40 ans du jury oecuménique 2014 | Page 7

...........................................................................................................FOREWORD Gustavo Andújar President of SIGNIS Krzysztof Kieslowski reçoit le Prix œcuménique en 1991 I am not particularly fond of anniversaries. Perhaps I should better say that I find quite arbitrary the way anniversaries are usually celebrated, like in multiples of five. When over the years an institution has accumulated such an impressive record of achievements as the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Festival, it should be highlighted and celebrated every year, regardless that the anniversary at hand be its second or, as it is the case now, its fortieth. I will leave to others the consideration of the record of the Jury during these years, in terms of the films awarded or commended, and the exceptional service done to cinema by awarding not only the artistic excellency of films, but also their capacity to promote human values and to contribute to the progress of the human spirit. I prefer to contemplate briefly what the very existence of this endeavor has meant to us, and what it could mean to our Churches, in terms of our participation in an exercise of dialog and understanding, of our lea ɹ