I think it was about three months ago when I opened my E-mails I found one from Gabriel Hotte, the president of the northern region of French Federation of Cinema and Video (FFCV).

Previously we had brief discussions concerning the concept of exchanging videos to show at each other's club evenings. Also he had seen my film "Final Report" at Unica in Luxembourg. His letter contained an invitation to be a member of the judging jury of the northern region film festival. A couple of sentences further on he suggested that as I could write and read French, I must be able to speak it so I would be an ideal member of the International jury. This is a correlation to which I do not adhere. So the dilemma - do I go and make a hash of it or do I forget it. Then a moment of inspiration, ask Canelle.

Canelle Hoppé is a friend of mine and a professional French actress. She could be my salvation if the going got too deep. I relayed this to Gabriel and was happy to invite Canelle as well.

So at the crack of dawn - well about 7 o'clock I was on my way with Canelle to Waterloo. Catching Eurostar was incredibly easy and some two hours later we were in Lille. We were taken to somewhere called Studio 4, a medium sized cinema / theatre. After a brief break for lunch we were back for the first session.

The first session consisted of a mere 25 videos finishing around 23.00. Of course there was a two hour break for dinner - would expect anything else in France. The cinema was fantastic - a massive 4 meter wide screen, an incredibly bright projector and a superb audio system. The use of this was given free to the club by the local council.

So to the videos and possibly more important to me, how good would be my comprehension of French. Well the first video in the "Fiction" class consisted of one shot. Superb acting but a little boring. Then came a montage of shots with clocks - mostly hand held with lots of freezes. So what would the third film be. It was called Avekoussan. Well there were a lot of good graphics and that was about it. Must be my lack of French comprehension - I had missed something. I turned to Canelle to be met with a blank look - she had no idea what it was about either.

Another five films and we were entertained by "La culture du poireau". For those who know what "poireau" is slang for, I will say no more and for the others you will just have to guess.

By the time of the first break, I had already noted certain trends. Generally these French film makers had spend a lot more time on producing the titles and sound tracks. On many productions the titles were a work of art on their own. I don't think there was a single production using the one piece of music plus a voice track principal. The other trend I noted was the
willingness of these filmmakers to take risks. There were the traditional documentaries but there were also what would best be described as experimental. Out of the 56 films, I think there were only around 3 holiday videos including a 39 minute monster - a good video but really three videos joined together. In all genres, there was a far greater use of graphics
than I have seen in North Thames.

The second day of production started at 9.00 sharp with a film made by a 16 year old about an opera singer. I thought that the editing could be little tighter but apart from that, it was superb. There was one sequence when she said she had to get up early followed by her running.

Shortly after was the first animation based on the art of Max Ernst called "Passage Onirique" The quality of the production was fantastic and would have quite happily been at home at any major international animation festival.l It was the first film to which I gave a maximum. A second animation, "Play Back" followed, completely different in concept. In fact it was a combination of normal photography and animation. A film editor loads up his Steinbeck and plays with some of the footage with hilarious results. In many ways the excellence of the second animation was eclipsed by the first one.

This competition equates roughly to my own region's North Thames Festival. Generally I felt the average standard was about the same as here but the top end was in a different league. It would be interesting to see how they would get on, if the language was not an issue, at the North Thames festival. I am afraid that I think the French would wipe the board.

I gather that the Lille club has a hundred members. The Mayor (council) provides a studio and several edit suites for the club use without charge. Consequently it is ideal for anyone, including many youngsters, who want to make films. As Gabriel said to me - all we have to do is to buy the tapes - that's if it is an individual's production. If it is a club production everything is paid for by the club. At the prize giving not only was the Mayor present but also was a local minister from the French government. The council / tourism paid for the festival.

One slight difference was that the jury selects the films for the National festival. This festival was held in late May in the city of Bourges. Our winning film " Plus la récolte est bonne (The better the harvest)" took the "Prix de la Ville de Bourges" effectively the second most prestigious award. Two places below came Passage Onirique which gained the "Prix de la Région
Centre". Play Back did not do too badly either, it took the third place animation award.

In the mean I and a group of friends are gradually sub - titling several of these films which will shortly be available to show at club meetings. I have to warn clubs - they are "pretty darn good" So keep at look at your club programme and cancel holidays, parties or what ever so you do not miss an unforgettable experience.

- Alan Coregrave

(First appeared in North Thames region newsletter)

Page updated on 21 March 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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