34th Cinemed: the 2012 Festival - A review and a few figures

A pair of top-rankers opened the 34th Cinemed this year. Costa-Gavras returned with force and his special take on Capital and Gad Elmaleh with a distinct turn toward the dramatic. A filmmaker with healthy outrage and an artist blessed by the gods...and adored by young girls as well! Two strong and generous presences to launch an outstanding instalment of the Festival.

Also with regulars such as the Algerian Merzak Allouache presenting his Repenti (The Repentant) and the Moroccan Nabil Ayouch his Chevaux de Dieu (Horses of God). With Hiam Abbass and Hafsia Herzi, from Palestine to Morocco, twice, with Héritage (Inheritance) and Le Sac de farine (The Bag of Flour). With François-Xavier Demaison and Nicolas Duvauchelle praised for Comme des Frères (Like Brothers). With young actors Christa Théret and Vincent Rottiers come to defend their historical characters in Renoir. With the presence for three days of Jalil Lespert, top actor and very musical director.

With a look at the images about the relations between France and Algeria, illuminated by the exhibition of the historian Jean-Robert Henry and commentary by Benjamin Stora. With the active participation of Renzo Rossellini, to help us better revisit his father Roberto’s work in twenty films...And then a wonderful unknown, Rusudan Chkonia, from Georgia and determined to win, who in her first full feature work snatched the Golden Antigone from under the nose and beard of better known participants.

The 2012 festival in figures

This year the enthusiasm of the public for the program translated into a significant increase in attendance with 82,000 admissions, 5% more than in 2011. The festival’s web site, cinemed.tm.fr, confirmed this interest with more than 16,000 visitors between October 25 and November 3. The traditional class for lycée students - with the participation of Bruno Podalydès! - included 468 high school students from all over France preparing to take the 2013 "cinéma-audiovisuel" end examination and some 1,700 people visited the 29 stands of the schools taking part in the 2nd annual Cinema and Audio-visual Trades Day held at the beginning of the festival. The 34th Cinemed also received 314 official guests, 216 professionals and 113 journalists. Besides the 217 films scheduled, the festival included 3 exhibitions and numerous roundtables with the guests. Thirteen prizes were awarded for full features, short features and documentaries, with a total value of € 60,000 in cash and services.

But this instalment was particularly notable for the numerous professional meetings which took place between October 29 and November 2, confirming the focal place Montpellier has become for contemporary Mediterranean filmmakers. In this context, the Development aid grant on November 1 and 2 selected 18 film projects and awarded 6 grants (with a total value of € 42,000 in cash and services). Lastly, thank you to all of our guests, professionals and journalists, sponsors and partners, who made this 34th Festival a success.

We look forward to seeing you at the 35th Cinemed from 25 October to 2 November 2013!