68th International Film Festival Venice

At the 68th Film Festival Venice, the Mostra internazionale d’arte cinematografica, from August 31-September 10, 2011, an INTERFILM jury awarded a Prize for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue for the first time. The award will support films which empower understanding, respect, sympathy and peace between people of different origins, histories, and beliefs. "Witnessing rising tensions and deep-rooted prejudice between religious groups in several regions of our world, INTERFILM intends the award to be a sign for the better: for sharing our hopes and our anxieties, for acknowledging the other as our neighbour, and for trusting in the power of artistic imagination to overcome suspicion and hostility", the preamble of the prize regulations says. By the new INTERFILM jury the organisation follows its aim to join church and cinema, cultures and religions.

In past years at the Venice Film Festival INTERFILM has organized a number of discussion forums focussing on the cinema of China, Iran, and Russia. For this year INTERFILM presented a panel on actual Arab cinema. Partner organisations of the event were the Catholic Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo and the Associazione protestante del cinema Roberto Sbaffi.