Denmark and the four other Nordic countries are guests this week at Spain's most popular cultural event, Feria del Libro 2010 in Madrid (28 May-13 June), a publishing and book market open to the public. An extensive programme—literary, cultural and professional—has been set up for the million or so visitors whose stroll through the city takes them en route Madrid's 'central park' El Retiro.
Denmark's Embassy in Madrid and the Danish Film Institute (DFI) arranged the conference 'Film and Education—The Danish Experience,' which took place 1 June under the Nordic countries' joint theme 'Children & Youth—Education and Culture.' At the conference, DFI representatives presented the Danish model, which embraces both production and distribution of film, and spoke about their experiences and lessons learned within film and media education.
The Spanish Film Academy's director introduced the conference and announced a plan for a serious effort to encourage film studies in schools. Here the Danish model and the implementation of film studies in the classroom have been of major inspiration. Present at the conference were key representatives from Spain's educational and cultural organizations.
In their cultural agenda, the EU Commission has placed a high priority on media studies. In this connection Denmark has been in focus as a model for other countries.