Editor

Photo : Albatros, Xavier Beauvois

Dear friends,

We are delighted to announce the tributes to be presented at the 49th edition of the Festival La Rochelle Cinéma, which will take place from June 25 to July 4, 2021.

This year the festival honors French director Xavier Beauvois, who will present a full retrospective of his feature films, including Of Men and Gods, and preview his latest, Drift Away.

We will explore the hybrid, rich, and multiform work of the Lebanese artists Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, who examine the fabrication of images and the political history of their country and discover in preview their latest film, Memory Box.

That leading figure of the Romanian New Wave, Radu Jude, who won the 2021 Berlinale Golden Bear for his latest film, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, will present a full retrospective of his films.

Gabriel Yared, the towering composer of scores for Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley or Youssef Chahine’s Adieu Bonaparte, will give a music class hosted by Stéphane Lerouge on Sunday, July 4.

The complete program will be available on the festival’s new website in late May.

Continuing our outreach to high school and university students, for a 4th year the Fema will hold a young film critics’ competition (written, audio, video), in partnership with the Hôtel Saint-Nicolas in La Rochelle, Blink Blank, Capricci, LaCinetek, Positif, and Transfuge.

Do you love the films of Roberto Rossellini, René Clément, Maurice Pialat, or stop-motion animation?

If you are under 30, send us your film criticism — written (300–600 words), audio (< 2 minutes), or video (< 2 minutes) — no later than Monday, May 17.

See here the list of scheduled films, the jury, and many prizes to be won.

We are also happy to announce the creation of the Collectif des festivals de cinéma et d'audiovisuel de Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

The dialog that sprang up between film and audiovisual festivals in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in the context of partnerships around events, encouraged the forming of an association. Pandemic conditions brought out our shared concerns and highlighted the need to come together. And so, in spring 2020, the Collectif des festivals de cinéma et d’audiovisuel de Nouvelle-Aquitaine was born.

The Collectif brings together the following festivals: Fifib (Bordeaux), Fema (La Rochelle), Poitiers, Brive, Fipadoc Biarritz, Filmer le Travail (Poitiers), Fifca (Angoulême), and Biarritz Amérique Latine.

À bientôt,

The Fema La Rochelle team