From the 16th to the 19th of September, Cascais will stage the 1st Edition of the first worldwide competition for medical cinema, which will give the Portuguese public the opportunity to witness a set of works from all over the world that have never been shown in Portugal.

The MedCineCascais Film Festival ’09 thus opens its doors to a new form of setting up cultural and scientific debate on the major issues that involve current medicine, besides helping to clarify and inform the public at large about health issues. The competition includes not only new films, but also controversial documentaries which are of Great importance in the field of XXI century health care.

António Pais Lacerda, Head of the Service of Intensive Medicine at the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon (CHLN) (1), is the person heading the Project, supported by the Medicine Faculties of the University of Lisbon, of Medical Sciences at the New University of Lisbon and of Salamanca. The MedCineCascais Film Festival will award the best films in competition with the recently-created Vesalius Prize.

More information on www.medcinecascais.org


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(1) North Lisbon Hospital Centre