For the seventh time CineEurope takes place in Barcelona: the official convention of the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) represents 36 territories worldwide and it aims to promote the cultural, social and economic value of cinemas. Produced by The Film Expo Group, CineEurope is an event to develop the relationship between Europe and the United States; that’s why there are several American exhibitors and professionals coming to Barcelona for this edition.
Besides a full programme of exclusive presentations, forums and seminars, many prizes will be awarded during this edition: Independent Producer of the Year to Telecinco Cinema, Internationa Exhibitor of the Year to Eddy Duquenne (Kinepolis Group), UNIC Award of Achievement to Piero Fumagalli (founder of Arcadia Cinemas) and International Distributors of the Year to Lee Jury and Tony Chambers (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International).
Director Luc Besson was presentduring the opening day and talked about his latest effort, Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets(distributed by 01 in Italy). Jack Black was there as one of the protagonist of the Jumanji reboot;Jon Watts and Tom Holland, director and protagonist of Spiderman: Homecoming, Sony’s strong point, attended the convention too. After them (during Sony presentation), Denis Villeneuve, Ana De Armas, Sylvia Hoeks and Ryan Gosling(the cast of the long-awaited Blade Runner 2049) took to the stage. Christopher Nolan received a warm welcome and presented his new work, Dunkirk.
President of The Film Expo Group Bob Sunshine has officially opened the ceremony by listing the films which exceeded 100 million Euros in Europe in 2016 (The Secret Life ofPets, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Zootopia, Rogue One, Finding Dory, The Jungle Book,Deadpool, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Revenant), while UNIC President Phil Clapp has reminded the audience that they reached a record of 1,28 billion viewers and collected 8,4 billion Euros at the box offices of the UNIC territories in 2016 alone.
