OThere is no idea that the decision was carefully thought out and hard to make: Faced with the decreases of grants announced by most of the guardianships, the La Rochelle Cinéma festival team (FEMA) announced this Thursday, January 23, 2025 during its assembly general, that 53e edition will be held over nine days, instead of ten. A first in the history of the festival which will start on Friday June 27 and will end on Saturday July 5, 2025, and no longer Sunday as it was tradition for decades. In essence, it will therefore mean a little fewer films, sessions and meetings.
The situation is all the more paradoxical since the 2024 edition ended with a new attendance record, despite an unprecedented political context which has raised the worst to the organizers (52e Edition found itself taken in vice between the two laps of a surprise legislative election): with nearly 90,000 admissions, it is the second largest audience since its creation. Most of the projections have made it full and as surprising as it is, it is “the fever in the blood”, black and white film of 1961 by Elia Kazan with Natalie Wood, who won the title of the session Current with 1,300 spectators!
“The political crisis did not take it on our passion for cinema”
The FEMA remains the most important cinephile meeting in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, far ahead of Angoulême, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Sarlat … 1,300 professionals in all categories combined (distributors, producers …) were in a hurry, including the very influential boss From Gaumont, Nicolas Seydoux. “The political crisis did not win on our passion for cinema,” said Sophie Mirouze, general and programmer delegate.
A “complicated” year
Yes but here, in an uncertain national context and in view of the budget cuts which are preparing to be voted in a few weeks, the culture will have to tighten the belt. Fema will not escape it. This fall, the Charente-Maritime Departmental Council has toured all the structures and has already warned its managers: it will be a 50 %drop, which would make its subsidy pass from 63,000 to 31,500 euros. The sum has not yet been officially acted.
On the side of the city of La Rochelle, which had awarded a subsidy of 135,000 euros in 2024, the culture assistant Catherine Benguigui wanted to be prudent Thursday evening, but ended up letting go: the drop would be 9 000 euros but not beyond. “2025 will be complicated. The budgetary orientation debate has not yet passed. We have to save money in all services. I will try to be as fair as possible. If I can limit the drop to 7 %, I will do it, “she promised the team. Which is still awaiting the return of the region.
Competitive context
To fill the holes, Sophie Mirouze and Arnaud Dumatin, co-delegated general since 2018, have therefore decided to subtract and decide: there will be no more “course”, which allowed a specialist every day to have a specialist for Support a work, after projections. Very popular appointments but of which fema aficionados will have to happen at least for 2025.
-Same plane on the catalog, the festival -goers. Unthinkable to do without it but it will be reduced from 330 to 250 pages. Less translations, fewer guests, fewer charges of hotels, end of free accreditations, call to new patrons, companies as individuals … So many solutions to limit breakage and “do not take over our activities”, According to Arnaud Dumatin.
The film “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort” by Jacques Demy will be screened at the end of the festival, on Saturday July 5, 2025.
Tamaris cinema
The administrator did not fail to recall an increasingly competitive context with newcomers to the territory like “twin sisters” in Rochefort or “new waves” in Biarritz which will be held this summer on the same dates as the Fema. The history of Rochelaise event can always count on its fame and has just obtained support from Europe, but the multiplication of festivals is also a problem.
Finally, to finish on a good note, the team announced a retro dedicated to Taiwanese Edward Yang and an event around the director Jacques Demy with the screening of four films, including “Les Demoiselles de Rochefort” in karaoke for the fence on Saturday July 5. The rest of the program will be unveiled over the water and publications on social networks.
Figures for 2024
– 999 000 euros they budget.
– 84 958 Entrances to the room.
– 164 feature films presented.
– 308 projections.
– 1 300 professionals.
