For this 40e Ménigoute International Ornithological Film Festival (Fifo), Parthenaisian Christian Proust interviewed children from Fifo, testifying to the impact that this festival had on their lives.
The magnificent oriole on the cover of the book was drawn by Pierre Mach, at the request of Dominique and Marie-Christine Brouard. A nod to the Lirous awarded to award-winning films.
This self-taught cartoonist has been attending the festival for a dozen years, having exhibited his Pyrenees bestiary there six times.
For this passionate Pyrenees, the Pyrénées-Orientales are an inexhaustible source of animal subjects. Armed with his sketchbooks, pencils, paints and his telescope, he roams the mountain in search of animals. “The bestiary is varied, from the Mediterranean coast up to 2,800 m”he confides.
Passionate about bears, he nevertheless draws everything he encounters on his path and for example exceptional avifauna: gray partridge of the Pyrenees, oriole, hoopoe, bee-eater and even roller. “ I capture as much detail as possible on the animal's attitude as well as its physical characteristics so that I can then create my paintings in the workshop. I don't take photographs,” he explains, putting together his sketchbooks. “I have been painting for over 40 years, I won a Lip watch in a drawing competition at the age of 8,” he remembers, he who comes to Fifo for the pleasure of exchanging, of sharing his passion. “It was a huge honor to participate in these 40 years of the festival in my own way, by designing the cover of this book”he concludes.
“Des enfants du Fifo”, €20, on sale at the Antidote bookstore, 94, rue Jean-Jaurès in Parthenay.
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