Short films are the true expertise of the Ciné-Jeune de l’Aisne festival. No less than seven short film competitions were presented in the festival’s spring event. Later this year an autumn edition will be celebrated, but the ECFA Award winner has already been decided.
Spring isn’t over yet, but the Ciné-Jeune de l’Aisne festival is. In March and April, short film competitions and creative workshops were brought into the schools, as cinemas in the French l’Aisne Department are still closed. Interim director Gaëlle Saillenfest: “Almost none of the 40 workshop were cancelled! In October, we’re hoping to organise screenings open to everyone, when cinemas will have reopened.”
The Professional Jury, deciding the ECFA Award, handed out their prize to THE DEPARTURE by Saïd Hamich. In this French-Moroccan film (25’) Adil eagerly awaits the start of the Olympic Games to support, for the last time, his hero, athlete Hicham El Guerrouj. “The film offers a ray of hope in times of sadness, with natural acting and beautiful photography. An 11 year old boy has to leave his Moroccan hometown for a better life in France, not knowing what his future will bring.” The ECFA Jury were Volker Petzold (Schlingel, Germany, Hilde Steenssens (Filem’on, Belgium) and Grégoire Lemoine (Ciné-Jeune de l’Aisne, France).
Through former director Céline Ravenel, Ciné-Jeune de l’Aisne maintains a strong connection with the art of dance. Various workshops introduce children to contemporary dance through the use of moving images. For the screening of Antoine Robert’s short LA GRANDE HISTOIRE D’UN PETIT TRAIT, Ravenel invites children to explore the world of animation and body language, movement and imagination, to unravel the mysteries of visual illusions, from pre-cinema upto recent technologies.
Find the Ciné-Jeune de l’Aisne’s festival catalogue here.