In the morning we had the chance to get to know each other in an informal meeting at the premises of the theatre company MC. Both people from MC and from the European Cultural Foundation expressed their willingness to give the young people the chance to express themselves.

Then we had some spare time, and I meet Ionela (Moldova) and Oana (Romania), jury members of the "self-portrait" and "inside-out" categories. We had some chat about Europe, about how each one see his/her country… and that's probably one of the best things of StrangerFestival: it gives you the chance to get to know people from all over Europe and beyond and share feelings, thoughts, different points of view…

Later that evening, the festival started.

I have to say that the Gashouder building, where the Festival takes place, is awesome. It's a round building, located in a former gas factory and full of things to do and see. For instance, you can use a computer connected to a camera and shoot your own movie in a very short period of time with the "Tabletop Moviemaking" workshop. Also, The "Wii Cans" installation allows you to play with music and video using the remotes of a Wii connected to a computer. Very cool. You can take a look here:

And then, in the middle of the building, the circular stage, surrounded by chairs, when the Open Ceremony took place. The Amsterdam Awards finalists were announced and you can see and vote for them during the festival at Gashouder. Eboman's performances were great. I still don't know how it works, but it's awesome -he can mix and scratch video using his body. Here you can see one of his performances during the Opening:

Then, a very special guest appeared on stage: Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, who showed her video "Everyone needs a chance to win".

After the ceremony, the party.. Good music, good visuals, people taking funny photos of the strangers, others playing with the Wii Cans or watching videos, and girls around the stage making you meet people who were there. Very complete. And it's only the beginning.
For first visual impressions check out:
CLICK HERE

Today, more workshops, the expert meeting and a trip to Rotterdam, among many other things.

Annette & Javier