The Brest European Short Film Festival (
French: Festival européen du film court de Brest) is a
film festival
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...
dedicated to
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
s, happening every year in
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
, in the
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
region in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. It has been organized by the Côte Ouest Association since
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
and is open to everyone, school groups and professionals.
Since
1992, films from all over Europe are competing at the festival to light and wins recognition for the viewpoint of young European
filmmakers
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
. Prizes are awarded by several jurys. Besides the official selection, several themed screenings and workshops are dedicated to the young audience.
Known as the second best short
film festival in France, Brest unites around 30,000 professionals and filmgoers.
History
Beginnings
In 1984, Brest film director Olivier Bourbeillon organizes a short film night at the
Mac Orlan theater.
In 1986, Gilbert Le Traon, who became director of Brittany Film Archive in 2000, joins Olivier Bourbeillon in the organization of the first edition of " Brest Short Film Festival ". The festival lasts three days and two nights during springtime.
Five programmes and around two dozens French speaking films are screened at the Mac Orlan theater gathering an audience of around 700 people.
In 1987, the newly created Association Côte Ouest takes over the organization of the event.
Competition
British films enter the selection starting 1989 enabling the creation of the European competition in 1992.
Starting 1995, the festival strengthens its European dimension by inviting a new
European country
The list below includes all entities falling even partially under any of the various common definitions of Europe, geographical or political. Fifty generally recognised sovereign states, Kosovo with limited, but substantial, international reco ...
each year and doing numerous screenings focusing on a specific country. This is how many exchanges with European cities such as
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
(
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
),
Vila do Conde
Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km². The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of Vila do Conde, Azurar ...
(
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
),
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
(
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
) happened.
From 1999, the Estran contest supports screenwriting of
short fictions and helps Breton directors.
Attendance
In 1989, the Quartz national stage hosts for the first time the festival gathering 6,000 viewers. In 1995, celebrating its 10th anniversary, the festival gets past 17,000 viewers.
In 2005, festival goers celebrate the 20th anniversary of the event. In 2013, 14,000 young audience entries are recorded.
For the 30st edition, the festival aims at 30,000 entries is six days and in 2016 around 28,000 entries are counted.
Celebrities
Claude Zidi
Claude Zidi (born 25 July 1934) is a French film director and screenwriter noted for his mainstream burlesque comedies. Born in Paris, he started as a cameraman and then a cinematographer, and he made his directorial and screenwriting debut in 1 ...
is the first president of the festival's jury.
Among its most well-known guests, the festival hosted
Joris Ivens,
Michelangelo Antonioni,
Mathilda May,
Hilton McConnico
Joseph Hilton McConnico (13 May 1943 – 29 January 2018) was a designer and artist who was born in Memphis, Tennessee and lived and worked in Paris from 1965.
Biography
Hilton McConnico was a self-taught fashion designer. He officially launched h ...
,
Hippolyte Girardot
Hippolyte Girardot (born Frédéric Girardot; 10 October 1955) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. He is the father of actress Ana Girardot.
Selected filmography
* 1973: '' La Femme de Jean'', directed by Yannick Bellon, Rémi
* ...
,
Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress, film producer, singer, and environmentalist who is widely known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters in both European and Hollywood productions.
She has received ...
,
Sylvie Testud
Sylvie Testud (born 17 January 1971) is a French actress hose film career est Actress for '' Fear and Trembling'' (2003), and the European Film Award for Best Actress for '' Lourdes'' (2009). Her other film roles include '' Beyond Silence'' ( ...
,
Élisabeth Depardieu,
Peter Mullan
Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all th ...
,
Richard Bohringer
Richard Bohringer (born 16 January 1942) is a French actor.
Personal life
Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, to a French mother and a German father. He is the father of actress Romane Bohringer, and has three other children, Mathieu, Richa ...
,
Vincent Lindon
Vincent Lindon (born 15 July 1959) is a French actor and filmmaker. For his role in the film '' The Measure of a Man'' (2015), Lindon won Best Actor at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actor at the 41st César Awards and the IFFI Best Actor A ...
,
Gérard Darmon
Gérard Darmon (born 29 February 1948) is a French- Moroccan actor and singer.
Personal life
He was the second husband of actress Mathilda May (mother of his two youngest children). He has three children: Virginie (born 1968) and, by May, daug ...
,
Caroline Loeb
Caroline Loeb (born 5 October 1955) is a French actress, radio host, singer, and director. In 1986, she co-wrote and recorded the hit single " C'est la ouate".
Filmography
* 1973 : '' La Maman et la Putain'' by Jean Eustache
* 1974 : ''Mes petit ...
,
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu,
René Vautier,
Véronique Jannot
Véronique Jannot (born 7 May 1957) is a French actress and singer. She was born in Annecy, Haute-Savoie.
Discography
Albums
*2012: ''Tout doux''
Singles
*1975: "L'Atlantique" (with Pierre Bachelet)
*1981: "Pause café"
*1982: "J'ai fait l ...
,
Pascal Légitimus,
François Ozon
François Ozon (; born 15 November 1967) is a French film director and screenwriter.
Ozon is considered one of the most important modern French filmmakers. His films are characterized by aesthetic beauty, sharp satirical humor and a free-wheeli ...
,
Keren Ann and Breton artists
Étienne Daho
Étienne Daho (; ; born 14 January 1956) is a French singer. He has released a number of synth-driven and rock- surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981.
Career
Daho was born in Oran, French Algeria. He sings in a low, whispery voice somew ...
and
Yelle
Yelle is a French band founded by lead singer and namesake Yelle (Julie Budet) and GrandMarnier (Jean-François Perrier). A third member, Tepr (Tanguy Destable), joined the band before the recording of their debut album. Yelle and GrandMarnier b ...
.
Discoveries
The festival has enabled the highlighting of numerous directors who then got involved in making successful feature films such as
Arnaud Desplechin
Arnaud Desplechin (; born 31 October 1960) is a French film director and screenwriter. In 2016, he won the César Award for Best Director for ''My Golden Days'' (2015).
Life and career
Desplechin was born in Roubaix. He is the son of Robert and ...
,
Cédric Klapisch
Cédric Klapisch ( ; born 4 September 1961) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer.
Life and career
Klapisch was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is from a Jewish family; his maternal grandparents were deported to Ausc ...
,
Éric Rochant
Éric Rochant (born 24 February 1961) is a French film director and screenwriter. He is an alumnus of the IDHEC ( FEMIS) from the generation of Arnaud Desplechin and Noémie Lvovsky. Rochant is of Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִי ...
,
Jean-Pierre Jeunet,
Mathieu Kassovitz,
François Ozon
François Ozon (; born 15 November 1967) is a French film director and screenwriter.
Ozon is considered one of the most important modern French filmmakers. His films are characterized by aesthetic beauty, sharp satirical humor and a free-wheeli ...
,
Pascale Breton,
Fred Cavayé,
Gérald Hustache-Mathieu Gérald is a French male given name, a variant of the old Géraud and more common Gérard, both equivalent to Gerald in English.
People with the name include:
* Gérald Mossé
* Gérald de Palmas
* Gérald Leblanc
Less frequently the French name ...
, etc.
Organization
Côte Ouest Association
The festival is organized by the Côte Ouest Association which was created in 1986. The event is part of its main missions which are the broadcasting of films mostlyshorts and image education mainly for the young audience.
For ten years, from 1996 to 2007, Côte Ouest oversees the national
Cinéville system " Un été au ciné " with outdoors screenings. The festivals aims at promoting young filmmakers both European and French as well as introducing the widest audience possible with cinema.
Official selection
After eight years as
artistic director of the festival, Olivier Bourbeillon hands over to Gilbert Le Traon and Mirabelle Fréville. When they leave in 2001, the artistic direction becomes collective and is handled by a total of seven people. Starting 2007, selection committees watch all the submitted films. Between 2009 and 2013, the organization reaches out to Bernard Boulad to be the artistic director of the festival.
From 2011 to 2015, Massimiliano Nardulli takes care of the programmation searching for emergent talents and European productions all year. He is replaced in 2016 by Arthur Lemasson.
The festival only accepts
fiction films
Narrative film, fictional film or fiction film is a motion picture that tells a fictional or fictionalized story, event or narrative. Commercial narrative films with running times of over an hour are often referred to as feature films, or feature ...
for the official competition and the short films must not be over 30 minutes-long. The French competition features first films or school films only. Around 2,000 films are submitted and 200 to 250 are screened at the festival.
70% of those films come from all over Europe and 25 to 30 European countries are represented. A total of 70 films are part of the different competitions of the festival while 40 films compete in the European section.
Sections
The official competition separates European productions from
French cinema
French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influ ...
. Until 2012, the " Cocotte-minute " competition screened films inferior to six minutes. Since 2013, the " OVNI " competition (
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
competition) rewards the uniqueness and creativity of films included in a special programme.
There are also special screenings and themed screenings such as the "Made in Breizh", that is to say films produced and/or directed in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
. Besides the competitions, the Midnight Show section is dedicated to the
genre movies, the Brest Off section also presents the audience with several
genres
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
since 1993. The Panorama Animation is dedicated to European animation films. Three or four programmes are dedicated to the young audience (starting age two).
Jury's constitution
The festival's jury is made up of five people. The personalities appointed come from different cinema backgrounds and they award four to five prizes.
The "passeurs de courts" jury promotes short films in 39 Breton cinemas. The young jury is made up of students specialized in cinema. The press jury gathers local and national journalists, the
France 2
France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews.
Since 3:20 CET on 7 A ...
jury is made up of professionals of
France Télévisions
France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...
. The Beaumarchais-
SACD foundation also awards a prize as well as the audience by filling out voting papers at the end of each screening.
Awards
The official jury awards the " Grand prix du film court " as well as several other awards : a European prize, a first film prize and a special prize. The France 2 and the Beaumarchais prizes award films from the French competition. One film from the OVNI competition gets a prize from the
ShortsTV channel and the
SundanceTV
Sundance TV (formerly known as Sundance Channel) is an American pay television channel owned by AMC Networks that launched on February 1, 1996. The channel is named after Robert Redford's character in ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' and, w ...
channel awards one film of the Brest OFF competition.
Around the Festival
Reach
The Festival is considered to be one of the most important
short film festivals in France, coming second in terms of entries. It screens a selection of films coming from European countries such as
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
,
Switzerland,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
or
Eastern countries.
Around 500 professionals attend and 200 volunteers are involved in the festival.
Since 1997, the festival's film market gathers a selection of 300 films made available to professionals all week long.
Medias
In 1990, French partners get involved enabling the festival to grow : the Gan Foundation for cinema,
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
(photography prize) and "''Histoires Courtes"'' on
Antenne 2
France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews.
Since 3:20 CET on 7 ...
. TV channels buy some awarded films and promote the festival in special programmes such as ''Court Circuit'' on the
Arte
Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture.
It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...
channel, "''CineCinecourt"'' on CinéCinéma, "''Comme au cinéma"'' and "''Histoires Courtes"'' on the
France 2
France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews.
Since 3:20 CET on 7 A ...
channel. The Festival also had among its partners
Canal +
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow und ...
,
France 3
France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info.
It is made up of a network of regional television services provi ...
and
Arte
Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture.
It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...
.
In 2014, the partnership with Canal + gets replaced by the
ShortsTV channel dedicated to short films.
See also
*
List of film festivals in Europe
This is a list of Wikipedia articles about film festivals in Europe.
Albania
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Ge ...
*
Brest, France
Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French m ...
-
Finistère
Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090. ,
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
References
External links
*
*
*
* Brest European Short Festival Festival a
''unifrance.org''
{{Authority control
Film festivals in France
Brest, France
Short film festivals
1986 establishments in France