Shorts Unlimited

WATCH THE TRAILER

GEOGRAPHICAL FOCUS
EUR♀ VISIONS - EUROPEAN WOMEN WITH
A MOVIE CAMERA

Son Altesse protocole directed by Aurélie Reinhorn - France, Belgium

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Each year at the Clermont Film Festival, the festival’s audiences embark on a cinematic journey, exploring a different country through our geographical retrospective. They (re)discover unique cultures, tones, and stories from around the globe through a selection of extraordinary short films, including some past favorites. Since the candidacy of our city, Clermont-Ferrand, was announced a few years ago, the city itself has started to resonate more on a European wavelength. The festival has decided to broaden its scope. For the 2024 focus, it is not just a country, but an entire continent the festival aim to explore. This year, the thematic retrospective is dedicated to strong female figures, and thus, the festival will showcase Europe in a feminine light.

22 films from 24 female directors representing 25 countries. The more observant will notice that alongside the 20 European Union member countries, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are also present. This year, our focus is not on a political or geographical Europe, but rather on a cultural Europe.

In the world of cinema, short films often provide a more egalitarian platform compared to feature films. Yet, it remains a challenge for filmmakers, especially women, to be seen, heard, and understood by audiences. This year, Clermont puts them in the spotlight, showcasing a diverse array of cinematic genres. 

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READ THE FULL EDITORIAL

CHECK THE LIST OF FILMS

THE FOCUS AT A GLANCE 

THEME IN FOCUS
REBELS - PORTRAITS OF DEFIANT WOMEN

Egúngún (Masquerade) directed by Olive Nwosu - Nigeria, United Kingdom

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The motivation behind this retrospective is to showcase portraits of strong women at the heart of films, far from the figures of housewives or objectified women. To this end, a wide range of themes will be addressed: sorority first, this egalitarian relationship, a tool of power and rallying, will be highlighted with a foundational film and precious archival document, Y'a qu'à pas baiser! directed by Carole Roussopoulos in 1971.

It's also about emancipation, the kind that comes through the body, its discovery, and its reappropriation. This theme is also explored in L’Amérique de la femme and Kleptomami, where sexuality is addressed forthrightly, and the physical invasions and other impositions of motherhood are discussed. We will also be spotlighting the women born in the wrong envelope and others who fully embrace their bodies to make a living from it: sex workers.

Presenting portraits of women will also mean addressing what constrains them, because even if this collection primarily includes positive and fighting figures, we do not forget those for whom the struggle still seems unthinkable—like the Iranian swimmers of Beach Flags, deprived of a pool by Islamic law, little Aïda, from Maman(s), who bears the heavy burden of traditions against which she can do nothing, for now. Or the heroine of Egúngún who chose to leave to finally become herself, elsewhere, far away. 

The film Olla (winner of three awards in 2020, including the National Grand Prix) will delightfully halo this gallery of ebullient characters through the dazzling, exhilarating and explosive emancipation of its protagonist.

Behold the portraits of ladies on fire.

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READ THE FULL EDITORIAL

CHECK THE LIST OF FILMS

THE FOCUS AT A GLANCE 

OTHER PROGRAMMES 

Thrills

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In the spirit of our retrospective, this Thrills program presents five films featuring female leads from every corner of the globe.

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Decibels!

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This program aims to satisfy and bring together lovers of music and film. Inventiveness, poetry and technical precision are at the heart of these creations.

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Bloody Girls

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This screening offers up a selection of bloody films for fans of strong sensations. The figure of the innocent young girl is gone: get ready for a waterfall of hemoglobin, it’s time for revenge!

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Collections: the French Short Film Agency turns 40

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In the spirit of our retrospective, for the Agence du court métrage’s fortieth anniversary, we’ve devised and helped put together a program of five “birthday” films featuring strong female characters.

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Looking Back

The paradigmatic struggle of the workers at the LIP watch factory

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Court d'Histoire (Looking Back) is a single screening of one or more short films, followed by a talk led by a participant.

The choice this year turned out to be the paradigmatic struggle of the female workers at LIP whose massive strike in 1973 celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. For the occasion, and over the course of several years, the director Carole Roussopoulos followed several women who played important parts in the period.

Hélène Fléckinger, historian of film and light video and lecturer in film study at the Université Paris 8, will give a talk after the screening.

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ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

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Rounding out the programs will be numerous activities and meetings centered on themes during the Festival: exhibitions, a 100% female line-up for an evening concert at Dark Lab, roundtables, a forum made up of local feminist and feminist-united organizations, self-defense classes, the screening of a feature film with its director in attendance, a tattoo flash day, book-signings at Les Volcans bookshop… All details can be found on the festival’s website by following the link below.

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READ THE FULL ARTICLE

clermont-filmfest.org

The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival is the most important short film event in the world. Put together by the organization Sauve qui peut le court métrage, the 45th Festival (and its corresponding short film market) will be held from 27 January to 4 February 2023. Come and discover masterpieces of animation, comedies, films on contemporary reality, genre films, student projects from the best schools in the world, and documentaries from across the globe.

Short films will once again be shown in all their splendor and diversity in Auvergne in the dead of winter.

Photos credits: Monique - LIP I, Carole Roussopoulos - Vidéo Out, 1973 /
Centre audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir (Looking Back)
© SQPLCM, Anthonin Robineau (Activities & events)

THE CLERMONT-FERRAND INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL IS ORGANISED BY

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