14/05/2008

14 films representing in total over €900,000 of co-funding from the European Union's MEDIA programme have been selected for screening at the 61st Cannes International Film Festival, opening today.

This high visibility for European films will be celebrated on 19 May during Europe Day at Cannes, where European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, EU Media Commissioner Viviane Reding and Festival President Gilles Jacob will invite EU ministers for Audiovisual policy to discuss international film cooperation and make a special tribute to Portuguese film maker Manoel de Oliveira. Romanian film-maker Cristian Mungiu, winner of the Palme d'Or prize in 2007, will be the patron of this year's Europe Day.

"Europe can be proud of the cultural diversity and global attractiveness of its vibrant cinema", said José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.

"European films rightly figure high on the programme of Cannes 2008," said Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for the Information Society and Media. "Yet European film makers are still facing important challenges in Europe and on international markets. During Europe Day at Cannes, we will therefore explore ways to forge worldwide partnerships based on cooperation and reciprocity to more actively promote co-production and distribution of films."

President Barroso will open the Ministers' meeting on 19 May under the multilingual banner "Cinema, Dianying yan, Kino, Chalchitra, Cine: Building a world of exchanges". Ministers, filmmakers and film business participants will discuss how to intensify audiovisual exchanges between EU countries and take advantage of new cooperation and trade agreements between the EU and other regions of the world. They will also explore ways to stimulate joint initiatives between film distributors, cinema operators and training centres from Europe and other countries.

The 14 EU-Funded Films at Cannes 2008

Official Competition:

Gomorra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Domenico Procacci
interview: Jean Labadie
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile] by Matteo Garrone (EU funding from MEDIA: €45,000)

Delta [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kornél Mundruczó
interview: Orsi Tóth
film profile] by Kornél Mundruczó (€100,000)

La frontière de l'Aube [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Philippe Garrel (€50,000euro)

Le silence de Lorna [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne
interview: Olivier Bronckart
film profile] by Luc e Jean-Pierre Dardenne (€202,500)

The Palermo Shooting [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Wim Wenders (€50,000)

Special Screenings:

Sanguepazzo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Marco Tullio Giordana (€111,600)

Entre Les Murs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carole Scotta
interview: Laurent Cantet
film profile] by Laurent Cantet (€30000)

Un Certain Regard:

Tulpan [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Sergey Dvortsevoy (€40,000)

Dirctors' Fortnight:

Eldorado (aka Léa) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Bouli Lanners (€51,500)

Elève libre [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques-Henri Bronckart
interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile] by Joachim Lafosse (€82,500)

Salamandra [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Pablo Aguero (€26,000 euro)

Les Bureaux de Dieu [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Claire Simon (€16,000)

International Critics' Week:

Better Things [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Duane Hopkins (€90,500)

Home [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kacey Mottet Klein
interview: Thierry Spicher
interview: Ursula Meier
film profile] by Ursula Meïer (€50,000)

(Translated from Italian)