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Your film on the big screen, everywhere around the world

Have you made or are currently producing a film lasting less than 4 minutes?

 

Register for the call for films for the 26th edition of the Très Court International Film Festival.

 

You can say a lot in a very short story. This format gives you the opportunity to create an intense and captivating work, regardless of genre, style, subject or means. Whether you're a novice cinephile, a film student, an up-and-coming director, an experienced filmmaker or a Palme d'Or winner - who knows - join the adventure!

Register your very short film(s) for free on our website. You have until February 19, 2024 to try to be selected among the 140 festival films screened around the world. You'll then be in line to win one of our many prizes, including the €1,500 Grand Prix, and take part in the awards ceremonies at the Cinémas Studio in Tours from June 14 to 16, 2024.

Bonus: with l'Instant Très Court, your film will also have the opportunity to be discovered on the big screen throughout the year in our partner cinemas.

Challenge accepted? So grab your pens, your storyboards and your cameras!

25th Très Court International Film Festival Jury of the International CompetitionThe Jury of the International Competition
chaired by Fabrice Maruca

25th Très Court International Film Festival Jury of Women's Words CompetitionThe Jury of the Women's Words Competition
chaired by Chloé Ponce-Voiron

25th Très Court International Film Festival Jury of the Défi 48h CompetitionThe Jury of the Défi 48h Competition
chaired by Camille Étienne and Solal Moisan

25th edition : the Best Of

The Très Court, again and again!

 

You missed the festival in June and are wishing you hadn't? You attended a screening, and it was so good that you want to see the films again? Good news: this year, we've put together a Best of collection of 22 films that have captured the hearts of Jurys, audiences and our team. They come from the 7 selections for 2023, that is, the International Competition, Women's Words, Family, Documentary, French Selection, Let's Laugh (before the end of the world) and the 48h Très Court Environnement Challenge (which you can find in full here).

This program is intended for our network, but not only: the idea is to promote better understanding of this singular format and the films of the 2023 edition, inviting us to joy and hope, with a great deal of humor and finesse.

Best Of 2023 Selection

1. Poin Poin Poin

Quentin Laville France

2. Le Figuier

Jimmy Conchou France

3. Come With Me

Trevor Clarence Australie

4. L’amour Fécond

Arthur Pereira France

5. Cuando crece la hierba

María Monreal Otano Espagne

6. A Bloody Graveyard Story

Vanessa Stachel Allemagne

7. A Brief Disagreement

Steve Cutts Royaume-Uni

8. Semillas

Toni Bestard Espagne

9. No Leaders Please

Joan Gratz États-Unis

10. ¿De qué murió el osito?

Paula Amor Espagne

11. Temps Attendu

Eden Ducourant France

12. Stillleben mit Gefühlsunschärfe

Maja Gehrig Suisse

13. L’Augmentation

Régis Granet France

14. The End

Alexandria Siah États-Unis

15. Réincarnés

Hugo Brunswick, Camille Charbeau France

16. Là où l’on s’écoule

Léa Clerc France

17. Structures

Mohamed El Zayat Égypte

18. Tonnerre de Brest

Axel Rousselot France

19. Leçon particulière

Victoria Pellet France

20. Rêves Party

Amélie Prévot, Marion Christmann France

21. Und dänn...

Leo Graf, Tanja Nuijten, Raphael Stalder Suisse

22. I Don’t Need a Reason

Luke Willis États-Unis

 

Are you a city looking to organize a screening for its residents? A media library that would like to offer audiovisual content to its users? A cinema looking to highlight short films? A festival looking to expand its programming? A company looking to strengthen ties between its employees? The Best Of is the program for you.

Length: 1h03
Original version with English or French subtitles
Available in DCP or MP4 according to your needs
Delivered with a program to print and distribute to your audience

When it comes to animating your screenings, count on us! In fact, we can arrange for directors and a member of the Très Court team to come and talk to your audience.

If you are interested in distributing it, or would like a preview, please contact us at bonjour@trescourt.com.

The festival in Tours: a feast for the eyes

We predicted it, and we were right: there was indeed hope, joy and love at the Cinémas Studio in Tours! And while the festivities are now over, we can't resist looking back on two days of joyful celebrations at the screenings and awards ceremonies for our three selections in competition.

 

First of all, hope: on the evening of Friday June 9, the public was invited to discover the Women's Words Competition in the cinema's large auditorium, which provided a warm welcome for the 20 films selected for their accuracy, humor and seriousness on subjects that concern women first and foremost: menstruation, motherhood, our relationship with our bodies and sexuality, the discrimination and violence against which we must fight relentlessly, and generosity and sisterhood.

The Women's Words Jury: Chloé Ponce-Voiron, Valérie Rey-Robert, Élise Pereira-Nunes, Laura Raim, Reine Prat and Victoria Netto
The directors Nora Dahleim (Text Me When You're Home) and Baya Massamba (Miroir)
Manon Ribis of the Bédelire bookshop

Once the awards had been handed out, the Jury, chaired by Chloé Ponce-Voiron, answered a series of questions from Manon Ribis, of the Bédélire bookshop, to outline the actions that will help make cinema inherently feminist and inclusive. Certainly, the lines are moving, and the juries are hopeful that one day there will be no need to present a selection like that of Women's Words, but in the meantime, we must continue to make female directors more visible, ensure that films at least pass the Bechdel test, and aim for parity - that famous 50/50 that the Très Court International Film Festival managed to achieve this year, all selections included.

Joy, again and again: on Saturday June 10, at 5.30pm, the giant screen of Room 7 of the Studio welcomed the International Competition, 40 films that make up the best of the year's world production. The two-hour program, interrupted by a welcome intermission, took the audience from laughter to tears, cheering as the credits rolled. The lively atmosphere was testimony to an excellent 2023 season, and choosing your three favorite films was no easy task. The most scrupulous spectators took notes on the program or on the ballot paper before slipping it into the ballot box set up near the buffet.

The Jury the the International Competition : Céline Cloarec, Quentin Delcourt, Delphine Malaussena, Fabrice Maruca, Nixon Singa and Jérôme Parlange
 

Last but not least, love: at around 9pm, the audience gathered to discover the films selected as part of the Défi 48h Très Court Environnement challenge. The previous weekend, over 80 teams had signed up to make a Très Court in just two days, while respecting four constraints. This year's theme, inspired by Challenge sponsor and activist Camille Etienne, was action time. Teams had to place chocolate, involve a tourist, and use the following line: "I'm a little afraid of how this is going to be used." In the end, 61 teams managed to finalize a film, and 22 of them were selected to be screened in cinemas, including 13 animated films.

In short, the atmosphere was electric! Some twenty participants had come to see their film on the big screen, and to find out if they had won one of the 6 prizes for this selection. At the end of the screening, the winners were announced. The International Competition Jury, chaired by Fabrice Maruca, opened the ball with the announcement of the Prizes for Originality, Animation and the Grand Prize. After singing a short song, the jurors detailed the qualities of each winning film, and their authors were able to express their gratitude and joy through a short video projected onto the screen. It was as if they were here with us!

The Jury of the Défi 48h Très Court Environnement challenge: Camille Étienne, Solal Moisan, Sixtine Dano, Lénie Chérino and Lison D'Andréa
The Jury of the Défi 48h Très Court Environnement challenge: Claude Gruffat and Nicolas d'ImagoTV
Solal Moisan, Camille Étienne and Sixtine Dano discussing with Guillaume Dubois and Rachel Dano (La cerise sur le gâteau)

Then it was time for the winners of the Défi 48h Très Court Environnement challenge to be announced. The emotion and nervousness before the results were revealed were obvious in the room. Delphine Benassy, vice-president of the Centre-Val-de-Loire region in charge of culture, was keen to welcome the Festival to the region, which was good news for everyone. Then Claude Gruffat, jury member for the Défi 48h and MEP for the Les Verts/Ale group, along with Camille Etienne and Solal Moisan, reminded the audience of the importance of cinema taking up ecology-related issues, so that views evolve, discourse changes, and we end up collectively finding ways of responding to the climate emergency.

One of these actions is love, and this is the theme of the film L'amour fécond, which won the CNC/Talent grant. When his name was announced, director Arthur Pereira, accompanied by Mathilde Offer, let out a cry of astonishment, and both arrived on stage speechless, thinking they'd made an off-topic with this "dramatic and romantic comedy in a dystopian world, to propose an imaginary future, in its everyday actions". An emotional moment that continued over drinks in the garden, where delicious pieces of chocolate were served, as the audience chatted with the jurors and the directors present.

We certainly didn't want the evening to end, but when it was well past midnight, we had to say goodbye, a little sad to be parted, but so happy about the moments we'd shared.

The great room of the Cinémas Studio
Arthur Péreira, winner of the CNC Talent Award, accompanied by Mathilde Offer
The young folks at the Studio Ciné-Club: an incredible team of volunteers!

> Discover the festival palmares

> (Re)experience this festive weekend through pictures

The Très Court around the world

The Très Court International Film Festival crosses borders, traveling each year to over fifty cities in a dozen countries. This year, the 25th edition took place in 13 cities in France and its overseas territories, and 40 cities abroad: Algeria, Canada, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the Seychelles.

We give the stage to our ambassadors from the Alliances Françaises, who bring the Très Court to audiences all over the world!

China
Egypt
Italy
Romania
Quebec

 

To find out more about all the screening venues, click here

> Discover the awards ceremonies in Tours

The Défi 48h in Valence

If you missed the Tours ceremonies and our article on these two evenings made you want to discover The Très Court, don't panic!

 

Our entire team heads down to Valence to join the two co-organizers of the Défi 48h Challenge, Camille Chao and Hugo de Faucompret. These two animation filmmakers mobilized all the region's animators to take part in the 5th edition of this crazy competition, in which filmmakers had just two days to make an environment-related film within 4 constraints. This year, the theme was "Action Time". Teams had to place chocolate, involve a tourist, and use the following line: "I'm a little afraid of how this is going to be used".

To discover the 22 shortlisted films, join us at 7pm at the LUX Scène Nationale for the screening and awards ceremony, attended by activist Sixtine Dano, producer Marianne Chazelas and author Corinne Morel Darleux. The evening continues at the La Barrack pub, where you can meet the filmmakers over a drink. But that's not all: a concert, a JAM and a DJ set are waiting for you to party the night away! Single ticket price €4

Le Très Court in Tours : there's love!

Are you looking for an extraordinary cinema experience? A screening in a huge theatre where 20 different films are shown in one hour? Films from all over the world, whether comedies, animated films or experimental films, touching films that give you chills? An hour to laugh, to shudder, to blush sometimes, an hour to be catapulted into a condensed version of the 7th art, with the most concise, the most amazing, the most creative too?

Then welcome to the Studio cinemas in Tours on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 June for the high point of the Très Court International Film Festival, namely the screenings and the award ceremonies in the presence of the juries. You will have the opportunity to extend the experience of the Très Court through exchanges with film professionals, activists and personalities who wish to move the lines, in their own way.

On the programme for these two intense days:

Friday 9 June 2023

7:30 pm: Screening of the Women's Words Competition
8.30 pm: Award ceremony

The screening will be followed by an exchange with the jurors: Chloé Ponce-Voiron, director and co-founder of the Women's Foundation, Reine Prat, author of two ministerial reports on gender equality in the arts and culture sector in France, Elise Pereira Nunes, deputy mayor of Tours (Gender equality, International relations, city network, Francophonie), Laura Raim, journalist (Les idées larges on Arte), Hélène Mitjavile, producer (Melocoton), Valérie Rey-Robert, writer, activist and Victoria Neto, director.

This exchange will be moderated by Manon Ribis from the Bédélire bookshop around the following question: "How can we contribute to making cinema intrinsically feminist and inclusive?

The evening will end with a free cocktail.

Saturday 10 June 2023

17:30: Screening of the International Competition - Part 1
6.30 pm: Intermission
7pm: Screening of the International Competition - Part 2
8pm: Free buffet
9pm: Screening of the 48h Very Short Environment Challenge Competition
10pm : Awards ceremony
10:30 pm: Free cocktail

The festivities will take place in the presence of the jurors of:

  • International Competition: Fabrice Maruca, President of the Jury, director, Céline Cloarec, editor, Colette Quesson, producer (A perte de vue), Delphine Malaussena, composer, Jérôme Parlange, coordinator of Émergence et court métrage, Quentin Delcourt, director, producer, co-director of the Pluriel-les festival, Nixon Singa, director.
  • the Défi 48h Très Court Environnement: Camille Etienne, activist, and Solal Moisan, director, both members of the duo Avant l'orage and sponsor of the challenge, Pierre-André Lhomme, producer and director, Claude Gruffat, MEP of the Europe Écologie Les Verts ALE delegation, Lison D'Andréa, scriptwriter, Lénie Chérino, actress and Sixtine Dano, animator and activist.

Rates:

Festival pass (3 screenings) on sale at the reception of the Studio cinemas.
Subscriber rate: €9.60
Non-subscriber rate: €16.50

For single screenings, the current Cinémas Studio rate applies, and online ticketing is available:
Women's words Compétition
Internationale Compétition
Défi 48h Très Court Environnement Compétition

International competition: there's joy!

It's a joy!

Very often, when we present the Très Court to those who are not familiar with this format, the reactions are more or less always the same: "a film of less than four minutes? It's a kind of video clip, or a commercial? Well, no. It's a real film, with a script, actors, production, sound design, cinematography, and a director at work of course. But, beyond the technique, it is above all a condensed version of the 7th art in its most concise, most amazing and most creative form.

And for 25 years now, the Très Court has been honouring these films that never cease to surprise and move us. This year, the trend is towards joy and hope. Once again, this 2023 vintage offers a multitude of views from all over the world, sharp looks at what we are going through, from the climate crisis to the feminist revolution, and the selected films give off an urgency to fraternity and sisterhood, a need for love too, a need to say it, to film it, and to share it with you. Let's make the most of it!

The International Competition will take to the skies from 2 to 11 June 2023 in ten cities in France and some forty abroad. From Montreal to Venice, from China to Romania, from the Seychelles to New Caledonia, expect to vibrate to the rhythm of the Très Courts which, this year more than ever, will reveal the talent and relevance of a whole generation of filmmakers. To find out more about the festival's venues, take a look at our world map.

Discover all the members of the Jury, chaired this year by director Fabrice Maruca and accompanied by producer Marianne Chazelas, CICLIC's emergence and short film coordinator Jérôme Parlange, producer Colette Quesson, writer-director Quentin Delcourt, composer Delphine Malausséna, director and scriptwriter Nixon Singa and editor Céline Cloarec

Attend the Awards Ceremony on Saturday 10 June at the Cinémas Studio in Tours (France) after the screening of the International Competition at 5.30 pm, and meet all the members of the Jury and the directors. Tickets are on sale at the reception of the Cinémas Studio, but also online!

Women's Words Competition: there's hope!

Chloé Ponce-Voiron, President of the Jury of the Women's Words Competition, is a director and co-founder of the Women's Foundation. She has a dream, or rather a hope, which she shares with us here:

"If I have the hope that one day there will be no need to create categories specifically dedicated to women's rights, this Competition, which I am lucky enough to chair, is still necessary. But joyful!

Necessary because too few films still address these issues, and without stereotypes. And joyful because it is the reflection of a new sorority that makes women showcase women. It is not so much a competition as a spotlight on projects that may remain in the shadows, wrongly so, because they are victims of a society that still has bad reflexes.

The 8 members of the jury will have the privilege of debating 20 films, without having to ask us if they pass the famous Bechdel test, if women are sufficiently represented and without clichés and if the artistic and technical team is sufficiently female. We will only have to worry about cinematic qualities.

And one day, no doubt, the specific competitions will no longer be necessary, so I will be moved to tell how, in my time, we have contributed to making cinema intrinsically feminist and inclusive. One day...

In the meantime, let's meet in the cinema to experience a beautiful moment of cinema, quite simply.

Oh yes! Especially since Chloé Ponce-Voiron is accompanied by a fabulous Jury : journalist and author Laura Raim, producer Hélène Mijavile, author Reine Prat, Deputy Mayor of Tours Élise Pereira-Nunes, director Victoria Neto and author Valérie Rey-Robert.

This Women's Words Competition travels all over the world through our network of international cities: in France in Agde, Paimpol and Pays de Morlaix, but also in Mont-Dore and Fort-de-France, in Djibouti and Montreal, and finally in all our cities in Romania (Arad, Baia Mare, Bucuresti, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Oradea, Pitesti, Rasnov, Sighetul Marmatei and Timisoara).

The Award Ceremony will take place on Friday 9 June at 7.30 pm, at the Cinémas Studio in Tours (France), after the competition screening, in the presence of the jurors and the directors! Tickets are on sale online and at the reception of the Cinémas Studio.

Long story (very) short

It's all very well announcing the opening of the Très Court's 25th edition, but in fact, where does the festival come from?

What are its origins? Who created it? How did the creators manage to set up this project? Actually, some members of the team didn't know anything about our beginnings... that's why we investigated this festival whose story starts with a huge rake.

 

It all began in 1998 when Marc and Pascal discover very short films at the Tourné Monté Super 8 festival. The principle is simple: participants shoot scenes of their film in order of editing during 3 minutes with a Super 8 camera. Filmmakers and public discover films all together during a festive evening. Charmed, the two friends propose the festival to join them to enter in the digital era. They take a big knock-back but they are not discouraged at all. No matter, they will do it themselves.

The association Tout en Très Court was born one year later with the idea of organizing an annual party of screenings and awards ceremonies. The two founders scoured Internet and all VHS tapes in search of the best films under 4 minutes. By word of mouth, filmmakers and production companies sent their Très Courts to participate at the event. After collecting about 50 films, the festivities begin.

The festival inaugurates its first edition on October 21, 2000 at the Forum des Images in Paris. The room is packed with spectators who applaud between each film. With all the excitement of the audience, everyone has a good time.This evening marks the beginning of the Très Court adventure which, each year, offers an extraordinary collective experience and the discovery of a little known cinematographic style in 14 different countries.

The Très Court is a format that allows you to go far. For the audience, watching a very short film means going beyond your usual passivity, it means being active, laughing, crying, discovering, getting a slap in the face, understanding, loving and feeling a whole bunch of emotions that make you feel alive. For filmmakers, making a film under four minutes means opting for spontaneity, concision and efficiency.

Marc and Pascal have resumed their main professional activity, writing and illustrating comics for one, computer science for the other. They left the helm to our new captain, Anne-Sophie, who is happy to lead the Très Court alongside Paul, Célia, Sarah and Julie. The history of the Très Court continues to be written in the present with the 25th edition planned for June 2 to 11, 2023 throughout the world.

Want to participate to the festival? You have until February 19, 2023 to send us your movie of less than 4 minuntes. So don't wait any longer and embark with us for the adventure of the Très Court.

The 25th edition is open!

"Happy birthday Très Court, happy birthday Très Court..."

Yes! In 2023, the festival will celebrate its 25th edition. Of course, it doesn't make us younger, especially when we realize that the Très Court was born in the 20th century, in 1999 exactly, before some members of the team were even born. That said, 25 years old is the ideal age to move forward in life, full of sap and desire. And we are very lucky to be sharing this crazy adventure with you.

Who could have predicted such a beautiful and long life to an event created in the last century, at the time of VHS tapes and the beginnings of the Internet? Certainly not the two founders of Le Très Court, Marc and Pascal. At the beginning, the two friends just wanted to share this incredible format of films of less than three minutes and to promote a little known cinematographic style. So they surveyed all the production available to them and imagined a festival whose first edition took place at the Forum des images. The event was an instant hit and was so successful that it was organized twice in the same year, and two years in a row. This crazy bet between friends ends up being exported in 4 cities, then 10 and up to 100 cities all around the world.

Today, the Très Court has expanded with its Défi 48h Très Court Environnement and its Instant Très Court. So yes, like everyone else, we have suffered from the health crisis, the network of cities has tightened slightly, but the works are still as striking, and, better still, essential - in the sense of "getting to the essence". In this world where everything goes faster and faster, a world that sometimes seems to be going crazy, these Très Courts take a sensitive and deep look and, in very few words and images, they take us into stories that resonate with us for a very long time. They have this incredible strength to appeal to our intelligence and our imaginations, which is, let's agree, precious at this time.

To illustrate their strength, and our state of mind at the beginning of the season, we have created a visual that brings together what we hold dear. We find the importance of nature, cinema and human beings. The ladybug is invited on the poster like a lucky charm. Small and yet so present, it is essential and symbolizes a whole ecosystem to protect. The very small things have their importance, the very short films too.

It is thus full of enthusiasm that we start this new year, with the desire, more than ever, to share it with you. As they say in the planes we won't take anymore, the whole Très Court team welcomes you on board of this 25th edition, and you can count on its crew, Paul, Julie, Célia, Sarah and Anne-Sophie, to offer you an amazing trip.

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