The Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival will start simultaneously next Friday, March 22nd, at the Pérez Galdós Theater, the Monopol Multiplex, the Elder Museum of Science and Technology, the Guiniguada Theater and the Gabinete Literario will all its sections, except for the Official one, which will begin on Monday, March 25th.

Thus, March 22nd will be the starting point for the Canarias Cinema competition, the screenings of the films included in Magic Lantern, Déjà vu, Panorama and Panorama Spain, the presentations and showings of the retrospectives devoted to David OReilly, Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, as well as the Film and Philias, Carte Blanche to Días de Cine cycle. The first weekend of the festival will see, also, the beginning of the Market of Almost-Made Films’ third edition (MECAS), of the Monopol Music Festival’s sixth edition and of first Cima Canarias Sessions. The Official Section, the most representative of the festival’s programming, will go on from Monday 25th to Sunday 31st.

The Festival strengthens its commitment to a philosophy devoted to talent, to films born without commercial intent, away from conventionalisms and which turns this film festival into a celebration to live and enjoy in theaters, far from celebrities and red carpets.

The poster, once again created by national Comic winner Rayco Pulido, will arrive to the streets of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with a small tribute to one of the greatest, Jonas Mekas, a leading figure in avant-garde cinema that passed away at the end of last January. Both the opening ceremony, conducted by Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, and a special session of his work Walden (USA, 1968, 180 min.) will recover this key figure who, from his position as a filmmaker, stood up for freedom and limitless creativity in cinema.

The Festival also pays tribute within the special sessions to its 2009 Honorary Lady Harimaguada, Bruno Ganz, with the screening of a film jewel starring him: Win Wender’s masterpiece Wings of Desire (Germany, France, 1986, 128 min.).