Congratulations to the Osaka European Film Festival for the enthusiasm and passion surrounding the event, among the organisers, the participants and the Japanese public in the Kansai region, the country’s cultural heartland. The European Commission is heavily involved in assisting European cinema through its MEDIA 2007 programme which will support the European audiovisual sector to the tune of 755 million between 2007 and 2013. Half of the European films shown in European cinemas appear on the big screen with the assistance of this programme, which also supports the distribution of 90% of feature films in Europe that play outside their country of origin. In addition, the programme helps fund more than 300 new European film projects, and 100 film festivals – allowing some 2.5 million cinema fans to watch over 15,000 European screenings.

As with last year, many of the films receiving their Japanese premieres will be accompanied by those who have somehow been involved in their creation. Among the many guests are first-time British director Sean Ellis, who will be on hand to discuss the film “Cashback” about an insomniac artist who works nights in a London supermarket, director György Pálfi, whose challenging multi-generational tale of Hungarian men, “Taxidermia”, is sure to be a talking point, and Marco S. Puccioni, director of the French-Italian co-production “Riparo – Anis tra di noi” about female lovers and an illegal immigrant.

I am also delighted to see that there will be a comprehensive collection of documentaries from Sweden and a selection of Belgian Kinder Films for a younger audience. As with last year, the festival is more than just film in the simplest sense, with two exhibitions of artworks and sketches by this year’s festival chairman, Polish director Andrzej Wajda, and by the highly-regarded veteran Osakan graphic designer Wada Makoto among the projects rounding out the calendar of events.

Wajda is a towering figure in post-World War II Eastern European cinema, one who won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1981 and received an honorary Oscar in 2000, and who has been responsible for more than 40 films. Meanwhile Wada’s exhibition will feature 50 artworks derived directly from European films, characters and actors.

On behalf of the European Commission, I would like to wish the organisers of the Osaka European Film Festival every success for this year’s event.