Les Arcs Film Festival is an annual European film festival held every December in

Les Arcs Les Arcs () is a ski resort located in Savoie, France, in the Tarentaise Valley town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Initially created by Robert Blanc and Roger Godino, it is a part of the huge Paradiski system which is under ownership by Compagnie des A ...

in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

Profile

Les Arcs was co-founded in 2009 by Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin (CEO), Guillaume Calop (general manager), and Jérémy Zelnik (head of industry), on the grounds of the ski resort of the same name. The mountain location dictated the overall atmosphere of the event, despite aiming to be of international importance, Les Arcs does not split the audience from the professionals and maintains an open and equal environment. By 2018, the event's budget reached €1 m. The festival's main award is the Crystal Arrow. At the 5th edition, the ''Femme de Cinema'' award was established. Other festival awards include the Best Actress and Best Actor prizes, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Cineuropa Andrea D'Aquino Award, Youth Jury Prize, Audience Award, Les cinglés du cinéma award, Universciné award for the Hauteur selection, Best Short Film Award, and Special Mention. Apart from the main competition, the festival features such sections as ''Oscars on skis'', ''Playtime'', ''Hauteurs'', ''Focus'', and a recurring professional event — the ''Industry Village'' that aims to promote European cinema and aid emerging filmmakers. In 2018, the ''Talent Village'' was established for training of future cinema professionals. Along with

Norwegian International Film Festival The Norwegian International Film Festival ( no, Den norske filmfestivalen) is a film festival held annually in Haugesund, Norway. The festival goes back to 1973. In 1985, the Amanda award was instituted. The Amanda is awarded every year at the fe ...

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá. ...

, and

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, Les Arcs participates in the Eurimages Lab Project Award that offers its winner a 50,000 euros cash prize.

Editions

The 10th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival took place on 15–22 December 2018. The 12th edition of Les Arcs took place on 12–19 December 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and was organized in a hybrid mode. Titled ''Off-Piste'', the 12th edition made 80% of the screening online, while some professional events took place on site, and the Industry Village was relocated to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The 15th edition took place on 16–23 December 2023, at the Savoyard resort. The jury, presided by director Asghar Farhadi, included actress

Rebecca Marder Rebecca Marder (born 10 April 1995) is a French film and stage actress. Early life and education Rebecca Marder was born on 10 April 1995 in Paris, France. Marder is the daughter of American musician Marc Marder and French journalist and thea ...

, actor

Vincent Lacoste Vincent Lacoste (born 3 July 1993) is a French actor. He began his acting career at the age of fifteen, playing the lead role of Hervé in the film ''The French Kissers''. The role won him the Lumières Award for Most Promising Actor and a nomin ...

, composer Irène Drésel and novelist

Christine Angot Christine Angot (born 7 February 1959) is a French novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Life Born Pierrette Marie-Clotilde Schwartz (Schwartz being her mother's name) in Châteauroux, Indre, she is perhaps best known for her 1999 novel ''L'I ...

. The

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

director

Ruben Östlund Ruben Östlund (born 13 April 1974) is a Swedish filmmaker best known for his black comedic and satirical films ''Force Majeure'' (2014), '' The Square'' (2017) and ''Triangle of Sadness'' (2022), all of which received largely positive reviews and ...

became the Talent Village tutor. The 15th edition hosted a lot of high guests, including

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...

, Jonathan Cohen,

Vincent Macaigne Vincent Macaigne (born 19 October 1978) is a French actor, theatre director and film director. He is also a screenwriter and playwright. Life and career Macaigne was raised in Paris, the son of a French businessman and an Iranian-born painter. H ...

Joachim Lafosse Joachim Lafosse (born 18 January 1975) is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. Career Lafosse studied at the IAD (Institut des arts de diffusion) at Louvain-la-Neuve between 1997 and 2001. His graduation film ''Tribu'', a 24-minute short ...

Matthias Schoenaerts Matthias Schoenaerts (; ; born 8 December 1977) is a Belgian actor. He made his film debut at the age of 13 in '' Daens'' (1992), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is best known for his roles as Filip in ...

, and

Michel Hazanavicius Michel Hazanavicius ( lt, Hazanavičius; born 29 March 1967) is a French film director, screenwriter, editor, and producer. He is best known for his 2011 film, '' The Artist'', which won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 84th Academy Aw ...

. The Crystal Arrow went to

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n director Marija Kavtaradze for her feature ''Slow''.

References

Film festivals in France Film festivals established in 2009 2009 establishments in France {{Europe-film-festival-stub