On August 28th ended one more edition of the Monterrey International Film Festival, and despite the hard times, the numbers went over 22,000 participants that was expected for this year, reaching the 22,806. This attendance meant an average occupation of 57% in the theatres and special events. This is a percentage that few film festivals achieve.
257 directors, 885 filmmakers, 31 panelists, 114 Mexican films, 102 films from 39 different countries, 129 special guests and 1,400 cinephiles in the biggest 3D theatre ever installed in Monterrey are some of the numbers that ended up defining this edition of the Festival.
From the grand totale of the attendance of the Monterrey IFF, the 70% attended a screening, while the 17% attended academic and industry events. This last entry was the one that suffered a dramatic change, rising up to an average of 6% from the last three years. This certifies the success of the International Animation Encounter that reached a 97% of attendance and almost a thousand virtual attendants through YouStream. In our webpage we achieved the highest number of visitors, having 50,864 visits from 118 countries, from February to September and 22,505 visits from 90 cities in Mexico in August.
Plus, the Festival presented to the city 59 world premieres, 16 continental premieres, 49 national premieres and 61 local premieres, achieving with this its mission to bring to Monterrey for the finest and most recent selection of international auteur cinema for the audience’s enjoyment.
Carlos Carrera, awarded for his life achievements, considered the award as the most important that he has received through his career since all his films were presented at the retrospective. In the same way, Damián Alcázar thanked the distinction of the Icono del Cine Mexicano award that he received from the Festival.
The participation of Canada as the Guest Country distinguished the Monterrey IFF, with 7 feature films and a screening of short films from the National Film Board of Canada, an institution that was awarded by the Festival during the Opening Night Gala. 23 Canadian titles were presented in and out of competition.
Now the count down has begun for the 8 Monterrey International Film Festival, that will be held from August 16th to 26th, 2012.
