Prix De Court organises the 41st European Film Festival of Lille

The Prix De Court association has been organising the European Film Festival of Lille since 1984. For this 41st edition, four cinemas in the Lille metropolitan area (UGC Ciné Cité, L’Univers, Le Majestic and Le Métropole) screened almost 50 short films from 22 European countries over a five-day period. An affordable pricing policy was also applied to foster inclusivity and broaden access to cinema-going. In addition to organising the screenings, the association ran a festival “village” in Lille city centre’s Place Richebé, with a focus on the association’s actions and an offering of various film-related activities (exhibitions and meetings with professionals). Prix De Court also co-ordinated a round table with the festival jury and arranged a conference at the FNAC store with guest of honour, Patrick Chesnais, the actor known for his roles in Les cigognes n'en font qu'à leur tête, Promotion canapé and Je ne suis pas là pour être aimé. Lastly, to support young filmmakers, the association launched a screenplay competition in partnership with Series Mania and organised a “film market”, where directors had the chance to meet production and distribution companies and discuss their plans for short and full-length films.  

The event was made possible by the contributions of close to 60 volunteers organised into several teams: one handling communication, another responsible for managing partners and the jury and for promoting the Festival, and a third, the selection committee, which viewed almost 2,300 short films on its way to putting together an eclectic programme of screenings (comedy, suspense, horror, genre films). For her part, association president Emma Ruff supported the different teams and provided the link with the participating film professionals: “The European Film Festival of Lille requires plenty of preparation. My role was to assist the different teams with their assignments and to find quick solutions to any problems they encountered. During the five days of the festival, I was available all the time to ensure all the big moments went off smoothly and to respond to anything that cropped up. And through organising the event, I also got to meet numerous professionals from the world of film. Thanks to my role as president of Prix De Court, I had the experience of preparing the festival with “big names” of the seventh art and discovering a demanding and creative sector.”