Saturday, June 3----FESTROIA: The Troia International Film Festival, will present nearly 180 films, representing 48 countries, with a strong predominance of European cinema, during its 22nd annual showcase. The Festival, the oldest and most prestigious in Portugal, has several competition sections in its wide-ranging program.

The Official Section, in competition for the Golden Dolphin Award, is made up of 14 films, from nations that produce fewer than 30 films per year. This is a unique approach, allowing films from smaller countries a chance to compete for a top international prize, without going head to head with films from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, India or China. A more even playing field in terms of film budget and demands of film production.

The Official Section began its screenings on Friday, with the Opening Night Film FACTOTUM, by Norway's Bent Hamer. Other films competing for the Festival's top prize include: CHINAMAN (Henri Ruben Ganz, Denmark), DARK HORSE (Dagor Kari, Iceland), EN LA CAMA (Matias Bize, Chile), FROZEN LAND (Abu Louhimasos, Finland), and GRAVEHOPPING (Jan Cuitkovic, Slovenia.

Rounding out the list are: ILLUMINADOS POR EL FUEGO (Tristan Bauer, Argentina), MAGIC EYE (Kujtim Casblau, Albania), MOTHER OF MINE (Klaus Haro, Sweden), THE COLLECTOR (Feliks Falk, Poland), THE WEDDING PARTY (Dominique Deruddere, Belgium), VITUS (Fredi Morer, Switzerland), WHAT A WONDERFUL PLACE (Eyal Halfon, Israel) and WRONG SIDE UP (Petr Zelenka, Czech Republic).

The International Jury assembled for the Official Section includes:
Slavko Stimac (Actor, Serbia)
Voula Georgakakou (Director, Greek Film Insitute)
Sandip Ray (Director, India)
Jelka Stergel (Festival Director, Lubliana Film Festival, Slovenia)
Fernando Vendrell (Director, Portugal)
Io Appolloni (Actress, Portugal)
Luis Filipe Costa (Director, Portugal)

Films in the Official Section will be screened in Setubal, the coastal resort that is the hub for the Festival, as well as additional screenings in the capitol city Lisbon. The Golden Dolphin award will be announced at the Gala Awards Ceremony on Saturday, June 10.

Sandy Mandelberger
International Media Resources