From CNN Go:

German filmmaker Wim Wenders has often criticized the nationalistic tendencies of Europe and stressed European cinema as the medium to reflect the continent’s diverse identity.

Attempting to expand on this is the 2011 European Union Film Festival (EUFF).

Its collaboration with the Tisch School of the Arts Asia goes beyond just adding a superficial local touch. Functioning as an authentic cultural exchange, the festival extends itself as a platform for up-and-coming filmmakers.

Tisch Asia, besides having a robust film program that touches on the genre of European cinema, offers a multicultural perspective with a student body hailing from about 21 countries, including Australia, China, India, Japan, Ghana and Cuba.

Leveraging off its diverse student body, the EUFF has partnered with Tisch Asia, offering its students the rare opportunity to showcase their best short films alongside internationally acclaimed European features.

On the surface, local shorts and European features may seem worlds apart but as Attila Kali, deputy head of mission at the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary -– one of the participating countries — points out: “The films engage one another on a thematic level. It may not be obvious — in fact, we try to avoid the obvious — but there [are] common threads that link them.

“I think it reflects quite well the relationship between Europe and Singapore — culturally different, but drawn together by many shared experiences.”

The Tisch line-up, authored by students of international origins, is globally diverse yet difficult to pigeonhole .