Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival

The Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival (French: Festival International du Film Lesbien et Féministe de Paris) is a women-only film festival founded in Paris, France, in 1989. The festival is organized by Cineffable, an association dedicated to promoting lesbian cinema, and encouraging lesbian creativity.

Paris Lesbian and Feminist
Film Festival
Festival International du Film
Lesbien et Féministe de Paris
LocationParis
Established1989
AwardsAudience Awards
Hosted byCineffable
LanguageFrench and English
Websitehttps://www.cineffable.fr

History

The Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival grew out of dissatisfaction with the treatment of Lesbians in the Créteil International Women's Film Festival. Many lesbian women felt that in spite of the fact that lesbian films frequently won the Viewers Choice awards (prix du public), lesbian films, filmmakers and attendees were not given sufficient space or attention at the festival, and so they decided to create their own event,[1] which would not only provide lesbians with screening opportunities, but would also be a shared community for knowledge sharing, a way to increase lesbian visibility and combat lesbophobia, and a social outlet.[2]

The first event was held in 1989, as a "cinéclub",[3] with subsequent festivals in 1992 and 1993, all held at the La Clef Cultural Center in Paris. As the festival grew, it moved venues, first to the André Malraux Cultural Center (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre) until 2000, when the number of attendees grew to between 2000-3000,[4] and then to the Le Trianon theater.[5] Since 2010, the festival screens at l'Espace Reuilly.[6]

Organization

The festival is organized and produced by the Cineffable association. The association includes several thousand members, making it one of the more significant lesbian organizations in France. It is run according to feminist principles – it is non-hierarchical, based on knowledge sharing and transfer for continuity, and defines its mission statement as "we have to assume responsibility, to take control of our images, to become actresses in our own productions in order to break definitively with the oppressive system of representation that shuts us in, that shuts us up".[7]

The festival is open to anyone who identifies as a woman, and is based on membership attendance; that is – attendance is free for members, and thus anyone desiring to attend the festival purchases a membership card, which provides access or discounts to other Cineffable events as well. The festival is self-funded, except for an annual grant from the city of Paris, as part of an official program for gender equality,[8] and works on the principle of "no one left outside" through discounts for marginalized communities and a ticket sharing program, enabling access for all to screenings.[9]

The festival includes several competition tracks, debates, an art exhibition, workshops and a gala or concert event.[10][11] Audience awards are granted at the festival in the following categories:[12]

  • Feature film
  • Feature-length documentary
  • Short fiction film
  • Short documentary
  • Experimental film
  • Animation

In previous years, there were also awards for best screenplay and best film poster.

The festival has grown steadily since its inception.[13] It screens over 50 films each year.[14]

Best Feature Film awards
YearFilmDirectorCountry
2018Extra TerrestresCarla CavinaPuerto Rico / Venezuela
2017Signature MoveJennifer ReederUnited States
2016Io e Lei (Me, Myself, and Her)Maria Sole TognazziItaly
2015Girltrash: All Night LongAlexandra KondrackeUnited States
2014Moonlight PeopleEkaterina PolyanskayaRussia
2013Facing MirrorsNegar AzarbayjaniIran / Germany
2012Lengua maternaLiliana PaolinelliArgentina
2011En secret (Circumstance)Maryam KeshavarzUSA / Iran / Lebanon
2010no audience awards
2009RainMaria GovanUK / Bahamas
2008The World UnseenShamim SarifUK / South Africa
2007Nina's Heavenly DelightsPratibha ParmarUK
2006

(tie)

 Sévigné (Julia Berkowitz)Marta Balletbò-CollSpain
Fremde HautAngelina MaccaroneGermany
2005Hu Die (Butterfly)Yan Yan MakHong Kong
2004Goldfish MemoryLiz GillIreland
2003Do I Love You?Lisa GornickUK
2002By Hook or by CrookHarry Dodge (as Harriet Dodge) and Silas HowardUSA
2001Chutney PopcornNisha GanatraUSA
2000If These Walls Could Talk 2Jane Anderson, Martha Coolidge and Anne HecheUSA
1999Revoir JulieJeanne CrépeauCanada
1998Alles Wird GutAngelina MaccaroneGermany
1997FireDeepa MehtaUSA
1996Costa BravaMarta Balletbò-CollSpain
1995Life is a WomanShanna SerikbajewaKazakhstan
1994Go FishRose TrocheUSA
1993The Company of StrangersCynthia ScottCanada
1992Anne TristerLéa PoolCanada
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See also

References
  1. "Why Cineffable? Why the Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival?". Cineffable. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  2. "Paris International Lesbian & Feminist Film Festival". The Lesbian Agenda. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  3. "Cineffable : quand les lesbiennes se font du cinéma !". le Cabinet de Curiosité Féminine (in French). Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  4. "CINEFFABLE – Festival International du film lesbien et féministe: des femmes, rien que des femmes…". le Cabinet de Curiosité Féminine (in French). Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  5. Sullivan, Moira. "Special Report: 18th Paris Cineffable Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival, 2006". Movie Magazine. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  6. "Venue". Cineffable - Useful Information. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  7. Catalog of the 8th Festival, 1996
  8. Sullivan, Moira. "Special Report: 18th Paris Cineffable Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival, 2006". Movie Magazine. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  9. "Ticketing". Cineffable. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  10. "Paris International Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival". Accor Hotels. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  11. "Concert". Cineffable. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  12. "CINEFFABLE (Paris) 2018: Submissions are now open". African Women in Cinema (in French). Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  13. Tarr, Carrie; Rollet, Brigitte (6 Oct 2016). Cinema and the Second Sex: Women's Filmmaking in France in the 1980s and 1990s. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781474290784.
  14. "10 Feminist Film Festivals To Follow". Raindance. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
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