Preparations for Madeira Film Festival’s 5ª edition are well underway. And the festival’s motto remains the same.
The bottom line for Madeira Film Festival (MFF)’s 5th edition is: Consolidation. The event is to be held from the 25th of April to the 1st of May. Elsa Gouveia, one of its organizers, believes that the 2016 edition will be the consolidation of the shape the event has come to acquire in the previous years, that is, gala evenings, workshops, concerts masterclasses and, of course, daily screenings.
And all of this is tied to the event’s theme: paying tribute to the laurel forest, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. Also underlying the festival is the promotion of Madeira as a destination, a year-long endeavour which has already started to yield results.
Recently and thanks to MFF’s promotion of Madeira, the island has had some memorable visitors. Among them are great names such as Semino Rossi, an Italian-Argentinian singer famous in Austria and who was in Madeira to record his music video and Hana Jirickova, a Czech model who was here shooting for a Polish fashion brand. Not to mention Marcin Tyszka, the Polish photographer in charge of said shooting as well as another one by an Italian magazine. And then there’s Carnival, the North-American cruise ship firm who shot a travel documentary about Madeira and now has it being aired in its ships and on some TV travel channels.
Back to film though, this edition will have a grand total of forty five guest directors, actors and musicians, a number which pleases its organizers. Expectations are clearly higher than ever before. The festival’s director, Aitken Pearson confesses his great goal for this year’s edition is to offer the Madeiran audience an opportunity to attend a high-quality event for the affordable price of 3 euros.
The films headlining this 5th edition are Guy Hill’s ‘The Goob’, ‘directors Joseph Bell’s and Liz Appleby’s ‘Blood Cells’, Jamie Adams’ ‘Black Mountain Poets’, with the participating of actress Alice Lowe, and Andrew Haigh’s ’45 Years’, the story of a couple readying itself to celebrate their wedding anniversary who receive a shocking piece of news bound to shake the foundations of the world they live in.
Films are to be screened at the Baltazar Dias Municipal Theatre in four daily sessions: 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. On Wednesdays afternoon, the theatre will also serve as stage for a discussion panel with Madeira Wine.
The first day will have guests be welcomed at the Belmond Reid’s Palace followed by a trip to Fanal for a walk through nature. In the evening there will be the Filmmaker Meet & Greet Sunset Buffet, at the Meliã Madeira Mare hotel, to allow for the participants in the festival to get to know each other.
The workshops and masterclasses will be spread around different spots. Belmond Reid’s Palace will host ‘Quentin tarantino: Balance Originality With Influence’ and ‘Scriptwritting’, supervised by directors Alexandre O. Philippe and Michael Ramsdel, respectively. Castanheiro Boutique Hotel will stage the 'Potenciar a Marca Madeira: Os Festivais de Cinema na Rota do Desenvolvimento Económico e Cultural’ panel which will have the participation of journalist Rui Tendinha. The Palheiro Estate’s gardens will have a diferente kind of flower blooming, a talk with Jonathan Fletcher and Ribeiro Frio will be the spot for Miguel Sequeira’s talk on ‘Espécies Endémicas da Floresta da Laurissilva da Madeira’.
What’s more, there will be a fashion parade with stylist Hugo Santos and a concert with American violinist Andrea Levine, at the Belmond Reid’s Palace. The same hotel will host the festival’s gala dinner on Saturday, musical entertainment being left in the capable hands of Scottish harpist Phamie Gow. Throughout the event, Ambassadors for the Laurel Forest will be nominated. Whatever their nationality, those who bear this title are bound to take the Madeiran forest everywhere.
