival that the scenes in Turkey, for example, were shot without licence or permission and under the subterfuge of shooting scenes for a friend's wedding. It results in a refreshingly original approach to the love-story genre that has already resulted in over ten awards on the festival circuit and rave reviews from Variety and Screen International.

The eclectic programme of films at this year's festival also included a retrospective of European documentaries during the last century. Of these, I was most impressed by the Czech documentary The Unseen, a moving story of a group of blind children and their extraordinary fascination for photography. Intercut with photos the children took themselves during the making of the documentary, the film is structured in a reflexive style that allows the process of filming itself to be one of its subjects, constantly reminding the viewer of the presence of the cameras and the children's fascination with the filmmakers.

Irish documentaries were also featured in this section of the festival through Liam McGrath's powerful study of male prostitution in early 1990s Dublin Boys for Rent and Peter Lennon's The Rocky Road to Dublin, a critical portrayal of the Ireland that evolved post independence when compared to the Ireland aspired to by the leaders of the 1916 Rising. Both films offer dark and, what were deemed at the time of their release, highly controversial and challenging representations of Ireland. While not as innovative stylistically as McGrath's work, Lennon's remains an excellent document of the 1960s period, and charts a society changing dramatically culturally, economically and spiritually. Particularly ironic are the sincere claims of personal sacrifice made by Fr. Michael Cleary over the issue of celibacy in the Priesthood given the revelations that came to national prominence in the 1990s.

A contemporary documentary of note was the Swedish work Armbryterskan från Ensamheten (The Armwrestler from Solitude), a film about the tiny village of 16 inhabitants, Solitude, in the far North of Sweden where a shared obsession with armwrestling inspired local girl Heidi Andersson to international glory as the four times female world champion armwrestler. Directors Lisa Munthe and Helen Ahlsson produce an intriguing study of both life in Northern Sweden and armwrestling such that it is difficult not to be seduced by the fascinating characters who people this area and their enthusiasm for one of the less glamorous international sports.

I couldn't possibly finish this report without mentioning one of the most entertaining nights of the festival: the aptly titled 'Night of Bad Taste.' This had nothing to do with the early work of Peter Jackson, but rather was three hours of clips and trailers from some of the worst films ever produced introduced by Jan Doense (aka Mr. Horror), the Director of the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival. The titles of the films themselves are worthy of mention (and give some insight into the delights to be found within) including Surf Nazis Must Die, Naked Fist (the first erotic-Kung fu film), Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell (still the only sexploitation/Dinosaur crossover ever made), and my own personal favourite, and a film that may well hold the record for longest (and silliest) title ever, The incredible strange creatures who stopped living and became incredibly mixed up zombies. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Seán Crosson