Europe

European commitment at the heart of our Festival

European commitment at the heart of our Festival

A festival to promote a certain idea of Europe, united in its diversity.

At Les Arcs, we believe that European cinema reflects the construction of our continent. Each film tells a piece of the mosaic we form: landscapes, history, cultures, lifestyles... It sometimes tells the story of what makes us different, but it also tells the story of what binds us together, it both resembles us and brings us together.

In this sense, cinema is a fantastic tool for communication between peoples and for promoting the necessarily political construction of Europe.

Our Festival is a unique opportunity to raise awareness of European cinema, which is one of the emblematic manifestations of this ‘concrete Europe of culture’ that sometimes lacks visibility in the eyes of the general public.

The aim of the festival is to promote works that embody a creative Europe, ‘united in its diversity’, embodying the multiple identities that make up the European Union, around which writers and directors meet for a week.

It also highlights the role of the European Union in protecting and promoting cinematographic works through tools such as the 'Europe Creative programme', which is one of our main supporters.

A festival to raise awareness and promote European independent cinema

From the outset, the festival was conceived as an event open to all, with a demanding yet accessible selection designed to prove that European cinema is not necessarily elitist, and that talented directors deserve to be better known outside their national borders.

In fact, beyond the films made by a few emblematic filmmakers, many high-quality European films struggle to get beyond national borders, due to multiple cultural and material barriers. Our ambition is to do our bit to give these types of films the exposure they deserve.

A Festival that uses cinema to talk about Europe

In partnership with the Lux Audience Award, we have organised a number of film debates around films chosen for their ability to raise questions about the major European issues of the day. The principle of these sequences is always the same: to generate a discussion between the director of the film and a European official, in front of an audience made up mainly of young people, to raise their awareness of this type of subject. Véronique Auger, a journalist who is an expert on European issues, has worked with us for many years to moderate these discussions.

Over the years we have welcomed: Hervé Gaymard and Jean-Marie Cavada, to discuss the film ‘When day breaks’ by Goran Paskaljevik / Henri Weber and Danis Tanovic, director of the film No man's land / Michel Barnier and Géraldine Byrne Nason, Irish ambassador to France, to discuss the film The turning tide in the life of Men by Loïc Jourdain. Pervanche Beres, around the film Styx by Wolfgang Fischer, Laurence Farreng, around the film l'Affaire Collective by Alexander Nanau, Jean-Philippe Moinet, around the film Free by Jonas Poher RASMUSSEN, and François Missonnier, around the film Nos soleils by Carla Simón / Michel Barnier, former European Commissioner, former Minister and former elected representative from Savoie, is also one of our patrons at heart, and as such is a regular visitor to the festival.

An international market and a major venue for European co-productions

The Festival also plays an active role in the renewal of European production, encourages co-productions and supports the distribution and circulation of European films through its professional events, which each year bring together almost 600 people, representing 31 different nationalities.

First-rate European support

 
The European Commission's Europe Creative programme supports both our professional and festival activities, as well as the European network of film festivals, MIOB, of which we are a member.

The Hippocrene Foundation, which works with young people to promote European citizenship, is also a loyal supporter of the festival.

The Lux Audience Award, a prize created jointly by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy, in partnership with the European Commission, also supports the festival.