In Autumn Ponferrada opens itself to diverse approaches to the seventh art. The 15th edition of Ponferrada Internationa Film Festival, which specializes in the spread of audiovisual works, is again the bet regarding Culture in a year in which this city has been chosen the location for many national and international short and long films.

The theme topics of this edition offer a great variety in genre perspective, disabilities, commitment to social reality, human rights, comedy, architecture, music, environment, horror and art house and independent films among others. These sections’ aim is to take movies to the eyes of people of all ages from a renewing and lively perspective.

In 2017, for the fifth year in a row, the festival consolidates its remarkably international character by adding more foreign participants to the contesting sections. This year the participation figures have been surpassed, and the reached number goes up to 1219 films among the official, parallel and theme series parts.

The promotion poster will be the image used for Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. This silent-age classic, which is considered World Heritage by Unesco, helps us rediscover the German silent film (1927). This science-fiction movie, ahead of its time, includes significant social, critical and committed content, including class struggle, which has been a fundamental dystopic and futuristic film theme.

I encourage people of all ages to enjoy Ponferrada International Film Festival at the Ponferrada’s Cultural Centre since it shows lots of heterogeneity and international projection. Also, I encourage everyone to participate in the voting of Retina Awards 2017 which, like always, will determine the preferences of the cinematographic audience.