EU Film Days 2014 opens on 30 May

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EU Film Days 2014 opens on 30 May

EU News 249/2014

29 May 2014

The Delegation of the European Union to Japan, in partnership with EU Member State embassies and cultural organisations and the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, is proud to announce the start of EU Film Days 2014 in Tokyo, which will run from Friday, 30 May to Sunday 22 June 2014.

EU Film Days is a unique film festival that showcases cinematic works from the EU Member States. This year, 23 countries will participate, with seven feature films and some of the short works in the Latvian programme to be shown in Japan for the first time.

The cultural and creative sectors are a prime example of Europe's rich and diverse heritage. What is more, industries in these fields are responsible for more than 3% of the EU's gross domestic product and jobs. The EU actively supports its creative sectors, including the audiovisual sector, and the annual EU Film Days festival helps present some of Europe's achievements in this field.

One highlight this year will be the special discussion on current cinematic trends in Europe, which is to be held on Saturday, 31 May and feature the directors of the films representing Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, Petar Popzlatev and Jiří Strach along with actress Irena Chichikova, who appears in the Bulgarian film. The moderator will be Tokyo International Film Festival Programming Director Yoshi Yatabe.

Held every year since 2003, EU Film Days has been highly successful and is the flagship cultural event that the EU Delegation organises in cooperation with Member States. It is held as part of EU-Japan Friendship Week, which is organised annually around the month of May to promote people-to-people exchanges between the EU and Japan, and enables the Delegation to reach out to the wider Japanese public through the common language of cinema.

Five of this year's films will also be shown in the cities of Kanazawa, Takamatsu, Okayama and Fukuoka.

The special discussion with the two directors will take place as follows:

Date and time: Saturday, 31 May, 14:00-16:00 (ending time is approximate)

Place: National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art,

Tokyo (3-7-6 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)

Language: English (Japanese interpretation available)

Details of EU Film Days 2014, including film screening times and the regional programmes, can be found at:

www.eufilmdays.jp

For more information, please contact:

Mari Koseki Tel: 03-5422-6034

Mari.Koseki@eeas.europa.eu

Miwako Suetsune Tel: 03-5422-6035 / Miwako.Suetsune@eeas.europa.eu