14 EU-funded films head to Cannes

by Camillo de Marco

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 [trailer, film focus] by Matteo Garrone (EU funding from MEDIA: €45,000)

Delta [trailer, film focus] by Kornél Mundruczó (€100,000)

La frontière de l'Aube [trailer] by Philippe Garrel (€50,000euro)

Le silence de Lorna [trailer, film focus] by Luc e Jean-Pierre Dardenne (€202,500)

The Palermo Shooting [trailer] by Wim Wenders (€50,000)

Special Screenings:

Sanguepazzo [trailer] by Marco Tullio Giordana (€111,600)

Entre Les Murs [trailer, film focus] by Laurent Cantet (€30000)

Un Certain Regard:

Tulpan [trailer] by Sergey Dvortsevoy (€40,000)

Dirctors' Fortnight:

Eldorado (aka Léa) [trailer] by Bouli Lanners (€51,500)

Elève libre [trailer, film focus] by Joachim Lafosse (€82,500)

Salamandra [trailer] by Pablo Aguero (€26,000 euro)

Les Bureaux de Dieu [trailer] by Claire Simon (€16,000)

International Critics' Week:

Better Things [trailer] by Duane Hopkins (€90,500)

Home [trailer, film focus] by Ursula Meïer (€50,000)

(Translated from Italian)