At the Rivoli Teatro Municipal, between the 26th February and the 7th March 2010, it is time to celebrate 30 years of dedication to films and the film industry.
In the World Heritage City of portwine, of the River Douro and the Atlantic Ocean, Oporto will be again the meeting place of large audiences celebrating the most important film festival in Portugal.
As usual, and the prestige of the festival was built on this, the Oporto festival brings the most recent productions presented in three main
competitions- Fantasy, Directors Week and Orient Express- in the presence of many important guests, many of whom were first discovered and/or awarded by the festival.
The Opening Night will screen ³Solomon Kane², produced by Samuel Hadida and directed by Michael J. Basset, which was based on a book by Robert E.
Howard, the creator of Sword and Sorcery , famous for ³Krull² or ³Red Sonja². An extraordinary adventure in a world of imagination where a hero sells his soul to the devil.
For Closing Night it is time for ³The Crazies². In 1973, George A. Romero, terrified the viewers in an historic moment with ³Night of the Living Dead² . 40 years later, the director of ³Sahara² and soon director of a new ³Flash Gordon², Breck Eisner, brings back a horde of zombies.
In the Fantasy department, the highlights of the 30th Fantasporto cannot forget the multi-awarded Vincenzo Natali, winner of two editions, who returns with a film about cloning, called ³Splice². Back to the festival are also Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza with ³Rec 2². Chan-Wook Park, the awarded director of ³Old Boy² returns with a film that mixes priesthood, lust and vampires, ³Thrist².
³The Descent- Part 2² penetrates again in the dark secrets of the underworld by the hand of ³Eden Lake² screenwriter turned director Jon Harris. And many others.
The Directors Week, under the Patronage of prestigious director Manoel de Oliveira, welcomes the winner of the Cannes Jury Award, ³Fish Tank² by Andrea Arnold, a disenchanted vision of the London outskirts. ³Dolan¹s Cadillac², a superb story of violence, human traffic and revenge, starring Christian Slater, ³The Time That Remains² by well known israeli director Elia Suleiman and ³First Squad², a very original Russian-Japanese production also promise to attract the crowds.
Orient Express, the third competition dedicated to Asian Cinema brings uncommon variety. From the comedy ³Loins of Punjab² to futuristic drama ³Air Doll² , to japanese robots in Shynia Tsukamoto¹s ³Tetsuo - The Bullet Man² and action adventures with Indonesian ³Merantau², all invite to good film moments in Fantasporto.
Special Programmes dedicated to Robotics, in cooperation with the most important Portuguese universities, and Special Effects workshops, in the presence of world experts such as Colin Arthur and David Marti, as well as Retrospectives of Portuguese director Luís Galvão Teles and French Cinema( co-organized by Unifrance and the French Consulate and Embassy) complete the programme.
The best of the most recent Portuguese Cinema is also screened for the benefit of national and foreign guests.
Fantasporto has the patronage of the President of the Portuguese Republic and the Prime Minister.
19.01.2010 | Editor's blog
Cat. : Andrea ARNOLD Asian Cinema Cannes Christian Slater Cinema of Korea Cinema of Portugal cloning Colin Arthur David Marti Director Elia Suleiman Entertainment Entertainment Fantasporto Fantasporto Film Flash French Cinema French Consulate George A. Romero Human Interest Human Interest Jaume Balagueró Jon Harris London Luís Galvão Teles Manoel de Oliveira Michael J. Basset Paco Plaza Park Chan-wook Person Career Porto Portugal Portuguese cinema president Prime Minister PUNJAB Robert E.Howard Samuel Hadida screenwriter Technology Technology the 30th Fantasporto the Cannes Vincenzo Natali World Heritage City