Films from 23 different countries will be screened in the city as part of the 24th European Union Film Festival, which was inaugurated at the Alliance Francaise in Nungambakkam. Mark Van de Vreken, Consul General, Consulate General of Belgium in Chennai, said the festival would showcase the richness and diversity of Europe and its engaging cultural and cinematic landscape.
“Europe is extremely active in the fields of education and culture. For anyone who is planning to visit Europe, I’d suggest that they focus on specific countries and explore their cultures in depth,” he said. He spoke about the presence of representatives from France, Germany and Belgium at the inauguration and said that the three countries were among the six founding countries of the European union.
The festival, organised by the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation along with the delegation of the European Union to India, opened with the French film Hope , followed by the film Return of Sergeant Lapins from Latvia. Films will be screened at the Alliance Francaise and the Max Mueller Bhavan till July 4.
Bruno Plasse, Director of the Alliance Francaise of Madras, said that they were happy to host film screenings with the Max Mueller Bhavan. Helmut Schippert, Director of the Goethe-Institut (Max Mueller Bhavan), said that while the films which were going to be screened were wonderful, it was important to look at the background and what is currently happening in Europe as well.
Susan Marthandan, Director of the Hindustan College of Arts and Science, and industrialist Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti spoke.
