MAMMOTH (Michelle Williams and Gael Garcia Bernal) by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor The Golden Dolphin Competition at the 25th edition of FESTROIA, the oldest and most prestigious film event in Portugal, is reserved for films from countries whose yearly output does not exceed 30 films. That gives worthy films from somewhat smaller film industries a chance to shine and not be overshadowed by films from larger film-producing countries. Smaller is definitely mor...

1. Russian Day - Highlights of the YearWith the establishment of a „Russian Day“ the festival is paying tribute to the Russian cinema which has found its way back to its former glory and reputation after years of stagnation. Future years will also see this programme making the public and professional visitors better acquainted with the cinematic "highlights of the year" from the most prolific filmmaking country of Eastern Europe. This will be accompanied for the first time this year and in c...

There are documentaries and documentaries! The festival of Leipzig was an example that today, more than ever; the interest of the public in documentaries is growing. In Germany, as in the rest of Europe, more than 10 documentaries are being shown this year in ordinary cinemas.. The festival illustrated this interest very well. The public was young and the cinemas were (over) crowded. In one of the workshops it was stated that these documentaries are a response to the mainstream productions see...