Now that the entry period has ended, PUNTO DE VISTA can announce that it has received 408 films for competition. A selection process shall be applied in order to arrive at the titles of the films which shall finally compete for the awards at the festival itself, to be held in Pamplona from the 23rd of February to the 3rd of March 2007.

By category, the International Documentary Film Festival of Navarra has received 245 full-length films and 163 short documentaries from 46 different countries. 34 of these entries are co-productions between two or more countries.

By country, documentaries produced in Spain account for the largest number with 155 films, followed by the United States with 23, Great Britain and France with 20, Germany with 14, Argentina and Belgium with 13, and the Netherlands with 10. The Punto de Vista Festival has received 9 films from India, 8 from Poland, 7 apiece from Mexico and Iran, and 6 from Chile, Portugal and Switzerland. Russia and Turkey are competing with 5 documentaries, Canada and Finland with 4, and Israel, Italy and Lithuania with 3. Australia, Bosnia, Denmark, Peru, Romania and Serbia have each sent 2 films. Afghanistan, Armenia, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Columbia, Croatia, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Japan, Montenegro, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden and Venezuela have each entered one film for the competition.

PRIZES
Those documentaries finally selected, to be screened in Pamplona during the festival, shall opt for the Punto de Vista First Prize for the Best Film (€ 9,000), the Jean Vigo Prize for the Best Director (€ 5,000), the Prize for the Best Short Film (€ 3,500) and the Audience’s Special Prize (€ 2,500). The international jury may also award up to two special mentions, involving a prize of € 1,000 each.

The principal novelty among the prizes is the creation of the Jean Vigo Prize for the Best Director in the Official Competition Section, to be awarded as of 2007. This new award strengthens both the spirit which inspired the festival in the first place and its commitment to the work of Jean Vigo from the very outset. The creation of the prize has been possible thanks to the close ties between Punto de Vista and the family of the great French filmmaker.

In addition to the Official Section, the Punto de Vista Festival programme is also to include different informative sections, retrospectives, presentations and premieres.

The 2007 IMAGE
The pictures used on the Punto de Vista 2007 poster were chosen from the “KIEV 12” series by Navarra-born photographer Clemente Bernad. The photographs were taken by Bernad on his visit to Orphanage 12, a state institution for orphaned and abandoned children with learning problems in Kiev (Ukraine). The orphanage has close ties with the Burlada-based NGO Arco Iris Solidario.

The entire “Kiev 12” series will be on show in Civican during the Punto de Vista Festival. The exhibition portrays the lives of the children at this educational centre from Clemente Bernal’s own personal point of view.

The festival strengthens its ties with the French filmmaker.

As of the next festival, Punto de Vista shall be awarding the Jean Vigo Prize to the best director (€ 5,000) from among those taking part in the Official Competition Section. The new award aims to strengthen both the spirit which inspired the festival in the first place and its commitment to the work of Jean Vigo. The creation of this prize has been made possible thanks to the close ties between PUNTO DE VISTA and the family of the great French filmmaker.

As you will remember, Punto de Vista paid tribute to the director of Zero de Conduite on the centenary of his birth in 2005. Luce Vigo, film critic and daughter of Vigo and Elizabeth Lozinska, attended that year. The festival provided an opportunity to look back on Vigo’s entire filmography and also represented the first step in a relationship which has now fructified in the form of this award. As you will already know, the Festival took its name, Punto de Vista (Point of View), as a tribute to Vigo, the first director to refer, back in the 30’s, to a “documented point of view” as a distinctive sign of a form of filmmaking which commits the filmmaker.

This is the first prize in Spain associated with the memory of the director of L´Atalante, but in France, the Prix Jean Vigo is closely related to some of the best filmmaking of the last 50 years. The Prix Jean Vigo was created in France in 1951 as a means of promoting young filmmakers with the greatest prospects. Figures such as Alain Resnais, Chris Marker, Claude Chabrol and Jean-Luc Godard can all be named among its winners.

With all this evocations, it is an honour for Punto de Vista that, as of 2007, the festival shall be an accredited platform dedicated to the memory of Vigo, rewarding the most audacious, directors of non-fiction. A place for the films of tomorrow. Punto de Vista would like to thank the Vigo family for the support and generosity which they have given to the festival.
REGISTRATION OPEN UNTIL THE 9th OF NOVEMBER

The second deadline for films for the Official Competition Section closes on the 9th of November. This deadline is only for documentary films produced after the 1st of August 2006.

Punto de Vista, which is to be held in Pamplona from the 23rd of February to the 3rd of March 2007, has received 263 films during the first registration period. The competition rules and the registration form are available on the festival Web site www.cfnavarra.es/puntodevista.

PRIZES

Official Prizes
– “Punto de Vista” First Prize for the best film: 9.000 euro
– Prize Jean Vigo for the best Director: 5.000 euro
– First Prize for the best short film: 3.500 euro

Special Prizes
– The Audience’s Special Prize for the best film: 2.500 euro
– Special mentions: The Jury will be able to award up to three special mentions, worth 1.000 euro each