Sevilla Festival De Cine Europeo

A red carpet of contrasts. Colin Farrell, hidden under his Hollywood hat. Carlos Saura more flamenco than ever. And the stunning words of the honoree Vittorio Storaro. Seville aspires to live the European cinema as passionately as its Andalusian streets are lived. The part for the whole. The small helping to understand the big.

Apart of some problems with the video screenings, the gala presentation highlighted the very best of every section: the Official Section (Nothing Personal, Peppermint or Tobruk), EFA Section (The Way, The Bone Man or Kisses), British Cinema (Nicolas Roeg Cult Films or The New Brits), Eurimages (Kasky, Vincere or Round da Way)... Being just 6 years old the Seville European Film Festival 2009 has matured quickly and well. And to support it were present important celebrities as Sir Christopher Lee, who has presented Seville with his mastery; the successful producer of Millennium, Sören Staermose; and the Sevillian actress Paz Vega.

The two-hour gala had several shows and, above all, many greetings. Bilingual, obviously. One of the sentences to be stressed of this opening gala was of the mayor of Seville, Alfredo Sanchez Monteseirín: "the more than 150 films of the festival offer different points of view: all kind of cultures, genres, beliefs ... to portray stories of the daily life."

The gala concluded with an invitation to think about: "Cinema needs a different level of consciousness. To live it”. These were words of Vittorio Storaro.

Paola García Costas