Despite the headwinds, we have chosen to maintain this nineteenth edition of the À l'Est festival. Faced with the sudden interruption of a subsidy essential to our survival, our commitment to cinema and audiences in our territory remains intact. This decision does not only concern our festival, but also resonates beyond borders, affecting our Peruvian and Colombian editions, as well as our network of European festivals dedicated to Central and Eastern Europe.

For nearly twenty years, À l'Est, du Nouveau has established itself as an unmissable event, anchored in Seine-Maritime while forging strong links with Eastern Europe and Latin America. Led by a team of passionate volunteers, this festival combines commitment, professionalism and audacity, offering a unique stage to filmmakers from the East, often from countries at the heart of international tensions, and to filmmakers from Latin America, faced with structural societal problems fueled by political changes that are making eyes at post-truth.

In a turbulent geopolitical context, we continue to give a voice to contemporary filmmakers from Argentina, Colombia, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovenia. Their films bear witness to the cultural and social changes in their territories, offering the Norman public essential and new perspectives. More than ever, this festival embodies the values of dialogue, European solidarity and cultural diversity, so dear to our territory.

Locally, À l'Est, du Nouveau is also a springboard for Norman talents thanks to the "Made in Normandy" section. By highlighting short films made here, judged by an international jury, we strengthen the recognition of local creation and encourage the emergence of new cinematographic voices.

In addition, our festival is distinguished by its itinerancy, crossing several sites in the Department (Dieppe, Gournay-en-Bray, Le Havre, Mont-Saint-Aignan among others). This mobility allows a wide audience to discover unique works and meet international guests, thus promoting cultural exchanges and the dissemination of Eastern cinema.

This year, the festival aims to be interdisciplinary and you will be able to discover several film adaptations of this great writer Franz Kafka, weaving a bridge between literature and the screen, as well as a reading of his texts.

Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the festival in France and will celebrate two decades of complicity between our territory and À l'Est. For this adventure to continue and intensify, we need more than ever the support of the institutions and spectators who faithfully accompany us. Thank you!

We wish you a wonderful 19th edition, full of discoveries and cinematic emotions!

 

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D. Duponchel and the team of À L'EST