Eco-responsibility at the festival

Les Arcs Film Festival: a sustainable event

A festival is a wonderful moment of connection that participates in the wealth of human exchanges. Unfortunately, it can also have a non-negligible carbon footprint, including the emissions linked to transporting people to our beautiful mountain resort. We cannot and will never be perfect, and we have no lessons to give on the topic of ecology, but our festival also presents a brilliant opportunity for reflecting, inventing, collaborating, and raising awareness around the subject of eco-responsibility.

For one week in December, the Les Arcs Film Festival is the beating heart of the European film industry. It is important to us to take this responsibility seriously, and provide a platform for the industry to reflect on the themes of the environment and eco-responsibility: to raise awareness, anticipate the future, and search for new ideas and solutions together. So, we are placing this topic at the very core of our industry events, to help focalise the entire sector on the subject and contribute to lasting change through the development of ideas for collective action:

• The Industry Village gathers more than 570 film professionals: it’s a unique opportunity to raise awareness, exchange ideas and stimulate thought.
• Hackathon, dedicated laboratory, roundtables and workshops: the festival is a hub for good practices and great ideas!

We also believe that cinema has an important role to play in raising public awareness. Environmental themes are therefore at the heart of our programming for the general public. Some of the ways we are promoting change include:

• Use of a “eco-responsible” label to highlight films throughout our programming that address the topic of environmentalism through their content or production process;
• Recognising industry professionals who have moved the needle on environmental issues throughout the year, by presenting them with our ”Cinema and Environmental Commitment” award;
• Organising Q&A sessions and debates for the general public featuring advocates and industry icons.

And us — what measures are we taking to ensure our festival is eco-responsible?

• Commitment to a sustainability charter;
• Clear labelling of suppliers;
• Use of renewable energy;
• Use of bicycle couriers during the festival;
• Waste sorting and recycling;
• Favouring the least polluting means of transport;
• Limiting printed materials to avoid waste;
• Carbon offsetting.