For the third consecutive year, the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) and UniFrance co-organized two competitions in connection with MyFrenchFilmFestival.com (UniFrance's online French Film Festival), open to all French high schools in the French Education Abroad network. The winners were presented with their awards at the UniFrance Pavilion during the Cannes Festival.
AEFE FILM REVIEW AWARDS
This year, Fatima Sanogo, a student in eleventh grade at the Lycée Claudel in Ottawa, won the AEFE Short Film Review Award for her review of Mother(s) by Maïmouna Doucouré, and Adèle Juillard, a student, an eleventh grader at the Lycée Français Jules-Verne in Johannesburg, won the AEFE Feature Film Review Award for her review of Cleo from 5 to 7 by Agnès Varda.
Both students were in attendance at the UniFrance Pavilion on May 20 to receive their awards from Isabelle Giordano and Marie-Christine Saragosse.
The two winning reviews (in the feature film and short film categories) were chosen by a jury composed of the following members:
- Isabelle Giordano, executive director of UniFrance
- Marie-Christine Saragosse, CEO of France Médias Monde
- Christophe Bouchard, director of the AEFE
- Emmanuel Ethis, Commissioner of Education in Nice
AEFE "I LIKE MYFRENCHFILMFESTIVAL" AWARDS
Reviews for films screened at MyFrenchFilmFestival were posted on Facebook, with the awards given to the authors of those that attracted the largest number of "likes."
This year, Nina Fidry, an eleventh grade student at the Lycée International in Tokyo, won the AEFE "I Like MyFrenchFilmFestival" Short Film Review Award for her review of Mother(s) by Maïmouna Doucouré, and Emma Dodgson, a final year student at the Lycée Français Antoine-de-Saint-Exupéry in Hamburg, won the AEFE "I Like MyFrenchFilmFestival" Feature Film Review Award for her review of Parisienne by Danielle Arbid.
These two winners were in contact live at their respective schools via Skype to receive their awards.
A new concept
This brand new initiative aims to shine the spotlight on new-generation independent French-language films. It gives web users around the world the chance to share their love of French cinema.
From January 13 through February 13, 2017, MyFrenchFilmFestival.com was back in force for its 7th edition, which offered a selection comprising 30 films that were accessible for viewing via over 40 partner platforms, with a number of films launched in theaters in various countries.
This year's MyFrenchFilmFestival registered a record 6.7 million views on the internet in more than 200 countries.
Directed to high school students at establishments that are part of the French Education Abroad network who have elected to study the "Cinema Audiovisual" option, this competition is held from mid-November to mid-March.
