Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 21, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
For the second time, EFP is organizing this European event in cooperation with selected cinemas and with support from the EU MEDIA Programme. As last year, Volkswagen is the event’s main sponsor. 10 – 12 films
will be shown during the week-long events. EFP is celebrating the opening of PICTURE EUROPE! in all three cities with stars from the domestic film scene and international guests.
Munich: 21. – 27.02.2008 at the GLORIA FILMPALAST
Copenhagen: 12. – 18.03.2008 at the Grand Teatret
Madrid: 11. – 17.04.2008 at Cinemas Princesa
Anyone who talks about European cinema talks about Danes and Greeks, about Italians, French people and Bulgarians. Each country has its own stars and its own blockbusters, which often do not make it beyond the borders. With the PICTURE EUROPE! programme, EFP shows a broad audience how multilayered, exciting, moving and also entertaining the individual stories of this continent are. The films are presented by their directors or participating actors. For film distributors, PICTURE EUROPE! is an opportunity to see European films with an audience.
From the wealth of European films, EFP members proposed entries that were celebrated in their home countries and have the potential to inspire viewers in neighbouring countries. From these proposals, the cinema operators in the three cities will each put together their own film programme at the beginning of January.
Denmark is new to the series of host countries. Cinema operator Kim Foss (Grand Teatret) is pleased to host PICTURE EUROPE! in 2008: “Danish
directors have been able to present Denmark very successfully within Europe. But presenting European cinema in Denmark remains a
challenge. We must not ask what we can do for European cinema, but what European cinema can do for us. We must
fight complacency and nationalist tendencies in art just as we do in politics. We can do that by showing audiences the abundance of European cinema.
Hosting PICTURE EUROPE! in the same year in which the European Film Awards are presented in Copenhagen is like the Olympics and European Championship in one.”
Madrid is again among the host cities for the second year: “After PICTURE EUROPE! 2007, we could not have drawn a better balance,” summarizes Enrique Gonzaléz Kuhn of Alta Films (Cinemas Princesa). “Full cinemas and an enthusiastic audience that once a year discovers European films that had not yet been seen in our country, plus the opportunity to get to know the authors
and exchange ideas with them – that was a
complete success.”
In Munich, the GLORIA FILMPALAST will open its curtain for PICTURE EUROPE! 2008 for the first time. Kurt Schalk, Head of Marketing Kinopolis, Munich: “We are proud to be able to offer an ideal platform for PICTURE EUROPE! 2008 with the GLORIA FILMPALAST. Following the renovation, the traditional venue on Stachus shines in new splendour – ideal for a film festival with international flair. We look forward to good cooperation and exciting hours at the cinema.”
European Film Promotion is financially supported by the EU MEDIA Programme. PICTURE EUROPE! is a cooperation between EFP and its member organizations, the three participating cinemas and partners in the three European capitals. As in 2007, the advertising agency GREY Hamburg has also developed an exclusive advertising campaign for PICTURE EUROPE! 2008. The main sponsor of the event is Volkwagen. As in the previous year, directors and actors for PICTURE EUROPE! will again arrive in Volkswagen vehicles in Munich, Copenhagen and Madrid in 2008.
