CineRail, the 17th international railway film festival ("Train & Metro on Film") is being held in Paris from 24 to 31 March 2009. This increasingly prominent festival attracts a wide range of travel and train enthusiasts and, more generally, of people fascinated by all the locations and topics connected to the railway sector (railways, stations, railway workers from around the world). Every year CineRail showcases a wide variety of feature films and shorts, television documentaries and corporate films by railway and public transport companies, all presenting the world of trains and railways.

Two CineRail days are held every year at UIC headquarters, showcasing the most recent corporate films. At this year’s event, 56 films were screened on 26 and 27 March. These two days ("Corporate Film days") are a unique opportunity for railways and public transport professionals to discover the best productions and share their experience as to the effectiveness of audiovisual products. Screenings are held in the presence of film producers and directors. This year the main corporate film productions once again consisted of institutional communications and advertising campaigns, presentations of major railway projects, campaigns to raise public and staff awareness of accident risks, staff training programmes (for commercial posts, crisis management, etc.).

The best corporate films are rewarded every year by an international jury according to criteria such as creativity, originality and effectiveness. The 2009 jury was headed by Fabienne Le Loher (France), assisted by Carlos Cipriano (Portugal) and Alain Primatesta (Switzerland).

At a ceremony held at UIC on Friday 27 March in the presence of Chief Executive Luc Aliadière, the international jury awarded the following prizes:

. Golden CineRail prize for Corporate Films: “La Pandilla ADIF” (commissioned by ADIF, Spanish railway infrastructure manager),

. Special Jury Prize: “High speed Love” (directed by Hans Van Rooy and produced by Ventoux, Netherlands, for UIC),

. External Corporate Communications Prize: “Zwischen Spiel” (commissioned by CFF, Switzerland),

. Internal Corporate Communications Prize: “Embarquement Immédiat” (commissioned by SNCF, France),

. Special Jury Mention (internal communications): “The Cycle of Service Customer Service Training” (commissioned by Yarra Trams, Australia),

. Golden CineRail prize for Advertising Films: “Monumental Environment Congress” (commissioned by VR Group, Finland),

. Special Jury Prize (advertising films): “Marylin” (commissioned by Yarra Trams, Australia).

In addition, UIC awarded a special mention to Korail, the Korean railways, for their creativity in terms of technological and commercial innovation, as illustrated by the film “Boundless Speed KTX” (commissioned by Korail).