PRESS INFO
121209: PRESS RELEASE for EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL 2009
EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL PLAYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT
101008: PRESS RELEASE for EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL 2008
EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL AIMS TO BRING PEACE THROUGH CINEMA
EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL BEGINS 2008 SCREENINGS. London, UK [Oct 13,
2008] – The fourth annual European Film Festival launches next week,
opening across Europe from Stockholm to Athens and from Moscow to
London. Boasting a stunning selection of festival winners and world
premiers from over 20 countries, the European Film Festival brings
inspirational independent films to audiences all over Europe.
The European Film Festival was established to utilize the power of
film to further the goal of inter-cultural understanding among
European nations and to assist in the building of a shared artistic
experience.
The 2008 line-up includes a range of films from the Palme D'Or
winning MEGATRON from Romania to world premiers for documentaries
from Scandinavia and includes inspirational independent films from
as far a field as North America and East Asia.
Using the infrastructure of university film societies and local film
clubs to bring quality independent cinema to the widest possible
European audience, the European Film Festival screens over 200 films
in more than 30 locations all over Europe during October and
November. The vast majority of European Film Festival audiences are
students watching the festival selections at their university
student cinema.
PEACE THROUGH CINEMA. Core to the European Film Festival's mission
is its "Good Neighbours Programme" which tailors the line-up for
each host country so that those audiences see several films from
their neighbouring countries. Although the festival avoids
politically incendiary films, the Good Neighbours Programme aims to
bolster feelings of commonality among European young adults. As
festival co-ordinator Mary Symmons explains "You get students in
Belgrade watching a documentary about skateboarders in Zagreb, and
they're going to come away feeling 'hey, those Croat kids are just
like us'. You're not going to get that message through if you use
the channel to broadcast some anti-Serbian propaganda. That's just
going to be met with a wall of hostility and defensiveness" The 2008
festival sees Russians watching films from Latvia, Poles watching
films from the Ukraine, and the English watching films from Ireland,
all in an effort to promote a broader cross-European cultural
identity.
PROMOTING EUROPEAN CINEMA. A second mission of the European Film
Festival is to give a wider showcase to quality European films.
Festival programmer Jesper Tornqvist says "you get an amazing film
like I AM FROM TITOV VELES which played at this year's Berlinale and
Toronto film festivals, but it's virtually impossible to see this
film in its home country of Slovenia. And if you're anywhere else in
the Balkans, just forget it, there's just no distribution network.
The European Film Festival is the only way that young people in
Eastern Europe can see this powerful film about growing up in
South-eastern Europe".
Full information about the European Film Festival, including
screening times and locations, can be found at:
www.film-festival.eu
Press photos can be found at:
www.film-festival.eu/press.htm
For further information, contact Mary Symmons at info@film-festival.eu
Press Photos: (click on photos for HI RES pics)
I AM FROM TITOV VELES (Slovenia - Macedonia) Dir: Teona Mitevska
FOR A FEW MARBLES MORE (Netherlands) Dir: Jelmar Hufen
ROAD TO DESIRE (Belgium) Dir: Eva Cools