30th European Union Film Festival in New Delhi to open with India premiere of Netherlands’ Oscar entry 'Memory Lane'

Memory Lane will premiere in India

The European Union Film Festival (EUFF) is all set to return with its historic 30th edition. The event will honour thirty years of artistic, cultural, and cinematic exchange between Europe and India.

The Delhi leg will screen 28 critically acclaimed films from the EU and Ukraine from October 31 to November 9, 2025, before heading to Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Memory Lane, the Netherlands, the official submission to the 2024 Academy Awards, will have its Indian premiere on October 31 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, marking the opening of the 30th edition of the European Union Film Festival.

This profoundly poignant film, which was directed by Jelle de Jonge, tenderly examines ageing, dementia, love, reconciliation, and mortality.

The narrative centres on an elderly man and his wife, who suffers from dementia, as they reluctantly travel to Spain to see a dying friend. Their journey develops into a heartfelt meditation on friendship and the rediscovery of joy in later life. Lena Breederveld won Best Actress at the Netherlands Film Festival 2024, while Memory Lane won Best Feature Film.

The film's writer, Marijn de Wit, will attend the premiere.

Kaisla Viitala and Daniel Kuitunen, producers of the Finnish film Ohjus / The Missile, will also be attending the opening night, along with Sandeep Kumar, the Indian director of the Austrian film Happy.

The screenwriter Marijn de Wit has reflected on Memory Lane's opening and said, “It’s an honour to have Memory Lane open the 30th European Union Film Festival – a landmark edition for the festival.”

The screenwriter added, “The film is about rediscovery — about finding meaning and companionship even when life feels uncertain. It speaks to anyone who has loved, lost, or laughed through change. I’m excited to see how Indian audiences connect with the film. EUFF has a wonderful tradition of bringing cultures and people together through cinema, and I’m delighted that Memory Lane can be part of that shared experience.”

Meanwhile, curator of EUFF 2025 Artur Zaborski added, “Memory Lane is the perfect film to open the festival, as it explores the themes that are universal. People around the world love intensely and make similar kinds of mistakes, and old age is often a reflection of all that happened.”

He continued, “It’s a film that moves you quietly but deeply — tender, funny, and profoundly human. It captures everything we want EUFF to represent: stories that connect people, emotions that transcend borders, and cinema that lingers long after the credits roll. As we celebrate the 30th edition of the European Union Film Festival, it felt important to open with a story that embodies empathy and rediscovery. I can’t wait for Indian audiences to discover this gem.”

For thirty years, EUFF has served as a platform for cross-border exchanges of ideas, emotions, and cultures in addition to being a film festival. The audience is invited to view Europe, its people, and its constantly changing pulse through a new lens in this anniversary edition.

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From October 31 to November 9, 2025, films will be screened at the Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Centre in New Delhi, the India Habitat Centre, Instituto Cervantes, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, and the Delegation of the European Union to India in cooperation with EU Member States and regional partners.

The festival will expand to Bengaluru and Hyderabad after its New Delhi chapter, offering a varied selection of European films to a larger Indian audience.