11/03/2003

Every year, the Clermont Ferrand festival is presented as one of the most important appointments at an international level dedicated to the short film. For some time its been defined as the "Cannes" of the short, due to the huge variety of the programme, its market, and its role as a meeting place for producers, distributors and buyers. In addition, the Clermont Festival runs many competitive sections: the national competition for French short films; the international competition which has 81 works from around 50 countries taking part; and the competition, started up last year, for digital works.
There are also many sidebar events which enrich the intensive 10 day programme of this edition, with widespread participation from young authors and students, as well as operators in the sector.
Apart from the competitions there are many in-depth programmes about specific types of cinematography: there were 7 sections for Algerian productions, made in unusual formats, from the war of independence to the modern day. This was a way to give space to works made in spite of a lack of technical equipment and financial support in a country where cinema and culture have a marginal role.

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In addition, this edition of the festival features a focus on German production with around 50 or so titles, including the early works of Fassbinder, Herzog, Wenders. The reason for this emphasis is because the Festival believes that Germany plays an important part in the international short film scene, both in terms of quantity and quality of current productions. This partly put down to a decentralised system which enables a wide variety of organisations to help the development of the short film, together with Germany's rich and particular history in short film making.
In the tribute to Venice, the section dedicated to that magnificently cinematographic city, there are works by a variety of authors who have been captivated by the city, offering different images and vistas of this city-cum-film set. These visions show Venice's role as a European cultural crossroads as it was in former centuries.
There were also short films for children and schools, an "African Overview" section, a tribute to Aboriginal filmmakers, and a special series of events at the Cinémathèque Quebecoise which added to the packed programme of the Clermont Festival, an unmissable event for those who are interested in the cinema of tomorrow and who want to discover new talents.