14/02/2004

It was dubbed as the American festival, on the eve of the Oscars, but it ended up being a European festival. Starting off with the most prestigious prize given to a Turkish/German co-production, then there's the double award winning Swedish film, a further two important prizes were won by an Italian-Argentinean co-production and a Danish film, an Italian film awarded for its music and much acclaim for Ken Loach. "If this proved to be an important edition of the Berlinale for Italian cinema – reads the comment from Audiovisual Industry Promotion made by the organisation's president, Giovanni Galoppi and the MD, Carlo Bassi - It's thanks to the performance of the team as a whole, with films by Matteo Garrone, Davide Ferrario and Francesca Comencini all coming away with prizes, from the official competition to the Forum and Panorama sections. This edition of the festival will be remembered as being one of European cinema, with stories about real people, with original and different talents, crossroads of cultures and sensitivities debating with each other in a common dialogue. We have to defend this image of the diversity of Europe and we should praise its assets to the full. Thanks to the Berlinale and its jury, we've had a particularly potent reminder of this powerful image".