Festival Resistances

January 2007: the torch of the Festival of the film Resistances, formerly held by association AFA, is taken again by a collective of regional professionals represented by association ariégeoise “Wandering Glance” in partnership with the Association of the Friends of the Festival Resistances, and by all those which did not want to see dying this festival.

The International film festival “Resistances” , more simply the Festival Resistances , was founded in 1996 per Catherine Dubuisson and Marc Saracino. This cinema festival proceeds each year in July to Tarascon-on-Ariège close to Foix, in the Midday-Pyrenees. It falls under a spirit of resistance and was given like objective “to promote a cinema seldom diffused on the screens, to create a salutary astonishment, to make known other glances and other scenario writers that those of the loan to be thought usual”. The festival of Foix fits in a " long tradition of résistances". Since the Cathares until the Guerillas of Retirada while passing by the Young ladies, the inhabitants of the mountains ariégeoises always positioned against the central capacity, the official religion, the corporals of the Empire or the Masters of the forging mills. But how to hope to change the company if the elements of analysis and criticism which found the future are reserved for an elite which monopolizes all the capacities? While giving to see the documentary ones and fictions on sets of themes going with counter-current of the generally accepted ideas, while making it possible to the spectators to become the actors of their own history and not of the consumers of the company of spectacle, year after year, Résistances builds a libertarian Utopia. ”

During projections of the festival (a hundred films), are organized each year of the debates, the forums animated on the questions of the world of today, of the presentations of authors of the area and the close Catalogne, the professional days, the training courses and the video workshops. The types of projected films are very diversified, energy of the Documentaire to the Fiction, while passing by the Cartoon films, musical or of Science-fiction, films of artists and the programming for the young people.

This festival gathered 15.000 people in 2005. It became little by little one of the major events of the cinematographic Contre-culture in France. It is also the cultural appointment most important of the Ariège.

Edition 2006

The topics were “the dirty money”, “With the trap of the family”, “art to ignore the poor” and “Conveys against nature”.

Within the framework of “the dirty money”, the festival diffused fictions and the documentary ones like Lord off war of Andrew Niccol, the dissimulators of Denis Robert, the oligarchs of Alexander Gentelev or Viva Zapatero! of Sabina Guzzanti.

“With the trap of the family” the question of the Women's right approached, with for example Week end in family of Jodie Foster, Family celebration to the Iranian woman of Arash, the son of the Frères Dardenne, a woman under influence of John Cassavetes Jeanne Dielman of Chantal Akerman or In Nominates Patris of Myriam Tonelotto and Marc Hansmann.

“Art to ignore the poor” treated inequalities and revolts. Principal projections were the life dreamed of the angels of Eric Zonka, Poniente of Chus Gutiérrez, the eldorado of plastic of Arlette Girardot, the girl with the matches of Aki Kaurismaki and the chopper of Costa-Gavras.

“Car against nature” approached ecology, more particularly the questioning of the car. The diffused films on this subject were Trafic of Jacques Tati, the prohibited forest of Nicholas Ray, country Profils of Raymond Depardon, the bear of Jean-Jacques Annaud and Grizzly man of Werner Herzog.

Lists of the topics of the previous years

Events around projections

This festival tries to support the discovery of the new talents at the regional level by organizing a “Contest of the best short-measuring produced or turned to the Midday-Pyrenees” and rewarding gaining them by an financial aid with the production for their future project. In addition, a space is opened with the Artistes, Plasticiens and Photographes inspired by the sets of themes of the festival.

Invitations of the realizers

Realizers take part each year in the events. Since its creation, “Resistances” attracted personalities like Ken Loach, Bertrand Tavernier, Hubert Sauper, Rene Vautier, Raoul Peck, Bernadette Lafont, Yamina Benguigui, Yves Boisset, Coline Serreau, Claire Simon, Chantal Akerman, Ventura Pons, etc

Public forums

Personalities of the cultural world, historians, scientists, economists, sociologists… intervene daily on the topics of the festival. These topics generally raise security questions like “Cinema and resistance” in 1997, “Latin America” in 1998, “Deviances and margins” and “the Utopias” in 2000, “Masculine-female” and “Violence/not violence” in 2001, “Algeria the driven back memory” and “the itinerants” in 2002, “the black gold, the price to be paid” and “Sex and to be able” in 2003, “Media under influence” and “To differently live” in 2004, “poisoned health” and “the sport opium of the people” in 2005.

Professional roundtables

Days are devoted to the topicality of the trades of audio-visual with professional of the medium. “To produce in area”, “the role of the cinema festivals” or “diffusion Internet of documentary films” is the kind of topics approached during these roundtables. The participants can come from various organizations like the European Coordination of the Cinema festivals , REZO , the domestic network of producers in area , APIAMP , association of the producers to the Midday-Pyrenees , the Multi-media Civil society of the Authors ( SCAM ), Documentaire on Big screen , association of the scenario writers documentarists ( ADDOC ), TVE , RTBF , TV3 Catalunya , etc

International dimension of the festival

“Resistances” is present at the committee of experts of audio-visual of the District council the Midday-Pyrenees. At the European level, “Resistances” is member cofounder of the European Coordination of the Cinema festivals (CEFC) based with Brussels and of the Carrefour of the Festivals based with Paris in order to defend the interests of the 7th art and the circulation of works between the Member States of these organizations.

The festival takes part regularly in the professional jurys in various European festivals.

Moreover, the festival established a special relation with the Catalogne thanks to programming called “Catalan cinematographic Meetings” dedicated each year to this border region. This event Co-is organized by the Institut Català of Industries Culturals ( ICIC ) of the Generalitat of Catalonia, it is also helped by Catalan Films , the filmoteca of Catalunya . This event gives each year birth to new projects of exchanges and film coproduction.

“Resistances” collaborates with several other international festivals. For example each year is diffused a selection of films of the Algerian festival called Rencontres cinematographic of Béjaia , in exchange a selection of films diffused by “Resistances” is projected during this Algerian festival.

“Resistances” practices this type of exchange with other festivals like Festival of Cork in Ireland, Filmer at all costs in Belgium, Diogonale of Graz in Austria, Sitges and Mostra de Dones in Catalogne, and in France with Films of women to Creteil, Séquence runs to Toulouse, Ciné Meetings with Prades, etc The event is relayed by regional or national media like Arte and France 3 Southern , France Inter , France Info , France Culture , Southern Radio , TV3 , Beur FM or the Dispatch of the South but also by associative networks like Voir & Agir , Radio Transparency , Radio Zinzine , TV Noises , Amnesty International , Ligue of the Human rights , Friends of the Earth , ATTAC

Some figures (2005)

15.200 entries
157 meetings out of 12 screens in Ariège
100 films resulting from 17 European countries, and 22 preview or new
8 public debates with 30 speakers
8 " coffee-cinés" in the presence of invited realizers
59 meetings with the invited scenario writers
90 professionals of audio-visual the
15 representatives of cinema festivals European
138 journalists (local mediums, nationals, international)
40 structures associated with the sets of themes
78 people in load of the organization

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

New official site of the festival

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