Something for Everyone at Strasbourg

Held in the French Alsatian city of Strasbourg, the week-long event offers conferences and screenings for all kinds of movie buffs, leaving barely enough time to sample the local specialties like Munster cheese or choucroute. The festival kicks off with the Opening Film (at the UGC Cinema) Butterfly - La Lengua de las Mariposas by José Luis Cuerda (Spain) and closes with the world premiere Le Roi Danse by Boris Terral.

More than just a film festival, the European Film Forum is divided into two major sections: the film festival and the workshops. The festival side of the program aims to promote and showcase the finest cinema from the European Union. Meanwhile the workshops provide a veritable forum for the Continent's industry professionals to draft official demands to the European Union, insuring that its film talent will be circulated and promoted in years to come.

This year's film festival features a competition section with films from 15 European directors, one from each of the EU nations. Directors Billy Daldry (Billy Elliot) and Costas Kapakas (Peppermint) are among the featured filmmakers. Officially titled "Being Young and European in the Year 2000," the section carries a generous prize toward European distribution.

Another highlight of the program will be a "Coup de Chapeau" (loosely translated as tilt of the hat) to Berlin Film Festival President Moritz de Hadeln, who will step down from his post officially at the next Berlinale. In honor of his commitment to European cinema, a sidebar will screen previous winners from Berlin, all chosen by de Hadeln himself. The Forum will also feature a sidebar of Central European films (in competition for the Don Quixote prize), a retrospective of films by Werner Herzog, a night of short films, and much much more.

The workshops present a wide range of panel discussions in order to present official recommendations to the European Union -- in a sense it is building the future of European cinema so that it can flourish across all European nations. The Forum aims to be the rallying point for artists, producers, distributors, exhibitors, and politicians in charge of European cinema. During workshops, the professionals share their expectations and keep creativity at the heart of the debate. Topics already on the program include "Cinema and the Internet," "Quality Cinema and Television," and a meeting of the International Actors Federation, European section.