04/11/2003

The only Spanish film to be presented at the prestigious Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), Buen Viaje, Excelencia by Albert Boadella has excited a great amount of interest from both the public and the critics following its screening last night. The film is competing for the Tokyo Grand Prize together with another 14 films from 8 different countries, and it is also nominated for the awards for Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, the Special Jury Prize and Best Artistic Contribution. It is the story of the last years of “General” Franco’s regime, giving a pitiless analysis of a cruel dictatorship that authorised summary executions, amongst other things.
Buen Viaje, Excelencia was released in Spanish cinemas on October 10 and it has had a more positive and enthusiastic response from the public than was predicted by the cinema operators, who had put up some resistance before deciding to present it on the big screen.
In 1985, TIFF was recognised by the Federation of Cinema Producers as one of the 12 main film festivals in the world, and today it is an important appointment for the Asian cinematographic market. This is especially true for European cinema, which uses the festival as an opportunity to present its works further afield. In fact, this year there are 9 European works entered in the Official Competition (3 French, 3 British, 1 Portuguese, 1 Spanish and 1 Hungarian).
The festival started on November 1 and goes on until November 9, with 363 films from 51 countries being shown throughout the event.

(Translated from Italian)