11/11/2003

This 18th edition of the European Short Film Festival, which started on November 8, features a selection of more than 250 films, which will be shown until November 16. The festival also includes its traditional competition, parallel section, film market and a showcase of Spanish productions from 1920 to the present day.

There are 45 short films in competition from right across Europe and they will be judged by a jury which includes the French directors Catherine Corsini and Ursula Meier and the actress Sophie Quinton (Qui a tué Bambi). The “Cocotte Minute” section (for films less than 6 minutes long) will feature 16 films, while the “Brest-Off” will be presenting around 30 shorts divided into 5 themed sub-sections. There’s also a complete overview of the best of European short film productions to whet the audience’s appetites, whose numbers almost reach 40,000 in 2002.

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This year features a tribute to Spain with a retrospective starting from works made in the 1920s. The works on the programme include The Golden Age, Un chien andalou and Land Without Bread by Luis Bunuel as well as many short films that follow the historical evolution in Spain, from the Franco era to the move to democracy, ending with the ’90s, a period when, according to the festival’s organisers, the “the Spanish short form was at its height”. There will also be a selection of short news reels about the Spanish civil war put on by the Catalonia Film Archive and images from the Madrid Film Library.

(Translated from French)