FRANCE, COUNTRY OF SPECIAL INVITATION IN THE 48th FILM FESTIVAL OF CARTAGENA

France, one of the countries with great prestige and tradition in world film, will be the country invited to the 48th edition of the Cartagena Film Festival to be held from February 29 to March 7, 2008.

The Board of Directors of the International Film Festival Corporation of Cartagena made a formal invitation to the French ambassador in Colombia, Jean-Michael Marland, so that this country, with its film magic and charm, will be present in the next edition of the event.

Victor Nieto, the Founder-Director, assured that the next Festival will be a window so that the Latin Americans attending the event can have the alternative to see a different type of contemporary film.

“For the Festival it is an opportunity not only to remember the best of French film but also to bring ourselves up to date on what is happening in the world of the 7th art in that country,” added the President, Yolanda Pupo de Mogollón, during the conversations with the ambassador, where she expressed the Festival’s interest in screening a broad, important collection of French films.

The selection of France is made in the framework of this important year for Colombian film in France, during the past Cannes Film Festival, one of the largest showcases at the international level.  Colombia was one of the countries that received a special invitation in this prestigious Festival.

In the meeting with the ambassador, held in the headquarters of the Colombo-French Alliance in Cartagena, the following people also attended: Phillipe Valery, cultural advisor; Colagero Seandra, the delegate general of the Colombo-French Alliance; Thierry Forte, film producer; Eduardo Pérez, President of the Alliance in Cartagena; Helen Bekker, official of the Foreign Affairs Ministry; Hele Hiver, Director of the Colombo-French Alliance in Cartagena; and Gerardo Nieto, Director of Cartagena’s International Film Festival for Children and Youth.

Retrospectives, screenings of current film, conferences and a series of activities surrounding the 7th art in France will be a part of the program