The exchange of cultures between different societies could play an important role in promoting understanding among people, said Luigi Narbone, Ambassador of the European Commission in Saudi Arabia. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the European Film Festival at the German Embassy in Riyadh, Sunday, Narbone said that he hoped to see an EU-Saudi film festival organized in the near future. “We, in Europe, believe that shared cultures are the key for genuine understanding between nations. The opening of the European Film Festival in Riyadh could one day lead to the organization of an EU-Saudi film festival,” the envoy said while addressing the audiences of various nationalities including Europeans, Arabs and Saudis. He said with around 500 million citizens living in the 27-member states stretching from the Atlantic to the Black Sea and from the Arctic to the Mediterranean, the European Union is home to people with large cultural diversity. He said the broad selection of films to be screened during the 23-day festival will offer a taste of the EU's cultural diversity as reflected by different languages, religions, ethnicity of people and their arts and traditions. A total of 12 films from 11 countries from the European Union will be screened in the auditoria of different embassies and ambassadors' residences in Riyadh between April 26 and May 18, 2009. “I am very pleased to participate this evening in the opening of the European Film Festival at the German Embassy with the movie Empties, directed by Jan Sverak from the Czech Republic,” he said. Lupomir Hladik, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Saudi Arabia, also spoke on the occasion. The European Union is celebrating 2009 as the year of Creativity and Innovation, he said. He said to take advantage of the EU's cultural diversity, part of this year's program will be used to foster artistic and other forms of creativity. The schedule of the 12 films that will be screened during the festival includes: Anyway the Wind Blows at the Belgium Embassy (April 28); Boats out of Watermelon Rinds (Embassy of Turkey, April 29); Volver (Embassy of France, May 2), Le Couperet (Embassy of France, May 4); Goodbye Lenin (German Embassy, May 6); Loneliness on the Net (Canadian Embassy, May 10); Happy-Go-Lucky (British Embassy, May 12); Zwartboek (Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, May 13); Gomorra (Italian Ambassador's Residence, May 16) and the last two films The Ugly Duckling and Me and Stud at the Canadian Embassy on May 18. The films are being screened in their original language with English subtitles. People interested in watching the films can register their names in advance by calling the respective embassies or sending an email by logging onto www.delsau.ec.europa.eu.
