Sevilla Festival De Cine Europeo

The British director is happy because young people can see his films on the big screen and he hopes they find “the truth” he was trying to transmit when he made them.

The British director Nicolas Roeg, who is president of the Official Jury of the sixth edition of the Seville European Film Festival, thanked the Festival’s artistic director, Javier Martín-Domínguez, and the event organizers who chose him to lead the jury. He said that it was very interesting work as it is “a great festival with a great selection of films”.

“It’s a very difficult job”, Roeg explained, although, recognizing the work of the Festival organizers, he admitted that “choosing the films for the Official Section is more difficult than judging them”. “The Official Section shows films without worrying about commercial considerations”, he concluded.

The British director also took the opportunity to recall some moments in his film career, with regard to the selection of his films being shown at the Festival this year. “Fortunately, my films are not here to be judged”, said Roeg, who admitted that he hasn’t seen them very much since they first opened.

Nevertheless, he admitted that seeing some of his films grouped together in a special section at the Festival brought back many memories, as “the preparation for a film before you start shooting normally takes between three and five years”, so all those memories makes up a very complete portrait of his life.

He also recalled the musicians he used as actors in some of his films, such as Mick Jagger or David Bowie. He defended their move from stage to the big screen as “rock artists are also professionals of stage art”, they play a role when they’re recording or giving a concert.

The Festival’s artistic director, Javier Martín-Domínguez, praised Roeg and said that “he is a director who hasn’t retired”. Continuing, he said that Roeg is organizing the final details for his next film and that only a delay in preparations allowed the British director to attend the Seville Festival.