European Union

Film festival marks Europe Day in Belarus

Cinema fans will be treated to a feast of European cinema in Belarus over the next few weeks to celebrate our common European Heritage.   The festival – organised by the European Union - opens just one day after Europe Day on 9 May.  This day is marked by many European states as an annual celebration of peace and unity in Europe. 

On offer will be seventeen films from 16 European countries: Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and the UK.  The Belarusian film "River of life" has been chosen to open up the festival on 10 May at Minsk's Pobeda Cinema. 

The festival will run until 4 June and includes cinemas in Minsk, Mogilev and Bobriusk.  All films in Minsk can be seen free of charge and a limited number of free seats will also be available from the organisers in Mogilev and Bobruisk.

The films represent very different genres ranging from fairy tales to historical dramas.  The event is sponsored by the EU Delegation to Belarus and 15 EU embassies.  It is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Belarus.        

Running concurrently with the film festival, Europe Day is also being marked with a photo competition called "Europe in our eyes" (Evropa nashimi glazami).  More than 170 Belarusian photographers have sent in over 1600 photographs taken throughout various European countries.  The best photographs will be shown in the gallery of the Pobeda Cinema throughout the festival.  Viewers will vote for the ones they like the most and the winner will be awarded at the closing ceremony of the festival on 17 May.

The initiative to organize a joint EU cultural event dates back to the Czech Presidency in 2009 as a continuation of the tradition established in 2005 when the first EU Film Festival in Belarus was organized. The aim is to stimulate more cultural exchanges as a way to create a broader base for relations between the EU and Belarus.

You can find more information on the event at the Czech Embassy website www.mzv.cz/minsk. Attached to this press release is the festival program.

NOTES TO EDITORS

For the EU, Europe Day is also celebrated as Schuman Day, commemorating the historical declaration by the great French statesman, then-Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, considered one of the founding fathers of the EU. 

For more information see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuman_Declaration 

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