Strong points in 2007 Montpellier Festival

For nearly thirty years, the Montpellier Festival has afforded a unique overview of the best recent productions from all the shores of the Mediterranean, from Portugal to the Black Sea. More than 250 films will be shown, including 120 new works in the official selection: previews, competitions and panoramas.

Strong points in 2007:

1 - support for Mediterranean filmmaking, with €100,000 in cash prizes, aid and services for the winners of the various competitions:

- full-length features, short films and documentary films, with the main prizes being: The Antigone d'or: €15 000. Aid for distribution: €15,000. The Prix de la critique (Critics' prize): €2,000. The Audience award: €4 000. The Grand prix du court métrage (Prize for short films): €4,000. The Prix Ulysse du documentaire (Ulysses prize for documentary film): €3,000. Complete list of the prizes: click HERE.

- The Development Aid Grant for a full-length feature project is specific to the Montpellier Festival. The 16th Development Aid Grant will be awarded during the Festival on 1 and 2 November. Since its beginnings in 1992, a grant of €7,000 has been awarded to 33 feature film projects. Of the 33 projects, many have been completed and released in cinemas and a dozen are currently at the preparation or shooting stage. All these films have won many prizes at international festivals. This shows the importance of the work done in Montpellier for the benefit of emerging talents in the Mediterranean.

Preliminary information about the official selection of films and development aid projects will be announced towards 20 September and the final selection will be announced at a press conference in Montpellier at the beginning of October.

2 - Tributes and retrospectives. A glimpse of the 2007 programme: Italy: Marcello Mastroianni, the first major tribute in France to the actor who died in 1996. Spain: Vicente Aranda, one of the great Spanish directors of the past 40 years. France: Pierre Salvadori, a close-up of this Corsican director, a specialist in contemporary comedy. A night in hell: Italian thrillers of the 70s, a dark and violent chronicle of the anni di piombo (Years of Lead). Events: Ciné-concert: Carmen by Jacques Feyder (1926) with the Bernard Ariu Quartet; Musical theatre show: Aller simple... for two voices and percussion, by Flavio Polizzy; Exhibitions: Marcello Mastroianni (in collaboration with the Cineteca nazionale, Rome, and Barbara Mastroianni), and Stars aboard! (in collaboration with Air France). And also filming in the region; digital arts: Mehdi Meddaci (in collaboration with Panoplie.org), and Images, écritures scéniques, théâtre (in collaboration with ECM Kawenga); animated films; the journée du scénario ('Script Day', in collaboration with le Studio du scénario), Lycée cinema with Alain Resnais; and the Young People's Festival.

Finally, the 2007 Festival includes 2 meetings for professionals:
- Conference 1: Production en région et décentralisation (Regional production and decentralisation). After the founding of Languedoc-Roussillon Cinéma in 2006, a preliminary review and the prospects for the promotion and development of cinema, audiovisual and multimedia work in Languedoc-Roussillon.;
- Conference 2: Où en est la critique de cinéma? (Film criticism today). A debate on criticism with Jean-Michel Frodon—editor of Cahiers du cinéma—as moderator, and many guests. Traditional media, online media, blogs and changes in the practice of film criticism: what role for the critics today?