The month of May of next year will host the first Madera Film Festival(MFF'12) an initiative that focuses on the topic of environment, specifically in the laurel forest as was announced by the director of this event Aitken Pearson. For five days the organization intends to show the best documentaries and short films about nature in the Reid's palace hotel. An international contest that wishes to make the difference thru the quality of the films in competition, the alert towards conservation issues, but also has a strong educational component, as all the schools of the island may participate in three distinct areas.
What's the main objective of the Madera Film Festival?
Aitken Pearson: The Madera Film Festival will run from 2th until the 6th of May of 2012. The fundamental objective of the festival, it's to pay homage to the resilience of the laurissilva forest. We are going to do that by screening films, which are somehow nature related, or have a connotation with the natural world.
There's all ready one film festival in the island. Is there space for one more?
AP: Absolutely, definitely. We've done our marketing research and we firmly believe there is room for two festivals in Madera. Our takes place in a different localization at a different time of the year, and we have a specific theme, that is nature.
How many films have already been selected for the MFF'12?
AP: We are still in the process of selecting the films. I think that 90% of the works submitted are from filmmakers all around the world. The quality is phenomenal. Some of them have wan awards in other nature festivals.
Were any Portuguese films submitted?
AP: Yes. We received a lot of Portuguese films. Excellent works in terms of quality. I don't want to disclosure the tittles, but 40% of the works we want to screen are Portuguese.
The films you're selecting are documentaries or long –features?
AP: They are predominantly documentaries and short films.
The criteria are always the environment in a large sense?
AP: Any film that has a natural perspective or related to nature. For example we have a film we've recently received about a tiger. The filmmaker spent two years in India following a specific feline 24 hours a day and we hope to open the festival with this movie.
What can the Portuguese public expect from this festival?
AP: It's a pleasant way to watch films in a nice collective atmosphere. We are presenting the MFF'12 here in the Reid's, and quite frankly I can't think of a better location in the entire world to present a film festival. So by the virtue of our location there is an inherent capacity for the MFF'12 to become one of the most important festivals in Europe about nature films. It's our intention that's what we hope so.
What's so special about Madera them?
AP: Uff! That's a good question. The laurissilva forest first and for most it endures for 500 years of human presence and it's still here. The climate is also another factor.
What kind of public you are expecting for the MFF'12?
AP: Nature films appeal to all kinds of publics. They appeal to children, to all sorts of people from different backgrounds. So I think there's a demand for good quality nature films and that's the key objective of this festival.
http://www.elsagouveia.com/MFF/pg_home.php
