With more than 140 films representing 32 countries, the program for the 2013 Cartagena International Film Festival (FICCI) has been unveiled. There will be 15 films competing in the Official Fiction Competition, 12 in the Official Documentary Competition, 14 premieres in the 100% Colombian section ─nine of which will be making their world premieres─, 18 short films, 15 films in the Gems section, another 15 in the Cine bajo las estrellas section, 2 films for the entire family, and at least 5 in our Gala section, plus retrospectives of Paul Schrader, Raoul Peck and Vittorio de Sica. This is just a taste of what audiences can expect to see at the 53rd edition of FICCI, which will take place on February 21–27
This year, the number of screenings will be increased to 290 ─47 screenings per day in theaters, plus three outdoor screenings every day in Plaza de Banderas and Plaza de la Proclamación─, while five digital theaters will be available in the Historic Center and another five in Caribe Plaza. According to FICCI Director Monika Wagenberg The decision to open up our doors free of charge in 2012 was most definitely the right one. However, this created a problem every festival director dreams of encountering: the theaters were overflowing and outside, lines of disappointed film lovers who had traveled from other parts of the country stood shoulder-to-shoulder with locals, many of whom had never had the chance to see the type of risqué and often intellectually challenging films that set the tone of our program. This year, the festival will be free again, but we will be making a few changes to address this happy state of affairs, including extra screenings and new digital theaters. These changes have enabled us to offer more films, but we are also fortunate in that we had a large crop of excellent Colombian and international films to choose from, as you can see from our program, which features original, provocative stories by newcomers and more established directors. I cordially invite you to visit Cartagena during the last week of February, where you can see retrospectives, films that have won awards at prestigious international festivals, the latest works of famous directors, whose names you are probably familiar with, and not-so-famous ones who are making their debuts, but on whose vision and talent the future of the industry depends. For further details, please consult the program below. And to make sure everyone has a chance to experience the festival this year, screenings will begin at 9:00 a.m. and you can see up to six a day ─approximately 25% of the entire program. The full list of the sections unveiled at the January 24 press conference can be downloaded HERE in PDF format. |