Ourense loves movies. Movies and cinemas. The feeling of being in an enclosed space, experiencing different sensations and feelings with strangers who are also excited and delighted, protected by the darkness in the room, is incredible. Thanks to the movies we can move to ancient Greece and be Ulysses searching for Ithaca or travel to our future and check that everything was already invented. In a cinema we share love and friendship. For the cities, cinemas are spaces for reference and revisiting history. From double sessions at the Principal and outdoors cinema at Airiños to neighbourhood cinemas. Many venues which no longer exist have accompanied generations of people in Ourense and are a part of our lives: Losada, Avenida, Xesteira, Mary, Yago at Ponte neighbourhood or the one at Fatima parish hall. Padre Feijoo Film Society. And the most recent ones: Pequeno Cine, Novo Cine, Duplex and Box. At the movies we've cried, laughed, suffered and enjoyed, we have taken the side of the protagonist or we have solidarized with the weakest character.
That's why we must keep cinema's magic and assert its cultural and social role. That's why we need a Film Festival in Ourense.
But a film festival now meets another function: it serves to put us in the world. In a changing world, Ourense must find its place, reaching the universal from our idiosyncrasies. And so, guided by a principle of diversity, creativity and innovation, in this new festival we wanted to launch a global message that has been replied. In the coming days, Galician productions will coexist in Ourense with others from all over the planet. It is a priviledge to enjoy these unreleased stories.
The Ourense International Film Festival is also the first event on the Galician film calendar. This is a festival which generates cultural and economic wealth, which flourishes only under the impetus of education and cultural industries. That's the magic of this 7th art.
I hope Ourense enjoys movies, good movies, traditional and mainstream movies, alternative and independent movies, animated movies and new audiovisual expressions... That is my wish.
I invite you to come and see.
Isabel Pérez González
Councellor of Culture
Chairman
of the Consortium for the Ourense International Film Festival <<go up>>
Greetings from the Chairman of the County Council
The Ourense International Film Festival comes again, another year to meet the audiences and the audiovisual proffessionals, looking forward to to be an important element of the Galician audiovisual life, by the way, one of the most growing sectors in our autonomous community, incorporating at the same time notable references of the national and international cinema production
Consolidated in the last years, the Festival seems to look for different ways that should be defined in a solid manner.
In any case, the County Council's constant support to this important cultural initiative (in the last two years we increased our economical support by 50%) continues to be a commitment, wishing that this event could be one of the fall season highlights in our city, well known for the quality of its programme and for the professionalism of its staff.
Once again, the County Council of Ourense is proud to provide the necessary support for this initiative. We hope that this year's large and varied programme and activities will please most of the citizens of Ourense.
 E la nave va... blowing in the wind
With
my appointment in 2007, the Governing Council of
the Festival, integraded by the City Hall and the County Council of Ourense expressed their will to provide the Ourense
International Film Festival with a professional orientation to serve,
not only the Ourense citizens, but the whole Galicia and the film industry in cooperation with the European and international
colleagues.
No
one can ignore the magnitude of this ambition for a small scale
Festival suddenly determined to navigate, like Fellini’s great
ship, through the changing and complex oceans of the international
audiovisual panorama, with its glamourous celebrations, fiercely
competing television stations and strongly based international market
places.
Our
proposal is simple: let’s get all together, Galicians and other culture's professionals, to enjoy screenings and debates about the most innovative films from around the world,
turning the Festival into a meeting point where professionals from
Europe, Latin America, Galicia and the world can get together to
celebrate workshops, talks and professional panels leaded by key
creators and well known experts of the audiovisual field.
The
Competitive Official Selection, as well as the Thematic Sections, are the best
celebration of the Creativity that the European Union is
highlighting this year, which has been declared European Year of Cretivity and Innovation.
For
those coming from other cultures, our gift is Panorama Galicia, a
showcase happening concurrently with the Festival of the newest
Galician film and audiovisual creations.
For
the Ourense and Galician audiences we aim to offer a variety of
choices that reflects, through every single film, the value and
richness of cultural diversity coming from different races, languages
and genres. The sharing of concerns, desires and emotions that go far
beyond borders is undoubtedly the best contribution of filmmakers
towards cultural understanding around the world.
I
would like to express here our immense gratitude to our guests, the
directors, producers, actors, technicians and distributors from all
over the world who have contributed to this effort by sending us
their work.
So
The ship goes on... if we all blow in the same direction
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