Twenty years…
November 23, 2005, December 3, 2024… During the past twenty years so much has been achieved by the International Education Film Festival, the FIFE as it is now called. From more than a dozen of films programmed at first with only one selection for up to a hundred with four selections of long documentaries, feature films, short and medium-length films and films for young audience. From only European films to a programming on five continents. From only one competitive edition in Evreux to more than thirty throughout France and worldwide… The festival has gone on to become the “roaming festival”, the “festival beyond the city walls”, with more than 600 000 viewers in twenty years, 10 000 debates, over 1 000 films screened! Without forgetting the dynamics of sharing, purchasing collective rights involving solidarity and awards, with more than a hundred DVDs and about 150 films.
Twenty years and great moments of cinema, major male and female films directors already or becoming recognized like Ramata-Toulaye Sy (Astel, 2022), Mohammad Rasoulof (There Is No Evil, 2021), Hirokazu Kore-eda (Like Father, Like Son, 2013), Nanni Moretti (Mia Madre, 2015), Céline Sciamma (Tomboy, 2013), Jeff Nichols (Mud, 2012), Myriam Verreault (Kuessipan, 2020), Claudia Huaiquimilla (Mis hermanos suenan despiertos, 2022), Stéphane Demoustier (Fille du calvaire, 2012) … Broad and diverse audience and links among community centres, rural family homes, hospitals, prisons, schools, even in the open-air… With the same ambition: making people aware of a cinema giving sense, making them grow in fraternity, opening. A cinema full of emotions… A cinema to actively educate young people and allow them to become web reporters, movie critics, directors of short films.
Many thanks to all the film directors and their artistic and technical teams, to the producers and film distributors and for all these human stories. Thank you to both founding members who developed and perpetuated the festival over these years, to the PPJ / ENPJJ and the hundreds of active members of the Ceméa. Thanks to all our partners, public authorities and communities. Their support has been essential. Despite challenging economic and social circumstances, supporting culture is essential. We need respectful and equitable human relationships and committed young people to make the world a better place and the future more peaceful.
Then yes, culture in education is of public interest; it is a journey, an exploration, and it dares to reveal. Long live cinema and FIFE!
Christian Gautellier, Festival director