The Festival
The history of the festival
A discovery of the 7th art on a European scale
The festival l’Europe autour de l’Europe, founded by filmmaker Irena Bilic, is an annual festival based in Paris where. For two weeks, the festival presents films from Greater Europe (47 European countries, members of the Council of Europe). A selection of about 100 films – features, documentaries as well as short, animation and experimental movies is presented in legendary theatres of Paris and Île-de-France region, such as Les 7 Parnassiens, Les 5 Caumartin, Le Lincoln, Le Studio des Ursulines, La Filmothèque du Quartier Latin, La Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé, Paris Cinema Club et Le Méliès. The festival network is completed by foreign cultural centres and other exceptional venues of French capital where viewers can discover old and contemporary European film masterpieces.
The Festival presents film directors, writers, actors, producers and film critics from all European countries with aim to promote European culture in all its diversity and complexity, to stimulate reflection about singularity of the European identity and to strengthen European audiovisual network.
Masters of European cinema
Friends of the festival: “L’Europe autour de l’Europe”
Among the guests that have participated in earlier editions of the festivals are many eminent personalities of the European cinema like Anja Breien, Henning Carlsen, Jean- Claude Carrière, Agnieszka Holland, Isabelle Huppert, Neil Jordan, Marlen Khoutsiev, Jonas Mekas, Márta Mészáros, Kira Mouratova, Carlos Saura, Jim Sheridan, Jos Stelling, István Szabó, Agnès Varda… Among French and international film critics, the festival has had guests such as Antoine de Baecque, Yvette Biro, Michel Ciment, Bruno Dietsch, Elise Domenach, Jean Douchet, Pierre Gras, Jan Erik Holst, Mathias Lavin, Kirill Razlogov, Sylvie Rollet, Paul Ryan, Eugénie Zvonkine.
Since 2005, the Festival has made a considerable effort to introduce young filmmakers from all European countries to the Parisian public and to organise exchanges during events, competitions and meetings. In addition to offering a wide range of films that are acclaimed each year by the public and the institutions for their cinematographic standards and the quality of their European discoveries.
Evropa Film Akt
The association organizing the festival
The association Evropa Film Akt was founded by the filmmaker Irena Bilić and is managed by a seven-member board.
The main activity of the association is the organisation of the European film festival L’Europe autour de l’Europe, but also the production of short films and documentaries. The association provides other services such as artistic advice, translation and subtitling.
The Prices
Four prizes are awarded during the Closing Ceremony of L’Europe autour de l’Europe, the Paris European Film Festival :
- The Prix Sauvage, best fiction feature film ;
- The Prix Present, best documentary ;
- The Prix Sauvage Corto, best short film ;
- The Prix Luna, best feature film, awarded by the student jury.
Since 2012, 9 unreleased fiction feature films from recent production have competed for the Prix Sauvage and 9 documentaries for the Prix Present. The Prix Sauvage Corto has existed since 2019 and is already the new big event for young authors from all over Europe. It rewards the best European short film – fictions, documentaries and experimental films combined.
The Sections
L’Europe autour de l’Europe, the Paris European Film Festival, has presented since its creation a program of great diversity through several sections in order to promote the 7th European art, its rich and varied aesthetics as well as its past and present visions. and future.
The Competitions are exclusively reserved for European films. The sections The Out of Competition sections offer a veritable panorama of arts and auteur films from Greater Europe. The Tributes are devoted to great filmmakers who have changed the vision of cinema in their own way. THEMA concentrates cinematographic views around an annual theme proposed by the festival. Salon experimental explores the unknown paths of contemporary creation; the programs in the Connections section are designed with our institutional partners in order to disseminate and promote the cinematographic culture of European countries. Vie sauvage reflects our ecological commitment. Encounters and events allow us to celebrate cinema with our spectators, our guests and our partners from all over Europe.
L’Europe autour de l’Europe innovates each year with its festival in order to affirm and promote European culture in all its diversity and to strengthen the European professional audiovisual network by contributing to its dynamics and inventiveness.
