A platform for developing independent films and audiovisual products, the Ourense International Film Festival has 3 main objectives:
1.- To promote for the audience and the professionals the most innovative and challenging films and audiovisual works produced in Galicia and abroad that contribute to the mutual understanding among cultures.
2.- To be the meeting point for Europe, Latin America and the rest of the world in Galicia, in order to train, develop, co-produce and distribute local and international audiovisual works.
3.- To serve as a work platform for the European and international development and promotion of Galician and Portuguese films and audiovisual products.
MASTERCLASSES, PROFESSIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMMES, MEETING POINT FOR THE NEGOTIATION OF PROJECTS AND DISTRIBUTION
The great impact of the Festival in film and audiovisual industry is not only due to the screenings of the competition films, but also to the discussion panels about training, co-production and market attended by international experts and professionals. A space for reflection and the promotion of audiovisual culture and industry.
NEW MEDIA AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The Festival is an active platform for discovering and promoting feature films, documentaries, short films and from 2008 on also new media, challenging works made by a new generation of creators who use new technologies.
GALICIA'S AUDIOVISUAL MEETING POINT
During the Festival, Ourense becomes an international film meeting point where the audience and the professionals take part in the initiatives of creating and distributing new products and in the development of the Festival itself as a driving force for audiovisual art and industry in Galicia, Europe, Latin America and elsewhere...
FESTIVAL HISTORY
Ourense is a land of filmmakers and has always been linked to cinema thanks to pioneer local directors such as
Carlos Velo,
Antonio Román,
Chano Piñeiro and many others.
In the mid 70s Ourense welcomed the pioneer
“Xornadas de Cine” (Cinema Series), a true reference for the history of cinema in Galicia.
Those
Xornadas allowed the audience to watch for the first time many foreign and Galician 16-mm productions often shot underground, as well as films that hadn’t yet been shown commercially or that were censored at that time. The organization of this event, which continued to take place until the 1980s, was the seed from which Galician cinema would later bloom.
The spirit of the series was recovered in 1996, when the first
Ourense Film Festival (
OFF) was created by filmmaker
Eloy Lozano, who opened the door to the promotion of Galician cinema and to the screening of European and international films.
The definitive impulse for its development came from the Ourense local government and was completed in 1998 with the creation of the
Ourense Film Festival Consortium, formed by representatives of the City Council and of the Province Council.
Since its inception, several teams have been in charge of the Festival, with managers such as Mr.
Eloy Lozano, Ms.
Beatriz Anguiano, Mr.
José Araújo and Ms.
Nora Sola, and directors and programmers such as film critic Mr. Cesar Silva. They have placed the Festival among the most important film events in Galicia.
In October 2007, the Festival Consortium, chaired first by Mr.
Alexandre Sánchez Vidal, Deputy Mayor of Ourense, and subsequently by Ms.
Isabel Pérez, Councillor for Culture, appointed Mr.
Enrique Nicanor as director of the Festival, who defined his desire to professionalize the event and reinforce its role as an instrument for the development of the audiovisual industry in Galician, Europe and the whole world
Every year, the Ourense International Film Festival presents a selection of the most innovative films and audiovisual productions from Galicia, Europe, Latin America and the rest of the world, including feature films, documentaries, short films, animated films and new media from over 100 countries around the world. 
