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French director Laurent Cantet (C) is
surrounded by students during a photocall after he received the Palme d'Or
award for the film "Entre les Murs (The Class)" during the award ceremony
at the 61st Cannes Film Festival May 25, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
BRUSSELS, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission
on Monday hailed the performance of films funded by the European Union (EU) at
this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Four EU-funded films received honors at Sunday
night's award giving ceremony.
"Entre Les Murs" (The Class) directed by Laurent
Cantet of France won the Palme d'Or, whilst "Gomorra" directed by Matteo Garrone
of Italy swept up the Grand Prize of the festival.
"Le silence de Lorna" (Lorna's Silence) directed by
Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne of Belgium won the prize for the best scenario, and
the film "Tulpan," directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy of Kazakhstan was awarded the
Prix Un Certain Regard.
These films were among the 14 screened at the
festival that had been developed or distributed with support of the EU's MEDIA
program.
"The awards from Cannes mark the climax of what has
been a truly successful year for European filmmakers," said Viviane Reding, EU
commissioner for information society and media, on Monday.
"I am very proud to see the high quality of films
that Europeans are now able to produce. The support given by Europe's MEDIA
program to these award winners will now ensure that they can also be seen
outside national and European borders."
The EU's MEDIA program facilitates filmmakers' access
to financing and helps to increase the circulation of European audiovisual works
all over the world.
It is providing 755 million euros (1.191 billion U.S.
dollars) to EU's film industry from 2007-2013. This year's four award winning
films alone have received a total of over 317,000 euros (500,000 dollars) in
support.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and
Reding as well as ministers of culture from 12 EU member states attended the
Cannes Film Festival.
