Morocco to feature at 2009 Mediterranean Film Festival

Morocco and France will be the special guest countries at the 15th annual Mediterranean Film Festival to be held in the Italian capital, Rome, in November. President of the festival, Ginella Vocca, has invited writers, producers and distributors to register their interest in the festival and explore new ideas and issues relevant to the region.

This year's festival will welcome many international filmmakers and offers a diverse programme of features, shorts and documentaries. Around 150 films are expected to be presented, many of them for the first time.

Organisers believe the festival provides a great opportunity to discover new films that improve understanding in diverse languages that span a range of cultures in the European and Mediterranean region.

Feature films in the official competition will focus on the theme 'Love and Psyche', a symbol of cinema and the union of passion and idealism.

Among the events at the festival there will be 'professional days' that promote networking between sales agents, producers and international distributors in the Mediterranean region and throughout Europe.

International events are also being held to promote Italian cinema, and develop co-operation and market opportunities for Italian film in the Mediterranean region.

Seven Italian films were presented in Tunisia recently and there will be other presentations in Algeria in June and in Turkey in December.

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