Every year, the Jalladeau brothers, tirelessd globe-trotters, share the planet between them to go and see on location films that are born away from the major international channels. Philippe goes all over Latin America, the Arab and Muslim world and the Asian republics of the ex-URSS, while Alain travels throughout the length and breadth of Asia and Black Africa.

After having screened several hundreds of ilms, they offer a selection which is the most capable of reflecting the social, historical and cultural realities of the countries of Africa, Asia, Latin and Black America. From Uzbekistan to Iran, from Palestine to Egypt, from Mali to Niger, fom India to China via Korea, from Brazil to Bolivia, the festival opens other routes for film expression.

The Jalladeau brothers therefore act as communication channels making it possible for a marginalized cinema and for film spectators in search of a different look at the world to meet. The festival leaves room for other modes of narration, other points of view, and offers images which are to be seen nowhere else.

The richness and originality of the programming draws a numerous and above all highly diversified audience that totalled 35 000 admissions in 2002. People of all ages and from all backgrounds hurry up to the film theaters for a dive into an often uncharted cinema. An insatiable curiosity, a taste for travels and exotic changes of scenery, a desire for surprises appear to be the key words in this popular craze.


A SPEARHEAD FOR UNRECOGNIZED TALENT
The 3 Continents festival has become a kind of outpost for international films discoveries. Directors Chen Kaige (China), Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Taiwan), Souleymane Cissé (Mali), Abbas Kiarostami (Iran), Darejan Omirbaev (Kazakhstan)......

A showcase for constant renewal, the festival establishes the grat creative vitality of filmmakers working under often very difficult conditions of production. The success they enjoy on the occasion of the festival helps them to promote the distribution of their films in France and in Europe, or even to make other films.