Festivals - Porquerolles Film Festival 2021: A new independent festival in France 

By Mulder, 03 august 2021

Launched in the summer of 2020, the first edition of the Porquerolles Film Festival, a festival dedicated to cinema and environmental protection, took place on the magical island of Porquerolles with a jury chaired by Juliette Binoche. The selection of films was ensured by Cyril Dion, the jury rewarded 2 films: Dark Waters by Todd Haynes with Mark Ruffalo and a documentary the Providence Tree by Michel Hellas. The jury was composed of personalities of the cinema and the environment with Charles Berling, Yann Arthus Bertrand, Marie Monique Robin, Alice Audouin, François Victor and André De Marco.

The second edition of the Porquerolles Film Festival, on the theme Sea & Ocean, will take place on the magical island of Porquerolles. It will offer a selection of new films (fiction and documentaries). A selection of videos made by young people in partnership with the Scène Nationale Châteauvallon Liberté will also be in the running for the Ecotubeur prize.

The award ceremony will take place on Thursday August 26th with the complicity of the jury who will announce the winners of the festival. The ceremony will take place at the Carmignac Foundation, where the winning film will also be shown. Three prizes will be awarded: the Grand Prize, the Jury Prize and the Ecotubers Prize. The festival is organized by the Porquerolles Festival association and the Henri Langlois Institute, in partnership with the city of Hyères, the Toulon Provence Méditerranée metropolis (TPM), the Var department, the Port Cros National Park, the Scène Nationale Châteauvallon Liberté and the Carmignac Foundation.

The Porquerolles Film Festival has selected 6 films in official competition, composed of fiction and documentary. Find the official selection in the partner theaters from August 23 to 28.

Bigger Than Us (France)

directed by Flore Vasseur 
release date : 22/09/2021
Running time : 96 minutes 
Distributor : Jour2fête (France)
Synopsis: For 6 years, Melati, 18 years old, has been fighting plastic pollution that ravages her country, Indonesia. Like her, a generation is rising up to repair the world. Everywhere, teenagers and young adults are fighting for human rights, the climate, freedom of expression, social justice, access to education or food. Dignity. Alone against all odds, sometimes risking their lives and safety, they protect, denounce and care for others. The Earth. And they change everything.

The Crusade (France)

directed by Louis Garrel
release date : 22/12/2021
Running time: 67 minutes 
Distributor : Ad Vitam (France)
Synopsis: Abel and Marianne discover that their son Joseph, 13 years old, has been selling their most precious objects on the sly. They soon realize that Joseph is not the only one, there are hundreds of children around the world who have joined forces to finance a mysterious project. Their mission is to save the planet.

Being with the bees (France)

directed by Perrine Bertrand and Yan Grill
release date : 1/09/2021
Running time: 90 minutes
Distributor: Jupiter Film (France)
Synopsis: A film resolutely turned on the side of the bees, full of hope, enriching, committed, exciting and disturbing... which will transform our view on this insect and the living world. Because our relationship with the living world must change if we want to safeguard our environment. (Changing our view on nature, working with it and not against it are values that this film wants to share).

I am Greta (Sweden, Germany, USA, United Kingdom)

directed by Nathan GROSSMAN
release date : 29/09/2021
Running time: 97 minutes
Distributor : KMBO (France) 
Synopsis: Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old high school student, can no longer stand by and watch the climate change. She starts, alone, a school strike in front of the Swedish Parliament. A few people joined her, then hundreds, and soon hundreds of thousands more. With a boundless determination, she challenges the politicians of the whole world and fights against the cowardice of their decisions, motivated by economic stakes. In the space of a few months, Greta became a global icon and the spokesperson for millions of young people who want to make tomorrow a better world.

Walking on Water (France, Belgium)

directed by Aïssa Maiga
release date : 10/11/2021
Running time: 89 minutes 
Distributor : Les Films du Losange (France)
Synopsis: Walking on Water was filmed in northern Niger between 2018 and 2020 and tells the story of the village of Tatiste, a victim of global warming, which is fighting for access to water through the construction of a borehole. Every day, fourteen-year-old Houlaye, like other young girls, walks for miles to fetch water, which is essential to the life of the village. This daily task prevents them, among other things, from attending school. The lack of water also forces the adults to leave their families each year to seek the resources necessary for their survival beyond the borders. However, this region has an underground aquifer lake covering several thousand square kilometers. Under the impulse of the inhabitants and through the action of the NGO Amman Imman, a borehole would bring the much coveted water to the center of the village and would offer a better life to all.

The Snow Panther
directed by Marie Amiguet
release date 8/12/2021 
Running time : 92 minutes
Distributor : Haut et Court (France)
Synopsis : In the heart of the Tibetan highlands, the photographer Vincent Munier leads the writer Sylvain Tesson on a quest to find the snow leopard. He introduces him to the delicate art of stalking, to the reading of tracks and to the patience necessary to catch a glimpse of the animals. As they travel the peaks inhabited by invisible presences, the two men weave a dialogue about our place among living beings and celebrate the beauty of the world.

The Scène Nationale Liberté, directed by Charles Berling, creates each year a program of short films made by young people in difficulty. This year, for the 7th season of "Courts-métrages en Liberté - L'Effet papillon", the theme was the environment. These films are part of the selection for the Ecotubers prize. Each year, the Ecotubers prize rewards a social and digital video on environmental protection made by young people:
- #bêtechelou : Film written, acted and directed by the CM2 students of the Toussaint Merle school
- O2xygène : Film written, played and directed by the youth of the Protection Judiciaire de la Jeunesse
- Minute papillon : Clip written, played and directed by the 4th grade Borg students from Marcel Pagnol high school
- A la vie, à la mer : Film written, played and directed by the young people of the Toulon Social Center

(Source : press kit)