The aim of the À l'Est, du Nouveau film festival is to make more people aware of contemporary Eastern and Central European films. The selected films are new, previously unreleased, and present its audiences to different cultures, both through their specific cinematographic style of as well as through their unfamiliar subjects.
Founded in 2002, the festival in Rouen inspired similar events:
- The Paris reprise of the festival will take place in May, thanks to the partnership with the Czech Cultural Center.
- Al Este de Lima’s sixth edition will take place from the 20 of 30 of May in Peru.
- Al Este del Plata’s second edition will take place in August in Argentina.
The program of these festivals is composed of films that have already been selected and presented by the A l’EST DU NOUVEAU film festival in ROUEN in April of 2015.
Since the founding of the festival, the complementary events in Latin America and Paris are respectively managed by David Duponchel, founder and director of the festival, and Markéta Hodouskova, executive director.
David Duponchel:
David graduated in film direction from the The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU). He holds a master’s degree in film studies from the Sorbonne University of Paris, and also specialized in Assyrian and Babylonian cultures. He directed several short films, which were awarded in numerous festivals. He has been a professor in Lima for several years and conceived the Al Este de Lima festival of Peru on the model of the one in Rouen, which he continues to direct.
Latin America
Al ESTE DE LIMA takes place in a megacity of 9 million inhabitants and attracts more than 12 000 festivalgoers. This year, the festival hopes to rise this umber to 15 000.
The festival organization is supported by the help of Promperu, an organization for the touristic and cultural promotion of Peru. This year, the organization helped the festival’s team to travel to the Berlin Film Festival, which turned out to be an indispensable step for the preparation of its program.
The second edition of the AL ESTE DEL PLATA festival in Argentina is in the course of preparation and scheduled for the end of August. It will take place in Buenos Aires and Cordoba.
Other cities such as la Paz in Bolivia and Bogota in Colombia are also interested.
Czech Center
The Paris reprise in the Czech Cultural Center offers five thematic evenings during which the Parisian audiences can discover four feature films (Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Czech Republic) as well as a selection of short films (Slovakia, Romania, Kosovo). Each screening will be followed by a debate and a tasting of local specialties.
The Czech Cultural Center in Paris is located on 18, Rue Bonaparte in the 6th arrondissement in Paris.
Marketa Hodouskova is in charge of the event’s organization and program. The event is a wonderful opportunity to establish friendly relationships with our European neighbours. The inhabitants of Rouen, who were unable to watch the films in their own town, will surely have it easier to travel to Paris than all the way to the Andes!
Perspectives
All of these projects benefit from obvious synergies and provide a substantial appeal to the cinema industry. However, this results in demands for a greater infrastructure.
The association A l’Est du Nouveau is an effective form of organizing, programming, and financing a festival, which the tenth edition in Rouen just proved. The association relies on the energy and passion of twenty volunteers, on partnerships with other associations and organizations based in Rouen and Paris (Pol’Art, l’UBI, Courtivore…), and on the trust of our local and European institutional funders.
Developing a program of quality and promoting the festival demands an increase of resources and infrastructure. We strive to work towards this goal for our future editions. The times are difficult for culture. But we do not lack the imagination to collaborate with other festivals, to encourage public involvement and participate in private competitions.
Festival in Rouen : http://www.alest.org/fr/
Peru : http://www.alest.org/fr/a-propos/festival-al-este-de-lima/
Argentina : http://www.alest.org/fr/a-propos/festival-al-este-del-plata/
Paris : http://paris.czechcentres.cz/nouvelles/echos-de-la-10e-edition-du-festival-lest-du-nouvea01/
For further information or requests: Guy Foulquié – +33 6 80 42 00 07, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
