Göteborg International Film Festival is the biggest film festival in Scandinavia as well as one of the biggest audience festivals in the world. It takes place during eleven days in January/February. Journalists from all over the world attend at the festival to cover, among other things, the new Nordic films in the Nordic competition or the interesting debutants in The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award.

Africa in focus at festival 2010
During Göteborg International Film Festival 2010 we take a closer look at the African continent. Among the highlighted films is Soul Boy from Kenya, produced by Tom Tykwer.

- There are so many things going on in the countries on the African continent and it is important to find and screen films portraying it, created by the people who live and work there, says Marit Kapla, festival director at Göteborg International Film Festival.

Last winter a Swedish delegation with representatives from different organizations traveled to the Fespaco festival, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The goal was to find new ways of cooperating with filmmakers from the African countries.

The cooperation with the Rotterdam festival and their project "Forget Africa" is another measure to look for films and filmmakers in a new way.

- Normally the African films screened at international festivals come from North Africa, the country South Africa and the former French colonies. Due to the extremely exciting "Forget Africa" project we will be able to give a more complete picture of the African film landscape this time, says Marit Kapla.



The African focus will be presented in several different ways during the festival:

- In the film programme: The African programme consists so far of nine films - stretching from music documentaries to realistic stories from the hoods in Kenya to the upper middle class in Mali:

- Burdening Memories of a Cleaning Lady (Souvenirs encombrants d'une femme de ménage) by Danii Kouyaté, Burkina Faso
- Le Fauteuil by Missa Hebié, Burkina Faso
- Harragas by Merzak Allouache, Algeria/France
- Sawa by Martin Nganguem Kamdem, Cameroon
- Seasons of a Life by Charles Shema Joyah, Malawi
- Shirley Adams by Oliver Hermanus, South Africa/USA
- Soul Boy by Hawa Essuman, Kenya/Germany
- St Louis Blues (Un transport en commun) by Dyana Gaye, Senegal/France
- Tell Me Who You Are (Min Yè) by Souleymane Cissé, Mali

- Through the project "Forget Africa", in cooperation with International Film Festival Rotterdam. Around ten African projects will be presented, in pairs with international film makers who have documented their meetings with chosen African countries.

During the last six months Rotterdam programmer Gertjan Zuilhof, together with commisioned daring film makers from all over the world, has travelled to African countries normally almost invisible on the cinematic map. The goal was to rediscover a continent on its own terms.

- In the seminars "Forget Africa" and "Producing African films", where representatives from the festival's film fund, financed by SIDA, participate together with African film makers.

- On the guest list. At least four representatives from "Forget Africa" will attend, as well as several other directors of the films in the programme.


- At parties, events and happenings during the festival period

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Göteborg International Film Festival is the leading film festival in
Scandinavia and - with an audience of 200 000 visitors a year - one of the largest festivals in the world.

GIFF is always one step ahead in the search for new talent and tomorrow's stars with:

* The prestigious Dragon Awards, including The Nordic Film Award and TIBIDA
* The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award.
* The Nordic Film Market, presenting the latest and upcoming Scandinavian films to international buyers, sales agents and festival programmers.
* The Göteborg International Film Festival Fund, supporting young talent in developing countries, in cooperation with SIDA.

The festival is a non-profit cultural organization with its seat in Göteborg. The organization is based on membership and is run by a board. The organization is supported by the city of Göteborg, Svenska Filminstitutet (the Swedish Film Institute), Västra Götalandsregionen (the Region), Nordisk Film och TV Fond (the Nordic Film and TV Fund) and Scandinavian Films.

The board appoints one administrative and one creative director. The festival has 12 all year employees. During the production of the festival about 40 persons are engaged on a project basis and during the festival days 250-300 persons are involved among them many volunteers.

THE STAFF
Åsa Bernlo
Managing Director
Film Fund Chairman
asa.bernlo@giff.se

Marit Kapla
Artistic Director
marit.kapla@giff.se

Andreas Degerhammar
Programme Coordinator
andreas.degerhammar@giff.se

Håkan Westesson
Festival Producer
hakan.westesson@giff.se

Camilla Larsson
Information
Editor Filmkonst
Film Fund Manager
camilla.larsson@giff.se

Eva Carlheim-Müller Sahlin
Marketing
Sales
eva.carlheim@giff.se

Mirja Hildbrand
Swedish Images
mirja.hildbrand@giff.se

Cia Edström
Nordic Film Market
cia.edstrom@giff.se

Paula Wahlbom
Programme Manager, Seminars & Region
paula.wahlbom@giff.se

Micael Östling
Webmaster
micael.ostling@giff.se

Sandra Olofsson
Economy
(maternity leave)
sandra.olofsson@giff.se

Nubar Kino
Economy
nubar.kino@giff.se

Ulf Sigvardson
Fund Coordinator
Programer
Festival editor
ulf.sigvardson@giff.se

Karl Svedung
Ad Sales
karl.svedung@giff.se

Nicke Wennerlund
IT
nicke.wennerlund@giff.seGöteborg International Film Festival Fund
Chairman: Åsa Bernlo

Fund Manager: Camilla Larsson
Fund Coordinator: Ulf Sigvardson

Board of Göteborg International Film Festival
Sven-Olof Bodenfors (chairman)
Jonas Brogårdh
Fabian Hielte
Lars Rundblom
Per Cramér
Nora Källström (suppleant)
AnnKi Bryhn-Jansson (suppleant)
Jonas Wahlbom, internal accounting

Honorary President
Roy Andersson