The Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival (French: Festival International du Film Lesbien et Féministe de Paris) is a women-only film festival founded in Paris, France, in 1989. The festival is organized by Cineffable, an association dedicated to promoting lesbian cinema, and encouraging lesbian creativity.
History The Paris Feminist and Lesbian Film Festival grew out of dissatisfaction with the treatment of Lesbians in the Créteil International Women's Film Festival. Many lesbian women felt that in spite of the fact that lesbian films frequently won the Viewers Choice awards (prix du public), lesbian films, filmmakers and attendees were not given sufficient space or attention at the festival, and so they decided to create their own event, which would not only provide lesbians with screening opportunities, but would also be a shared community for knowledge sharing, a way to increase lesbian visibility and combat lesbophobia, and a social outlet.
The first event was held in 1989, as a "cinéclub", with subsequent festivals in 1992 and 1993, all held at the La Clef Cultural Center in Paris. As the festival grew, it moved venues, first to the André Malraux Cultural Center (Le Kremlin-Bicêtre) until 2000, when the number of attendees grew to between 2000 and 3000, and then to the Le Trianon theater. Since 2010, the festival screens at l'Espace Reuilly.
Organization The festival is organized and produced by the Cineffable association. The association includes several thousand members, making it one of the more significant lesbian organizations in France. It is run according to feminist principles – it is non-hierarchical, based on knowledge sharing and transfer for continuity, and defines its mission statement as "we have to assume responsibility, to take control of our images, to become actresses in our own productions in order to break definitively with the oppressive system of representation that shuts us in, that shuts us up".Catalog of the 8th Festival, 1996
The festival is open to anyone who identifies as a woman, and is based on membership attendance; that is – attendance is free for members, and thus anyone desiring to attend the festival purchases a membership card, which provides access or discounts to other Cineffable events as well. The festival is self-funded, except for an annual grant from the city of Paris, as part of an official program for gender equality, and works on the principle of "no one left outside" through discounts for marginalized communities and a ticket sharing program, enabling access for all to screenings.
The festival includes several competition tracks, debates, an art exhibition, workshops and a gala or concert event. Audience awards are granted at the festival in the following categories: Feature film Feature-length documentary Short fiction film Short documentary Experimental film Animation
In previous years, there were also awards for best screenplay and best film poster.
The festival has grown steadily since its inception. It screens more than 50 films each year.
Best Feature Film awards Year Film Director Country 2018 Extra Terrestres Carla Cavina Puerto Rico / Venezuela 2017 Signature MoveJennifer Reeder United States 2016 Io e Lei (Me, Myself, and Her)Maria Sole Tognazzi Italy 2015 Girltrash: All Night Long Alexandra Kondracke United States 2014 Moonlight People Ekaterina Polyanskaya Russia 2013 Facing Mirrors Negar Azarbayjani Iran / Germany 2012 Lengua materna Liliana Paolinelli Argentina 2011 En secret (Circumstance) Maryam Keshavarz USA / Iran / Lebanon 2010 no audience awards 2009 Rain Maria Govan UK / Bahamas 2008 The World UnseenShamim Sarif UK / South Africa 2007 Nina's Heavenly DelightsPratibha Parmar UK 2006 (tie) Sévigné (Julia Berkowitz) Marta Balletbò-Coll SpainFremde HautAngelina Maccarone Germany 2005 Hu Die (Butterfly) Yan Yan Mak Hong Kong 2004 Goldfish Memory Liz Gill Ireland 2003 Do I Love You? Lisa Gornick UK 2002 By Hook or by CrookHarry Dodge (as Harriet Dodge) and Silas Howard USA 2001 Chutney PopcornNisha Ganatra USA 2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2 Jane Anderson, Martha Coolidge and Anne Heche USA 1999 Revoir JulieJeanne Crépeau Canada 1998 Alles Wird Gut Angelina Maccarone Germany 1997FireDeepa Mehta USA 1996 Costa Brava Marta Balletbò-Coll Spain 1995 Life is a Woman Shanna Serikbajewa Kazakhstan 1994 Go Fish Rose Troche USA 1993The Company of StrangersCynthia Scott Canada 1992Anne TristerLéa Pool Canada
See also List of women's film festivals
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