Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – One of the biggest film festivals in Latin America, the Guanajuato International Film Festival (GIFF), has come up with some innovative ways to make its 23rd edition live up to expectations – despite the coronavirus pandemic.
This year’s event was originally scheduled for July 17-26, but was moved to September 18 to 27 due to uncertainties resulting from the health contingency caused by COVID-19, and the need to adjust the festival’s format to comply with health protocols.
In their ongoing efforts to promote cinema and its filmmakers, the festival’s organizers have proven to be as resourceful and innovative as ever with the creation of 3 formats – virtual, digital and ‘face-to-face’ – for this 23rd edition of the Guanajuato International Film Festival.
On September 21 and 22, the GIFF Virtual Campus will be a meeting point where filmmakers and renowned professionals from the film industry can interact, share live content, and enjoy unique experiences, including film reviews, concerts and even beach parties. Real time industry meetings, panel discussions, conferences, workshops, and all festivities will be broadcast online from the Virtual Campus.
As part of the strategies, all of the films in the 2020 competition will be made available to watch online, as will between 40% and 50% of supplemental programming.
The ‘face-to-face’ events that GIFF will offer from September 18 to 27 at the San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato venues include: drive-in movie theaters with space for about 500 vehicles carrying 2-4 passengers; picnic cinemas to be held on golf courses with social distancing clearly demarcated; and an Aquacinema at the La Olla Dam in Guanajuato, where a giant screen will be installed so movie-goers can enjoy a variety of films from 30 boats carrying up to four people.
The Aquacinema will be equipped with buoys to ensure social distancing, and a dining area with capacity for 70 people that will also offer picnic baskets that attendees can enjoy while watching the movies from their boats.
The Aquacinema will be held from September 24 to 26 and will begin its programming at 10 in the morning with children’s cinema and continue with screenings of films and special exhibitions from the competition until midnight. The Aquacinema is only accessible by reservation, which can be made on the festival’s website at giff.mx.
The 23rd edition of the Guanajuato International Film Festival will run September 18 through 27, 2020 with events in Irapuato, Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. The full program for the GIFF will be published online on September 8.
Sources: giff.mx • udgtv.com • revistacosas.mx