“A Salute to European Films”
at MEDIA Salles’ Focus on Europe at Cinema Expo International
2005
Presentation of a selection of European trailers and launch
of the new initiative
“Italian Cinema Worldwide”
Amsterdam, 28 June 2005
Speech by Laura Fumagalli,
Marketing Manager of Arcadia Cinemas, Milan
and co-ordinator of the MEDIA Salles’ Work Group on Digital
Cinema
It is a great honour for me to be here on behalf of MEDIA Salles,
which, as part of the European Union’s MEDIA Programme and thanks
to the precious support of the Italian Government, has for years been
successfully engaged in promoting the presence of European films in
European and world cinemas. Amongst the initiatives and projects realised
by MEDIA Salles, Focus on
Europe at Cinema Expo International
undoubtedly holds a particularly important place.
I also bring you the good wishes of MEDIA Salles’ President,
Domenico Dinoia who, although unable to be present, would like to
convey a warm welcome to all of you here today, as well as his thanks
to the organisers of Cinema Expo for once again giving us the opportunity
of working side by side to create an event of great importance for
European cinema.
It is therefore with great pleasure that I shall proceed now to introduce
“A Salute to European
Film”, firstly by presenting some of the most
recent productions – whose trailers we shall be admiring –
which have brought a breath of fresh air and renewed vigour to the
European cinema market and promise to continue doing so in future
months.
Some of these films have successfully
crossed, or are about to cross, the borders of their native countries.
Habana Blues, by Benito Zambrano, for example, a co-production
by Spain, Cuba and France which, having been received with close attention
in Cannes last May and having already gained over 600,000 admissions
in Spain since its release on 15 March, will be going round the world
in the next few months, reaching distant and very diverse markets,
from Argentina to Switzerland, from Portugal to Japan.
Lemming, by the French director Dominik Moll, also competing
in Cannes, deserves attention as well, and has already been bought
by distributors on many important European markets, including Germany,
Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK.
Or Manderlay, the follow-up to the “US Trilogy”,
in which Lars Von Trier again sparks off discussion, due to his caustic
view of the American world, and which, after its appearance in Cannes,
has already been sold in more than 25 European countries, from France
to Russia, Spain to the Czech Republic.
But in “A Salute to European
Films”, a special role is also played by some Italian productions
of particular value. Only an event as important as Cinema Expo International
could possibly have hosted the début of MEDIA Salles’
most recent initiative: Italian
Cinema Worldwide. Conceived along the same lines as
Focus on Europe, this project will bring the most recent Italian productions
to the foreground at some of the main professional meetings of exhibitors
and film distributors, such as Kino Expo in Russia and CineAsia in
China, thus crossing the threshold of markets that have traditionally
seen the almost exclusive presence of US films.
The event will also experience a special moment here at Cinema Expo
on 30 June, when the "European
Producer of the Year" Award will be presented to
Elda Ferri,
producer of films that have brought fame and international prestige
to the Italian cinema, including the most recent works by Roberto
Benigni, from his great international success Life Is Beautiful
to his latest, keenly awaited film, still under its working title
of The Tiger and the Snow.
It is thus with great
pleasure, and a touch of pride, that I shall list the titles of the
films chosen to represent Italian cinema in this collection:
After Midnight, by director Davide Ferrario, which has been
released internationally, reaching the screens of US and Argentina,
too, and will be coming to French screens in a few days’ time;
The Life I Want, by Giuseppe Piccioni and Vento di Terra,
by Vincenzo Marra, two films that have drawn attention to themselves
in important international contexts: whilst the former gained acknowledgement
at the Moscow International Film Festival and at the Montreal World
Film Festival, the latter represented Italy at the critics’
week in Cannes;
Sacred Heart by Ferzan Ozpetek, a real hit with audiences,
which earned Italian box offices, in its opening week-end, almost
a million euro, and whose distribution rights have been bought by
many European countries, including Russia.
Those who prefer the charm of a complete viewing to short sequences
are invited tomorrow at 9.45 pm to the Auditorium RAI, where, on the
big screen, we shall join in watching the European Film of the Year:
Merry Christmas by the French director, Christian Carion:
the fruit of a co-production involving France, Germany and the UK,
this film, which will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics in
the USA, will also be released towards the end of the year on numerous
European markets, including Belgium, Spain, The Netherlands, the UK
and Italy.
And now I shall leave you to enjoy the trailers, at the end of which
we shall be able to share another special moment in the company of
two directors who truly deserve the gratitude of European cinema.