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| Foix’s seriously alternative film festival |
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| Monday, 21 July 2008 | |
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Strictly speaking, Résistances is a new-born
film festival. The festival had run for 10
years in the Ariège before going bankrupt. It
would have shut down for ever but for a small
bunch of crazy volunteers who wouldn’t let it
go, who felt responsible for maintaining a
brilliant and much-needed initiative, which
livened up the Foix area and helped stop the
closing of rural cinemas. An entirely new team, with new people, new ideas, a (slim) new budget and oodles of enthusiasm took over last year. “I’ve been part of this new team ever since it came to life, I sort of sparked it off and let the fire take hold,” said Gérard Berail. “The idea is to hold a festival with no special awards or classifications; just to get the film makers to come along with their films, to meet the audience and talk about their work. There’s time for organised talks, time for informal chats, over a drink or a meal, air time on local radio (Radio Transparence, in Foix), an open press conference with all the guests and there’s also some informal music at about 7pm each day.”  The locals and quite a few holiday makers turn up at the free open-air cinema in the town centre. “We try to create a friendly atmosphere so people can talk freely – sometimes the conversations end up lasting much longer than they expected.” The afternoon conferences are followed by an open exchange with the audience on the big issues illustrated by the films shown. This year, the team has picked 80 fiction films and documentaries from all over the world on four themes. Thirty directors will be present. Apart from some classics and Oscar nominations, most of the films were rejected by the television channels, but some have already been aired... at 1 or 2 in the morning. They shed new light, and a different approach to a place, or a key social or political problem and try to show alternative, peaceful ways of joining forces to find new solutions. The four themes this year are: • the ideal city • resistance-fighters or terrorists? • local alternatives to the globalised economy • languages and accents in films. On this last theme, ‘The Sounds of Aus’, by Lawrie Zion will be shown in the original Aussie-language version. Other films in English include Sam Green’s ‘The Weather Underground’ and ‘Who killed the electric car?’, by Chris Paine. There will also be documentaries from Eastern Europe and on film-making in 1968 and the late 60s. July 4 to 11. From the Monday to Friday, children’s films will be shown at 10am. From July 2 to 8, the festival films will be screened in cinemas throughout the Ariège (Seix, Ginabat, Massat, Le Mas d’Azil, Le Fossat, Castillon-en-Couserans, Ciné 9 at Axles- Thermes, Tarascon-sur-Ariège and Saint- Girons), followed by a debate on the film with the audience and sometimes the film-maker.
05 61 65 44 23,
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