Page 245 - Alternative Europe Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945

We will be attached to fantasy and horror even more in the future, as it will be our turn to host
the prestigious Golden Melies ceremony in just a few years. Without a doubt, in its scale it will be the
single biggest international cinema event ever organised in Finland.
The ever-growing popularity of the annual Silver Melies Competition also guarantees that the
Festival tries to keep the selection on the level of high-quality and highly interesting titles. We do
not wish to restrain the taste boundaries, and that is why you can see serious art-house flicks like
Agustin Villaronga's Aro Tolbukhin: En la Mente del Asesino (Aro Tolbukbin: In the Mind of a Killer,
2002) in the same competition with hilarious black comedy gore-fests like Brian Yuzna's Beyond Re-
Animator. We also treat lovers of high-quality gay and lesbian films every year with the annual Pink
Zone series.
On the general and genre-pending level, Espoo Cine also stays as the biggest film festival in
Finland considering our admission rate per screening, which is still higher than that of the other local
festivals. Also the place where everything happens is one of the most beautiful and architecturally
respected areas in the joined map of Espoo and Helsinki (next-door neighbours): the Espoo Cultural
Centre in the beautiful garden city of Tapiola. The location provides perfect surroundings for
watching films and enjoying the festival mood.
The films are screened in three theatres, with two of them being inside the cultural centre. The
third screen is located within a couple of minutes' walking distance from the cultural centre, and is the
local cinema of Tapiola. The huge lobby of the cultural centre is the venue of the annual cinema fair,
with all of the local distributors and film-related organisations present to exhibit their upcoming line-
up and other intriguing activities. The garden city of Tapiola is also only 10-15 minutes away from
the central heart of Helsinki - widely recognised as the ruling Baltic Party Capital, where the Festival
throws occasional patties and other film-based happenings to boost the main event.
The attention of both local and international media is guaranteed for all the titles selected for
the annual programme. The number of accredited journalists, local and international, attending the
Festival every year is over 150. Espoo Ciné is also sure to attract at least as many industry professionals
during the six-day event.
Moreover, as the number of films selected for the Festival's official selection has grown year by
year, so has the number of films picked for commercial distribution from the Festival. To support this,
we also give out an audience award for the best European film which still does not have a distribution
deal in Finland. If the winning film, voted by our audience, is picked up aftet the Festival, we will give
the distributor a money prize to support the commercial distribution of the film.

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