Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival

The Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival (French: Festival International du Film Lesbien et Féministe de Paris) is a women-only film festival founded in Paris, France, in 1989. The festival is organized by Cineffable, an association dedicated to promoting lesbian cinema, and encouraging lesbian creativity.

Paris Lesbian and Feminist
Film Festival
Festival International du Film
Lesbien et Féministe de Paris
LocationParis
Established1989; 35 years ago (1989)
AwardsAudience Awards
Hosted byCineffable
LanguageFrench and English
WebsiteCineffable

History

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The Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival grew out of dissatisfaction with the treatment of Lesbians in the Créteil International Women's Film Festival. Many lesbian women felt that in spite of the fact that lesbian films frequently won the Viewers Choice awards (prix du public), lesbian films, filmmakers and attendees were not given sufficient space or attention at the festival, and so they decided to create their own event,[1] which would not only provide lesbians with screening opportunities, but would also be a shared community for knowledge sharing, a way to increase lesbian visibility and combat lesbophobia, and a social outlet.[2]

The first event was held in 1989, as a "cinéclub",[3] with subsequent festivals in 1992 and 1993, all held at the La Clef Cultural Center in Paris. As the festival grew, it moved venues, first to the André Malraux Cultural Center (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre) until 2000, when the number of attendees grew to between 2000 and 3000,[4] and then to the Le Trianon theater.[5] Since 2010, the festival screens at l'Espace Reuilly.[6]

Organization

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The festival is organized and produced by the Cineffable association. The association includes several thousand members, making it one of the more significant lesbian organizations in France. It is run according to feminist principles – it is non-hierarchical, based on knowledge sharing and transfer for continuity, and defines its mission statement as "we have to assume responsibility, to take control of our images, to become actresses in our own productions in order to break definitively with the oppressive system of representation that shuts us in, that shuts us up".[7]

The festival is open to anyone who identifies as a woman, and is based on membership attendance; that is – attendance is free for members, and thus anyone desiring to attend the festival purchases a membership card, which provides access or discounts to other Cineffable events as well. The festival is self-funded, except for an annual grant from the city of Paris, as part of an official program for gender equality,[8] and works on the principle of "no one left outside" through discounts for marginalized communities and a ticket sharing program, enabling access for all to screenings.[9]

The festival includes several competition tracks, debates, an art exhibition, workshops and a gala or concert event.[10][11] Audience awards are granted at the festival in the following categories:[12]

  • Feature film
  • Feature-length documentary
  • Short fiction film
  • Short documentary
  • Experimental film
  • Animation

In previous years, there were also awards for best screenplay and best film poster.

The festival has grown steadily since its inception.[13] It screens more than 50 films each year.[14]

Best Feature Film awards

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Year Film Director Country
2018 Extra Terrestres Carla Cavina Puerto Rico / Venezuela
2017 Signature Move Jennifer Reeder United States
2016 Io e Lei (Me, Myself, and Her) Maria Sole Tognazzi Italy
2015 Girltrash: All Night Long Alexandra Kondracke United States
2014 Moonlight People Ekaterina Polyanskaya Russia
2013 Facing Mirrors Negar Azarbayjani Iran / Germany
2012 Lengua materna Liliana Paolinelli Argentina
2011 En secret (Circumstance) Maryam Keshavarz USA / Iran / Lebanon
2010 no audience awards
2009 Rain Maria Govan UK / Bahamas
2008 The World Unseen Shamim Sarif UK / South Africa
2007 Nina's Heavenly Delights Pratibha Parmar UK
2006

(tie)

Sévigné (Julia Berkowitz) Marta Balletbò-Coll Spain
Fremde Haut Angelina Maccarone Germany
2005 Hu Die (Butterfly) Yan Yan Mak Hong Kong
2004 Goldfish Memory Liz Gill Ireland
2003 Do I Love You? Lisa Gornick UK
2002 By Hook or by Crook Harry Dodge (as Harriet Dodge) and Silas Howard USA
2001 Chutney Popcorn Nisha Ganatra USA
2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2 Jane Anderson, Martha Coolidge and Anne Heche USA
1999 Revoir Julie Jeanne Crépeau Canada
1998 Alles Wird Gut Angelina Maccarone Germany
1997 Fire Deepa Mehta USA
1996 Costa Brava Marta Balletbò-Coll Spain
1995 Life is a Woman Shanna Serikbajewa Kazakhstan
1994 Go Fish Rose Troche USA
1993 The Company of Strangers Cynthia Scott Canada
1992 Anne Trister Léa Pool Canada

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Why Cineffable? Why the Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival?". Cineffable. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Paris International Lesbian & Feminist Film Festival". The Lesbian Agenda. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Cineffable : quand les lesbiennes se font du cinéma !". le Cabinet de Curiosité Féminine (in French). 26 October 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  4. ^ "CINEFFABLE – Festival International du film lesbien et féministe: des femmes, rien que des femmes…". le Cabinet de Curiosité Féminine (in French). 26 October 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Moira. "Special Report: 18th Paris Cineffable Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival, 2006". Movie Magazine. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Venue". Cineffable - Useful Information. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  7. ^ Catalog of the 8th Festival, 1996
  8. ^ Sullivan, Moira. "Special Report: 18th Paris Cineffable Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival, 2006". Movie Magazine. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Ticketing". Cineffable. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Paris International Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival". Accor Hotels. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Concert". Cineffable. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  12. ^ "CINEFFABLE (Paris) 2018: Submissions are now open". African Women in Cinema (in French). 4 April 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  13. ^ Tarr, Carrie; Rollet, Brigitte (6 Oct 2016). Cinema and the Second Sex: Women's Filmmaking in France in the 1980s and 1990s. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781474290784.
  14. ^ "10 Feminist Film Festivals To Follow". Raindance. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
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