I welcome with great pleasure the participants, athletes, experts and all of the interested guests to the “Budapest Bridge I. International Paralympic Sport Film Festival”!
For a long time already, Paralympics have not been the private movement of a closed society of the disabled. It is more and more appearent also in Hungary that Paralympics is not an event organized by an exclusive group for their own entertainment and own interest. In Athens, nearly 4000 athletes from 134 countries compared their performance in 19 events during the Paralympic Games. The event was covered not only by the written or electronic media of the interest groups and the people living with disabilities, but also by 3103 journalists from all around the world, and the television broadcastings were viewed by approximately 1.8 billion people in all parts of the globe. The champions and the winners became heroes just as on the Olympics.
It is the hope of all of us, that the Budapest Bridge I. International Paralympic Sport Film Festival will gradually attract as much attention as the Paralympics, that, it will be noticed not only by the organizations of the people with disabilities. Indeed, the films introduced represent more than 20 countries from 4 continents, and the Festival itself may be interesting not only for the affected disabled amateur and elite athletes and the experts working for the sports of the people with disabilities, but for all who come for a visit. We hope that the Hungarian and international media will also cover this tradition creating event.
What could I possibly wish the organizers of this festival? I wish fine, cheerful festival days rich in ideas and fruitful discussions about the topics, and about all the important things concerning us; important and useful encounters among athletes and experts; and above all good movies presenting the struggle of the athletes, the high spirits of the days of the Paralympics, the joy of the winners and the failure of the losers. I wish splendid, exemplary films showing that the sport of the disabled is not only a magnificent thing, but is just as entertaining and elevating as sport in general. Finally, without wearing out the big phrases, I wish that all of us understands: it is always possible and always good to do sports.
I wish all of the participants a joyful festival!
Budapest, 28 February 2006
Kinga Göncz M.D.
Minister