30/01/2007

On April 13, Cinemas Princesa, in the centre of Madrid, will host the very first screenings of European Film Promotion's new event, Picture Europe! The Best of European Cinema. Developed in cooperation with marketing agency GREY Hamburg in order to present in three European capitals several non-national titles expected to have international box office potential, Picture Europe! will then reach Berlin's CineStar Original (April 26-May 4) and London's Curzon Cinema Soho (June 8-14).

The programme – yet to be announced – will run for one week in each cinema and films are to be shown in their original version with subtitles in the language of the respective country.

For years the market share of European titles in the EU has been around 25% (against approximately 60% for US films). The ambitious goal of the new project is to win over a new, broader audience for European cinema and increase awareness of its variety and entertainment value.

According to Enrique González Macho, president of Alta Film, which runs a number of different cinemas throughout Spain, one of the most interesting points of the brand new event is "to find out how audiences will react to the films in three metropolises and to what degree cultural difference will come into effect here."

An idea partially shared by Marlis Kieft, managing director of the CineStar Group, whose cinema CineStar, located in Potsdamer Platz, is one of the favourites amongst Berlin's international audiences due to this programme made up exclusively of original versions. For Rob Kenny, operations manager of Soho Curzon Cinemas, “Picture Europe! will become firmly established as a brand" and he hopes that "next year, other European metropolises will embark on the project alongside London, Berlin and Madrid".