Editor

In a ceremony presided over by the Mayor of Seville, Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín, the Artistic Director of the Seville Festival, Javier Martín-Domínguez, has presented the sixth edition of the festival which will be held from 6th to 14th November and which has over 150 films in its programme.

The Official Section includes the film "Triage", which will open the Festival and stars the Seville actress Paz Vega and the actor Colin Farrell. Of the fifteen titles which make up this competitive section, more than half are directed by women, such as "The Orange Girl" (an Andalusian-Norwegian co-production), "Fish Tank" and "Lourdes".

The EFA and EURIMAGES Selections include the latest films by notable directors such as Michael Haneke ("The White Ribbon") Ken Loach ("Looking for Eric"), Marco Bellocchio ("Vincere"), Corneliu Porumboiu ("Police Adjective"), Aku Louhimies ("Tears of April"), Jacques Audiard ("The Prophet") and Andrzej Wajda ("Sweet Rush").

With the United Kingdom as guest country, many members of its film industry will be attending the Festival, such as Jeremy Thomas, who is going to programme "his favourite British films"; Nicolas Roeg who will feature in "Cult Cinema"; and the Treasures of the British Film Institute will be shown in the presence of the Institute's director, Amanda Nevill.

On Saturday 7th November, they will all attend the ceremony in which the European Film Academy (EFA), as part of the Festival, will announce the nominations for the European film awards. Among the 48 films opting for the awards in 2009, there are three Spanish titles: "Los abrazos rotos", by Pedro Almodóvar, "Camino", by Javier Fesser and the Andalusian production, "Retorno a Hansala", by Chus Gutiérrez.

The "New British Directors" will also be at the SEFF, presenting their new works. Among them, Andrea Arnold, Paul King, Shane Meadows, Caroline Patterson, Armando Ianucci, Xialou Guo and Bruce Webb.

Of particular interest in the professional meetings is the presence of the producer of "Millennium", Sören Staermose, who will open the Industry Forum and talk about new production models. This Forum will include, among other events, seminars on distribution, digital cinema and co-production between Spain and the United Kingdom.

The Seville European Film Festival and Seville University have signed an agreement to create the Festival Camp_US. This initiative will help Seville's university students to strengthen their relationship with the cinema through various activities, including carrying out practical work during the Festival. A new jury has been created, made up of students from Seville University, the Festival Camp_US Jury, which will qualify the Official Section and grant an award. This collaboration programme also includes master classes and the screening of the students' works.

The director and producer Fernando Trueba will receive the Seville Festival's Honorary Award for his prolific film career. There will be a screening of his latest film, "El baile de la victoria", recently selected to represent Spain in the Oscars, as well as other titles from his filmography.

The SEFF will also pay tribute to the late scriptwriter Rafael Azcona and the director of his last script, Maurizio Scaparro. Maurizio Scaparro, was theatrical adviser for Expo 92 and is currently director of the theatre sector of the Venice Biennale. "L'ultimo Pulcinella" will close the sixth edition of the Seville Festival.

The latest Andalusian productions in search of European projection, presented within Andalusian Panorama; the best of the European short films, Eurodoc, Junior Europe, special sessions and collaborations with Three Cultures and the Andalusian Center for Contemporary Art (ACCA) will complete the programme for the Seville European Film Festival 2009.