The genesis of this project? “A carnival evening, an event that we already organized at La Pommeraie around thirty years ago. The common thread was that each household in our institution had to produce a music video with the means at hand as part of this carnival evening, confides Pascal Cardinal, festival manager. Over time, we said to ourselves that there was a concept to develop. At the time, institutions were already making video montages, for example filming residents’ vacations. We wanted to bring a sense of purpose by launching this Pom’s d’Or festival.”
Since then, technologies have continued to evolve at high speed and institutions have adapted. “At the same time, the cost of hardware has also democratized and it is, for example, increasingly easy to do very beautiful things with a simple smartphone. We sometimes obtain surprising results.” assure Pascal Cardinal.
The participation of residents is of course carried out on a voluntary basis, depending on the desire that one or the other will show for this type of activity.
Encourage talent
At La Pommeraie, they have the choice since 35 different workshops are offered to them every day in areas such as crafts, creativity, sport and even expression. “These workshops provide a good excuse to develop relationships and encourage talents and skills, which allows people to express themselves, gain or regain self-confidence and be recognized.insiste Pascal Cardinal. One of our major concerns is to make the world of people with disabilities known and recognized.”
With this in mind, residents and staff of La Pommeraie have been working for a long time to organize sporting, cultural and public utility events to promote openness to the outside world, to society as a whole.
“If it is essential for us to put people in contact with the realities of life, we also attach great importance to opening the doors of our institution in order to be able to raise awareness, inform and give another image of the person disabled”, adds the manager of the Pom’s d’Or.
Residents, as we will have understood, are enthusiastically involved in cinematographic projects, while the other objective of the festival is to encourage exchanges with other institutions.
Love, always love
“Thus, we are welcoming a delegation from Quebec made up of around twenty people this year and in a few months, our residents will travel to Quebec as part of sporting and cultural activities.”notes the festival manager.
If the themes of the films presented are multiple, some essential ones emerge. “Love comes back often, signale Pascal Cardinal. Friendship too, as well as the way residents see life. Generally speaking, they are pretty happy people.”
For 24 years, many personalities from the world of communication, the media and the associative or political world have come to the Pom’s d’Or ceremony. We will cite Marie-Laure Augry, ex-comparison of the famous Yves Mourousi, Julos Beaucarne, Jeff Bodart, the director Benoît Mariage, Plastic Bertrand, France Brel, David Jeanmotte, Luc Petit, the filmmaker François Troukens, Prince Laurent, the princess Léa of Belgium and even Queen Paola.
There will still be a lot of people there for this 25th edition. See you this Wednesday, November 20 from 5 p.m. at La Pommeraie, rue Neuve in Ellignies-Sainte-Anne.
Information on www.pomsdor.be
600 people and 26 films: unheard of!
Pascal Cardinal says he is surprised by the enthusiasm, which does not weaken despite the passage of time. “It’s a project that lives well, confides the festival manager. We asked ourselves questions and were afraid of a certain loss of steam after the two Covid years, but things have started again and we are delighted. We are surprised that people sometimes come as spectators to see how it goes before participating with their institution the following year. It’s nice.”
In terms of representation, the numbers are mind-blowing. “We have never had so many people. There will be 600 participants and 26 films in competition, Pascal explains. In addition to the delegation from the beautiful Province of Quebec representing seven associations, we will also welcome numerous French associations and institutions from, for example, Aix-en-Provence, Auxerre, Paris or the North and of course participants coming from all of French-speaking Belgium.”
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