My committee and I have the pleasure and the honor to bring to you the 4th Osaka European Film Festival, which represents the result of a lengthy year of meticulous planning and hard efforts. In view of our ambitions, the extent of our passion and the urgency to preserve the independence of art films in Japan, our means have certainly remained all too modest. However, thanks to the support of the public, of the professional media, and of our private and institutional partners, the festival has continued over the years to grow in quality, fame, size, and audience numbers. I have the sense that this year the festival has attained its full maturity, in so far as it has reached the objectives that were determined at its initiation, and that a distinctive style has emerged. This year, the traditional screenings of recently released and still unreleased films, accompanied by the extensive debates with our European guests, will be further enriched by the creation of three distinct sections: a tribute to an individual, a ’festival university’, as well as a series of films dedicated to a specific region: the Nordic countries. The exceptional career of Henri Alekan, one of the most eminent cinematographers in the history of motion pictures, was an obvious choice for us when working on the concept of a tribute to a major European cinema personality. The first part of this tribute is an important exposition of photographs and drawings, among which one can find pieces that have never been shown before, along with a number of work-sketches from Alekan’s personal collection. The photos by Michele Levieux, taken on the set of The Wings of Desire, are an exceptional complement to the series. The section entitled ’Festival University’ consists of 4 screenings, followed by debates that are specifically, though not exclusively, directed towards students of the universities and professional schools of the region. It appeared to us to be important to raise the awareness-level of a younger generation, not necessarily yet knowledgeable about European films, in order to develop a future audience and to answer with them some of the questions posed in each film. The films selected for this section include a set of high-quality short films, something that is rarely available in Japan. The series of Nordic films include a portion of the programme organized by the Japan Foundation last June in Tokyo. This new collaboration with this prestigious institution allows us to materialize our desire to bring together a number of films from a specific region. The support of the city of Osaka grows stronger and stronger each year, and this 4th edition sees the initiation of the City of Osaka Prize. The objective of this is to highlight a unique body of work, as much for its contribution to human knowledge as to the art of cinematography itself. Three trophies, designed by the famous Osaka architect Tadao Ando, will be awarded. The first pays tribute to Wim Wenders, Honorary Chairman of the Festival, for his latest work, ’The End of Violence’, which receives its Japanese premiere here at the Festival in Osaka. The second trophy will reward the 50-year career of Henri Alekan, who collaborated on the creation of a multitude of masterpieces which reveal an obsession for the beautiful as well as the modern. The third trophy, dedicated to a ’young’ filmmaker, will be awarded to Paula van der Oest, for the personal tone and humanistic vision that she has developed in her film, ’Another Mother’. This year, producers and co-producers from 20 countries are involved in the films selected for our programme, representing 23 feature and 8 short films. This should allow the Japanese audience a broad vision of the preoccupations and tendencies