flashback09directorscut

25 years is just the beginning.

It’s not every year that a film festival reaches a quarter of a century and so 2009 was a special year for Festroia, which was exceptionally held from the 4th to the 13th of September.

To celebrate, Festroia updated the image of its main awards – the Gold and Silver Dolphins – and, in a tribute to its founder, it established the Mário Ventura Award for the best European short-film script being screened at the festival.

Faithful to its usual programme, the festival showcased 170 films from 40 countries and kept the four competitive sections that are appraised by the public and that support the festival’s international recognition.

In short, it was with novelties, good cinema, relevant showcases and training that Festroia blowed its first 25 candles. I say the first because, surely, many more will follow. After all, this festival has proved that it has the stamina to overcome all kinds of obstacles, like a true resistant.


Fernanda Silva
Director