The third edition of the European film showcase sees Westwind launching in style in Saint Petersburg on 21 October. The programme of theatrical screenings will serve as the engine for European Film Promotion’s (EFP) first VoD festival on ivi, Russia's most popular online cinema.

Over the course of five days, EFP will present a wide range of European films with their directors, actors and screenwriters to Saint Petersburg’s local cinema audiences. With the change of location from Moscow to Saint Petersburg and the extension of the cinema screening programme to include an online festival of 26 European Oscar submissions, EFP is reacting to the present unstable situation for European films in the Russian distribution market. “EFP wants to continue the dialogue with Russian audiences”, says EFP managing director Renate Rose. “However, we have modified our concept to take account of the difficult situation faced by the theatrical distribution of European films in Russia. The two-track approach of an online programme of European films – in partnership with Russia's leading VoD platform ivi – and the presentation of European films in Saint Petersburg will make Westwind into a special endeavour for reaching out to a larger audience.”

The Westwind line-up includes Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth [+lee también:
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entrevista: Paolo Sorrentino
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entrevista: Daniel Dencik
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entrevista: Stefan Haupt
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Westwind is financially supported by the Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union and the participating EFP member organisations: Danish Film Institute, Finnish Film Foundation, Film Fund Luxembourg, German Films, ICAA (Spain), Irish Film Board, Ministry of Culture of Montenegro and Swiss Films.