29 June 2005

“Diversity – the real strength of European cinema”
Award to the Dardenne Brothers in Amsterdam
During the MEDIA Salles’ “A Salute to European Film”

In Amsterdam yesterday hearty applause welcomed Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, fresh from the success of their second Golden Palm with L’Enfant, as they received the “International Directors of the Year” award before a public of exhibitors and professional players from all over Europe. The prize was awarded during “A Salute to European Film” by Laura Fumagalli, Marketing Manager of Aracadia Cinemas in Melzo (Milan, Italy) and co-ordinator of the MEDIA Salles’ Work Group on Digital Cinema. “It is thanks to directors of this calibre – said Fumagalli – that European film-making can still claim its independence, showing that it is capable of winning audiences by means of courageous choices that make quality their main focus”. As well as some sequences from the films that have made them famous (La Promesse, The Son, Rosetta), three brief clips from the Golden Palm winner, L’Enfant, in a pre-screening anticipating its next releases, planned for September in Belgium and Russia, October in France and November in The Netherlands. “The real strength of European cinema – confirmed the Dardenne Brothers –lies in its diversity. Authentic and not invented diversity, authentic as European diversity itself”.
During the evening, MEDIA Salles screened the trailers of some recent European productions of international interest – such as the Spain-Cuba-France co-production Habana Blues by Benito Zambrano, Manderlay by Lars Von Trier, Lemming by the French director Dominik Moll. On the occasion of the launch of the new initiative “Italian Cinema Worldwide”, MEDIA Salles proposed some images from The Life I Want by Giuseppe Piccioni and Vento di Terra, by Vincenzo Marra, After Midnight by Davide Ferrario, which will be coming to French screens in a matter of days, Sacred Heart by Ferzan Ozpetek, which, after a big success on the Italian market, will reach many markets – the Russian one amongst them.

Focus on Europe by MEDIA Salles will continue this evening (9.45 pm, RAI Auditorium) with the European Film of the Year on the Big Screen: Merry Christmas by Christian Carion. The screening will be preceded by some trailers of significant recent European productions.

Cinema Expo International is the traditional meeting for European exhibitors, which brings together over 1,200 professional operators from all countries. The event includes seminars on different aspects of the cinema industry and the presentation of films about to be released. The programme of Cinema Expo International includes an exhibition of equipment and services for cinemas, from theatre design to the most technologically advanced products.

The MEDIA Salles project operates within the framework of the European Union's MEDIA Programme, with the support of the Italian Government.
The end objective of MEDIA Salles is to foster theatrical distribution of European audiovisual products. This aim is pursued both by high profile campaigns involving Europe's cinema exhibitors and by initiatives to raise the visibility of European productions with industry players and potential audiences, creating specialized information channels on a global scale. Thus the current initiatives from MEDIA Salles dovetail in a program with a triple focus - training, promotion and information - and maximum combined effect.

MEDIA Salles
Via Soperga, 2 – I-20127 Milan
Tel.: +39.02.66984405 – Fax: +39.02.6691574
E-mail: infocinema@mediasalles.it