- The festival will screen more than 150 European films, including 28 world premieres and 72 national premieres
- More than 150,000 euros in prizes will be awarded this year to the film distribution and exhibition
Seville, October 30, 2020 - The organization of the 17th Seville Festival maintains the competitive nature of the event, scheduled for November 6-14 in the theaters of the Andalusian capital, adapting its schedule and activities to the new mobility and capacity restrictions announced by the regional government. The mayor of Seville, Juan Espadas, has transferred this message during the official presentation of the SEFF which will be held in the city despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This is a community project, therefore, it must be kept in its cultural calendar, adapting to all the measures and health restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Meeting these requirements, culture is safe, which is why we launch a message of encouragement and enthusiasm for the supporters to go into the cinemas while respecting the restrictions and recommendations transferred by the health authorities," said the mayor.
"The mere fact of celebrating the Seville Festival in 2020 is already news, it is already a success. Maintaining this year' s edition - in such a complicated year - is an immense challenge, but it also implies an indisputable commitment to the European film industry. In fact, it is the best product of European cinema that currently exists and, looking ahead to the 2021 edition, we will strengthen promotion precisely in Europe and in the European institutions as an example of our European commitment to cinema and culture," he added.
Juan Espadas concluded by highlighting the collaborative effort between the City of Seville and the cultural sector itself in order to maintain the city's cultural agenda and also contribute to reviving the economy and the workforce.
One of the main venues of the Festival, the Cinesur Nervión Plaza cinemas, was also attended by the delegate of Urban Habitat, Culture and Tourism, Antonio Muñoz, the Minister of Culture and Historical Heritage, Patricia del Pozo, and the director of the 17th Festival of Seville, José Luis Cienfuegos, with the participation of the delegate of Education, Marisa Gómez, and the general director of Culture, Isabel Ojeda, as well as about thirty collaborators and sponsors supporting, through their activities and involvement, this cultural initiative.
The Delegate for Urban Habitat, Culture and Tourism, Antonio Muñoz, expressed that "the objective is to defend the festival's program, the creators and professionals behind the films while minimizing any health threat to guests, professionals and the general public". He also announced that the Seville Festival "will maintain its prizes, jury duty and competitions despite the particularly difficult circumstances facing the European film industry".
Muñoz stressed that "in the most difficult edition from an organizational point of view, we will reinforce our efforts to offer a program worthy of the history of the festival, in our conviction that culture is safe, it is necessary and it is our obligation to defend, protect and support it”.
In her speech, the Minister of Culture and Historical Heritage, Patricia del Pozo, showed the "unwavering support of the Government Council for culture and the audiovisual sector”. In this sense, she highlighted that the Regional Ministry maintains its contribution of 40,000 euros to a "festival that is one of the most important at a European level and which, due to the circumstances, must be a slightly different festival, but will be carried out with the same quality as in previous years". Del Pozo, who has pointed out "the outstanding role and importance" of the cultural sector throughout the pandemic, has encouraged the sector and citizens "to continue working for and with culture, in order to keep up with the standards of our sector”.
The director of the Festival, José Luis Cienfuegos, pointed out that more than one hundred titles will be premiering this year at the SEFF, one of which is Ondina, by German filmmaker Christian Petzold, the opening film to be screened at the Lope de Vega Theater on November 6th. "The Seville Festival occupies an important place in the face of the European film industry and in these difficult times, we have felt the warmth and support of the entire industry in addition to the great Spanish cultural institutions". Similarly, the director of the festival added that "maintaining the physical nature of the festival is an exercise on responsibility on behalf of all the professionals who brought the films to this year's festival and at the same time a response to the audience that has been making this initiative greater over the years".
Commitment to the industry and the public
In this regard, it should be recalled that to date, and in the current circumstances, the cinemas remain open and have not registered any outbreaks four months after their reopening. For this reason, the Seville City Council and the Seville European Film Festival have decided to continue with the programme as planned, that is, more screening more 150 titles, among which there will be 28 world premieres and 72 national premieres, even though the number of screenings will be reduced, as well as the capacity of the cinemas, in compliance with the measures adopted by the Andalusian Regional Government.
Despite the increasingly difficult circumstances faced by the European film industry, the SEFF is maintaining its competitive spirit and its firm commitment to the sector. This year' s edition will grant more than 150,000 euros in prizes for distribution and exhibition.
Adapting the programming and virtual presentations of the films
In order to minimize any possible health risks for guests, professionals, staff and spectators, the Festival organization has been forced to cancel invitations to professionals residing outside the city of Seville and to reduce the number of passes scheduled for each title. Over the next seven days, the more than one hundred people who make this possible will work to encourage the virtual attendance of representatives of the films programmed as well as the remote promotion of these films.
Health and safety measures
The festival has adapted to an unprecedented context by collaborating with previously held major events such as San Sebastian and Venice. Thanks to this combined effort, and in accordance with the recommendations of the health authorities, safety and hygiene measures have been improved both in the exhibition spaces (Lope de Vega Theatre, Cinesur Nervión Plaza and Alameda Theatre) as well as in the Hotel Sevilla Center, the new headquarters of the event. In addition to the mandatory use of masks, disinfection of spaces, safety distance and numbered tickets for the public, professionals and the press, QR codes have been added to ensure that spectators have access to the film brochures compiled by the festival's programmers. The suppression of concerts and the celebration of red carpets without an audience are also mandatory measures in this context.
More than 30 entities collaborating
As a symbol of the commitment to the sector and 'safe culture', a theatre in Cinesur Nervión Plaza has hosted the presentation for the new setting in which the Seville Festival will take place. Seven days before its opening, the delegate of Urban Habitat, Culture and Tourism of the Seville City Council, Antonio Muñoz, the Minister of Culture and Historical Heritage of the Andalusian Government, Patricia del Pozo, and the director of the Festival, José Luis Cienfuegos, wanted to thank the private and public entities that enable the most complicated edition of the festival under these difficult circumstances.
"From the City Council we want to thank the commitment of the sponsors and collaborators of the Seville Festival to European cinema in its most complicated edition, at a time full of uncertainties in the field of culture due to the health crisis," said Antonio Muñoz. The delegate of Urban Habitat, Culture and Tourism has assured that the sector "is demonstrating its commitment to making culture safe, which can be seen in the good practices we are seeing daily and which will remain present in the cinemas of our city during the festival". According to Muñoz, "from the public administrations, but also from the private initiative, we must continue to show our support, in these times, to the local audiovisual industry, which has given us great joy and has put Seville and Andalusia on the international radar".
