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24th edition: joy and hope in abundance

"Very nice experience that this festival that rises little by little among the great." This sweet word, signed by Keyvan Khojandi, President of the Jury of the International Competition, sums up all the messages received after the award ceremony which took place, for the first time this year, on Saturday, June 11 at the Studio cinemas in Tours.

That day, we had the joy of seeing an audience, mingling with the jurors present, sharing a drink or a slice of local produce, program in hand, smiles on their faces, stars in their eyes. If we had no doubt about the quality of the films shown, we were apprehensive about a reluctant return to the theater. Finally, even if the room was not full, the spectators, under the charm of these films in such a short format, showed so much joy and pleasure in sharing this moment of cinema that it was enough for us to be happy. The same was true all around the world where the festival was welcomed: a public that could have been more nourished but a conquered public.

And it is a real challenge that awaits us for the next few years: faced with the increased competition from streaming platforms that offer films in quantity to be seen from one's bed or couch, we will have to convince people that cinema is definitely not a consumer product. Cinema is above all an art that invites to communion, to share emotions with others, with people we don't know. Le Très Court, just like the other formats, must remind and hammer home this credo, and we will do our best to do so.

The festival is not only a team, an audience or juries composed of film professionals, it is also and above all works and, behind each of them, men and women who express themselves on the world with their own language. Among them, the young filmmakers who take up the challenge of Défi 48h Très Court Environnement. This year again, the result is amazing: in less than two days, the candidate teams have proven their talent through films as vibrant as they are relevant. And meeting them in the flesh, during the awards ceremony, is a perfect opportunity to tell them to continue in this profession. Moreover, if you wish to discover the films and encourage their authors, it is not too late as the twenty selected films will be screened Wednesday, June 29 at 6pm at the cinema Le Lux to Valence.

Similarly, at the screening of our Women's Voices selection held in Paris on June 8, we welcomed Katie Byford, winner of the Women's Rights Award, for her film You look fine. The British director crossed the Channel to receive her award and, by her own admission, had an unforgettable time: "The magic of my experience in Paris has stayed with me, and will stay with me for a very long time," she wrote. I could not have imagined a more wonderful 24 hours. I was deeply moved by the reception my film received."

Katie Byford et des membres du Jury Paroles de Femmes

Katie, à elle seule, nous invite à poursuivre l’aventure pour offrir un espace le plus bienveillant possible, le plus chaleureux possible, à ces œuvres à la fois humbles et puissantes qui préfigurent le cinéma de demain, celui dont on a besoin, celui que nous défendrons, avec vous.

 

The 24th edition in brief and in links :

> Find the whole list of winners
> See again the faces of the members of the International Competition,  Paroles de femmes and the Défi 48h Très Court Environnement.
> Discover the network of cities who bring the festival to life in the four corners of the world
> Greet all  our parteners without whom the festival would not be possible
> Tag all our photos and videos on our social networks : Instagram, Facebook et Twitter.

 

The Très Court is coming to Tours!

You already know: the Très Court International Film Festival has the gift of ubiquity.

Indeed, it takes place during ten days all around the world, in about fifty places spread over all the continents, the selections are translated into English, Italian, Romanian, Greek, Arabic and Portuguese and it's great to know that the films travel with so much enthusiasm!

This year, and for the first time, they will nevertheless land in Tours, on the banks of the Loire, in a mythical and incredibly beautiful cinema: the Studio cinemas. The largest art house cinema in Europe will host the International Competition and the selected films of the Défi 48h Très Court Environment challenge on Saturday, June 11. The screenings will be followed by the award ceremony in the presence of the members of the Juries, and it will be the occasion to party with some very nice people in this place protected by the city walls.

Discover the Jury of the International Competition >
Discover the Jury of the Défi 48h Très Court Environment challenge >

On the program for Saturday, June 11:

  • 5:30 pm: screening of the International Competition
  • 8pm : buffet
  • 9pm: screening of the films selected for the 48h Très Court Environnement Challenge, a challenge supported by the City of Tours, the Centre Val-de-Loire Region and the Groupe Les Verts/Ale.
  • 10:15 pm: awards ceremony

And if you are in the area of Tours on Friday, June 3rd, day of the launching of the festival and the 48h Très Court Environnement Challenge, we give you an appointment to celebrate together the beginning of this event at the Point H^ut from 6:30 pm.

Useful information:

Cinémas Studio
2, rue des Ursulines
37 000 Tours
Regular Studio rates for one screening
Special rate for the 2 screenings: full 12€40 / Studio member 8€20

Point H^ut
20, rue des Grands Mortiers
37 700 Saint-Pierre-des-Corps
Free on reservation at contact@trescourt.com

Women are the future of the 7th art

"We now dare to say it: women are the future of the 7th art".

This is the conclusion of the editorial of Nathalie Masduraud and Valérie Urrea, presidents of the Jury of the Women's Words 2022 Competition, and here at Le Très Court, we are totally in phase with this affirmation!

You will find this editorial in the program distributed during the screening of the Women's Words Competition which will take place on Wednesday, June 8th at 7pm at the cinema Les 7 Parnassiens in Paris. This new selection of films of less than four minutes, mostly made by women, for women, honors women's points of view, portraits, testimonies, stories of life, struggles, small or big victories. Far from clichés and commonplaces, regardless of age, culture or nationality, women speak out with humor or gravity and show a diversity of women's universes testifying to the reality of the world.

And so it is an honor to welcome Nathalie Masduraud and Valérie Urreas, creators and directors of the series H24 broadcast on Arte, as Presidents of the Jury. Accompanied by film professionals and feminist activists, they will present the Women's Rights Prize and the Special Mention at the end of the screening. This exceptional evening, co-organized with Les 7 Parnassiens and in partnership with the Secretary of State for Equality between Women and Men, will conclude with a glass of friendship and sisterhood in the patio of the cinema.

The ticketing is online, don't delay in reserving your seats!

Useful information:     
- See you at 7pm
- Cinema Les 7 Parnassiens, 98 Bd du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris
- Full price: 11 € (French only)
- Reduced rate: 8 € 
- End of the show around 9pm

Revolution

Every year, the Très Court faithful ask us what the theme of the festival is, and every year we answer the same thing: there is no predefined theme, we "only" select the best of the film production of less than four minutes from all over the world. However, this year is a bit different. We received many films that deal with the end of the world, with humour or gravity, with the strength to denounce the end of the reign and a planet that is going to hell, let's face it.

So there is obviously a colour to this 24th edition, and it could be red. Blood red, angry red, fire red, but also red with the hope of seeing new, powerful, concise stories, questioning our human and non-human condition, and reminding us in the end that the Très Court is also about that: telling in a few images the fragility and strength that are ours, with a concern for economy so as not to add noise to the noise, with the sole intention of moving the red lines, so as never to have to cross them.

More than ever we need cinema, this cinema.  So welcome to this 24th edition of the Très Court!

Let's go for the #Défi48h TrèsCourt🌱

Less than 3%: that's the amount of time the media devoted to the climate during this election campaign period. That's very little, isn't it? Does this shock you too?

 

If you are a filmmaker, with or without experience, and you want to prove that we can invent new stories and mobilize for the ecology, then participate in the 4th edition of the 48h Very Short Environment Challenge! This citizen and committed challenge, limited in time and duration, invites you to exercise your talents and to deploy your imagination.

The principle is simple: in two days, from June 3 to 5, you will have to write and produce a film of less than four minutes on a subject related to the environment. To spice things up, you will have to respect four constraints that will be revealed to you at the last minute.

A hundred teams took up the Challenge last year, so why not you? Especially since this year, for the first time, we're opening up an animation selection. If you are an author of animated films, in drawing, 3D or even stop motion, it's time to jump in.

Don't wait any longer: you can now register for the next edition of the 48h Très Court Environnement Challenge and benefit, until April 16th, from a discount on the registration fees.

And to know everything about this new edition, go to the pages of this website and on our social networks.

Spotlight on... Women's words

At Le Très Court, and for a very long time, the issue of women's rights is central. This is why we created, 14 years ago, with the support of the Ministry in charge of equality between women and men, diversity and equal opportunities, the selection Paroles de Femmes. This selection honors the points of view of the other half of humanity.

These films of less than four minutes reflect the lives of women around the world. Militant, scathing or poetic, these short films allow us to better understand the discrimination women are subjected to, but also to feel their strength and their will to fight back.

Each year, we gather the best of the world production for a selection endowed with the Women's Rights Prize awarded at the end of the festival by a jury composed of feminist personalities. Some of these films are available on our Women's Voices platform and are intended to be shared and, if you wish, shown in class or during a conference.

As March 8 approaches, we invite you not only to use our platform but also to discover, on our different social networks, unpublished interviews, portraits of filmmakers and excerpts of these unmissable films. We have also created a special program for the cinemas that are members of l'Instant Très Court. This system allows theaters to show a Très Court film each week before the screening and, since February 23 and until March 8, they have four films from our Paroles de femmes selection that they can offer to their audience:

Je suis Nue

By Alexandra Migien

As a victim of revenge porn, a woman feels completely vulnerable in the public space.

Dans le Bleu de ses larmes

By  Clarisse Pain

Naïa doesn't look like the women you see in magazines. Is it so serious?

Slice of Heaven

By Kourtney Roy

Thelma makes up for a decadent life with glitter under the Miami sun.

Génération Open Your Mind

By Yvonnick Muller et Lauriane Escaffre

A couple argues over a barrette in their son's hair.

 

 

To see these films on the big screen, you just have to find the cinema near you by going to the Instant Très Court website.

See you soon, in theaters or on our social networks 

 

Très Court 2022: the call for films is open!

Why make long films when you can make very short ones?

 

For its 24th edition, which will take place from June 3 to 12, 2022, we are waiting for all your films under 4 minutes. Young and old, film school students or film neophytes, seasoned filmmakers, camera geniuses, send us your works before February 13, 2022.

To register, simply fill out this form. Unlike many festivals, registration is free. You can submit as many films as you want, regardless of genre, style, means or subject. The only constraint: the duration. This way, you give yourself a chance to be selected among the 130 films presented during the Très Court International Festival broadcasted all over the world and to win one of our prizes.

And that's not all: this year we will strengthen and expand the Instant Très Court, our network of cinemas in France which proposes, each week, a Très Court before the screening. If your film is selected, it will also have the opportunity to be discovered on the big screens of our partner theaters. Don't wait any longer, try your luck!

NB: If you have any doubts, do not hesitate to consult our FAQ :)

23rd edition of the Très Court: here we go!

Organising an international film festival during a pandemic is no easy task, believe us!

 

However, this is what the Très Court team has managed to do. Yes, against all odds and viruses, the 23rd edition will take place from 4 to 13 June in some sixty cities spread over the five continents.
 
The team also succeeded in setting up their 48h Très Court Environment Challenge, a cinematographic and civic challenge which consists of candidates making a film of less than 4 minutes in only 48 hours, on a subject related to the environment. The start is set for Friday 4 June at 7pm sharp.

Nearly 140 films of less than four minutes from all over the world have been selected to make up the 6 selections of the festival. The twenty or so finalist films of the 48h Très Court Environnement Challenge will complete this list on Tuesday 8 June at 6pm.

And to whet your appetite, here is our trailer!

All screening dates, information and online access can be found on the programme of each city.

The Awards Ceremony will take place on Sunday 13 June at 9pm at the 7 Parnassiens cinema in Paris and will be broadcast live on our partner Imago TV. It will take place after the public screenings of the finalist films of the 48h Très Court Environment Challenge at 5pm and of the International Competition at 6.30pm.

The other selections of the Très Court - They Dared, Documentary, French, Family, and the Women's Words Competition - will be accessible from June 4 to 13 from the Paris page with the code to be found on the City of Paris website!

Zoom on the Très Courts that give a voice to women

There are many ways to defend women's rights: through political action, associative life, demonstrations, awareness-raising, the international day of March 8 of course, but also through artistic and especially cinematographic means.

 

This is why, for twelve years now, the Très Court International Film Festival, which honors films of less than four minutes from around the world, selects, broadcasts and rewards the best short films that question the place of women in our societies. And not only on March 8th :)

This Très Courts format is precisely designed to go to the essential and offer, through these films, a feminine look at our world, its flaws, its qualities, a fair and sensitive look, a sharp look. And we really need it! Some of these films are gathered on our platform Women’s Words, which you can consult at will.

In June, at the time of the festival, we will propose a new selection of about twenty Very Short films in our Women’s Words competition. Our 100% female jury, composed of delegates from the Ministry in charge of equality between women and men as well as women activists, will award the Women's Rights Prize. In the meantime, we invite you to discover four award-winning Très Courts in recent years, to be seen on our Facebook page or on our YouTube channel.

On the program:

Recursos humanos - Joan Alvarez Llados (Spain)
Women's Rights Award - 15th edition - 2013
An example of a job interview not to follow.

To London - Alberto Gallego Ortiz (Spain)
Women's Rights Award - 16th edition - 2014
Between a mother and a daughter, a particularly touching story.

I am ordinary machismo - Fabrice Roulliat (France)
Women's Rights Award - 18th edition - 2016
Even at school, prejudice is hard to overcome.

Not a pizza order - Cécile Ragot (France)
Women's Rights Award - 19th edition - 2017
An emergency call to 911 (American emergency services) shows the complexity of certain sensitive cases.

Chronicle of the Très Courts

How do you prepare a film festival in times of pandemic ? In joy and good mood. Firstly because June is far away, and by then bars, restaurants, museums, cinemas, theaters, dance halls will once again welcome their cherished audience (positive thinking), but above all because working around films of less than four minutes from all over the world is a real joy.

 

That said, in concrete terms, what the daily life of the two festival coordinators looks like, Anne-Sophie and Cheyenne? Here is the course of a Very Short (or rather Very Long) day.  

8 AM. While Anne-Sophie reads her e-mails from home, Cheyenne, also a babysitter in her spare time, takes the children to school. Then direction the hyper luminous office of the Point Haut located in the agglomeration of Tours. If the rear base of the festival is still in the 20th district of Paris, the HQ is based this year on the banks of the Loire River, because it's pretty.  

9 AM. Anne-Sophie arrives in her Modus, already three times out of the garage, and Cheyenne struggles on her bike, braving the light foggy rain typical of the Tourangeau winter.

9:10 AM. Passage through the great hall of Point H^ut where artists in residence are rehearsing their next show. Clubs fly, fireworks explode, actors warm up, musicians sharpen their instruments, all under the astonished eyes of the two coordinators who enjoy themselves before reaching their office. On the agenda: e-mails, phone calls, video-conferencing to present the Festival to cities around the world (and there are many of them).

10:30 AM. Exchange on Discord with Paul, the great chief of technique, and Marc, the director and founder of the Très Court. The first stayed in Paris (say, when are you joining us, Paul?) while the second moved to a city called Die, in the Drôme this summer. Which makes us a funny ParisToursDie.

11:30 AM. Photo session around the organic teddy bears engaged this year to be the actors of the visuals of the festival swarming here and there. The teddy bears are very professional: they are easy to handle, and even accept to be swallowed on occasion.

12:30 AM. The long-awaited lunch hour around a large table (very feminine) with the Polau teams (Arts and Urban Planning Department), town planners, architects, designers, creators of board games... We talk mainly about cooking recipes, works in progress, and a little bit about the Covid, it must be admitted.

1:30 PM. Coffee, and get to work. Cheyenne is preparing the next posts for Instagram, while Anne-Sophie is thinking about the development of our Paroles de Femmes platform and is starting to organize our 48h Très Court Environnement Challenge.

2:30 PM. The two coordinators start dreaming about the next jury of the festival and on behalf of the next president (Maïwenn? Agnès Jaoui? Julia Ducournau? Blanche Gardin?) with glitter in their eyes (it stings a bit).

3 PM. While Cheyenne drinks her 10th coffee of the day, Anne-So smokes her 10th cigarette. It's bad, but it restores energy.

4 PM. Anne-Sophie is so focused on her computer that she presses the keys on her keyboard with great fury and intensity. As for Cheyenne, she answers the emails sent by the many Nigerian directors who wish to participate in the festival but cannot afford to. Cheyenne is happy to remind them that registration is free, and will remain free.

5 PM. Short break to watch films already registered. They are a little less numerous than last year (the health crisis has passed by) but between 2,000 and 3,000 films are waiting at the gate! Fortunately, a great pre-selection team is in charge of seeing, rating and commenting on the Très Courts. Spoiler: some are nuggets.

6 PM. The day is over, it's time for Anne-Sophie and Cheyenne to go home and lead the video conference with the members of the pre-selection team who, during the aperitif, come to discuss the films in particular, and life in general.

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