A jury made up of personalities and a selection of varied films. The strategy put in place this year by the organizers of the Biscarrosse Quebec Cinema Festival, which was held from November 10 to 16, paid off.
“It was a very good edition,” confirms Séverine Crampette, general delegate of the Biscarrosse festival. We noted a 30% increase in attendance, with a room occupancy rate of more than 70% for each session. There was a really big turnout. » Pass sales also increased by 28% compared to last year.
The public responded, and not just the Landais, since almost 10% of the spectators came from the Paris region. “It proves that we are starting to have a certain national visibility,” says Séverine Cramette. Paris standing out like that is the first time.” Spectators also came from neighboring Gironde but also from Vendée, Tarn, Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne, Sarthe and even Haute-Marne.
10 years in sight
“We didn’t poll people too much to find out how they knew us,” continues Séverine Cramette. But this year, we had a greater media presence, I think it's due to the fact that we still had celebrities on the jury (Laurent Lucas or Axelle Laffont, Editor's note). This may have brought in a new audience. »
But glitter isn't everything: the programming also appealed and the films offered highlighted the culture and richness of Quebec cinema (read elsewhere).
This is promising for the next edition, which will be the tenth anniversary of the festival. “They’re waiting for us around the corner,” jokes Séverine Cramette. We're really going to look at this anniversary edition from January. We would like to do something very festive but for that, we have to have the budget. We will have to go see the institutions and private partners again. »
The objective is to exceed the 30,000 euros allocated this year by the Region, the Department, the commune of Biscarrosse and the General Delegation of Quebec in Paris. “If we got to 50,000 euros, that would be great, we could bring in more guests. For the moment, for this, we are receiving two plane tickets from Quebec. We would like one director or one actor per film, that would be great. »
Three prizes awarded
Three prizes were awarded during this week dedicated to Quebec cinema: that of best feature film, awarded by the jury, went to “Sur la terre comme au ciel” by Nathalie Saint-Pierre; that of best feature film, awarded by the public, went to “Dissidente”, by Pier-Philippe Chevigny; the prize for best short film was awarded by a professional audiovisual jury from the region to “Invincible”, by Vincent René-Lortie, a film which represented Canada at the Oscars this year.
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