A unique event

The Du Grain Dmoudre cinema festival is the only one of its kind in Europe produced with young people. Aged between 10 and 25, these youngsters come from the Le Havre region, and nurture ties with other young people from France and elsewhere in Europe.

The aim of these young people is to transmit their passion for cinema to a wide public both young people and adults, from every social background, cinema-lovers or not. They also wish to forge ties with other young people in this field.

The Du Grain Dmoudre festival is also a way to maintain exchanges with other young people.

Prepared throughout the year by a very motivated group of youngsters, the event is an important opportunity to discover previously unseen short and feature-length films in France and to rediscover European film heritage works. It also provides a basis for exchanges between film professionals and young Europeans in the Le Havre region, in Normandy and in Europe.

Many cinema professionals take part in the event every year directors, scriptwriters, actors, critics, technicians, cinema programmers, festival organisers and representatives from various organisations.

In the beginning

The Du Grain Dmoudre Film Festival was created in 2000 by 18 young people who have been exposed to cinema since the age of 6, in the framework of a close and ongoing partnership between the Mayville school in Gonfreville lOrcher and the independent cinema in Le Havre, the Eden-Le Volcan Scne nationale.

From the outset, the event has provided the opportunity to evaluate the impact of initiation to cinema and pictures on young spectators, on their imaginations, their social and cultural behavior, and their artistic activity. It has also laid the foundations for analysis of the role this education of image plays.


Throughout the Year

The Festival is actively prepared throughout the year by the young organisers and professionals. They develop their event and watch films on a Saturday afternoon and during the more intensive work periods of holiday school.

During the winter, spring and summer holidays, the young people meet for a week to get to know each other better, to learn (with hands-on workshops, film analysis, debates on cinema etc) and to actively prepare their festival (with screenings, choosing the feature-length and short films in competition, heritage films, the planning of the festival program, organisation and communication with public relations, editing the Canard Engrain newspaper etc).

The winter holiday school (from 14 to 18 February 2005) gave them the chance to work on the theme they had chosen: the absurd. PHOTO ELZA ABSURDE
The spring workshop (from 18 to 23 April 2005) focused on the organisation of the festival and the participants started watching the films.
This year, the town of Gonfreville lOrcher gave them the opportunity to hold their Summer school (from 4 to 10 July 2005) at the Magland holiday centre, in the Hautes-Alpes. It was in these idyllic surroundings that the young people chose the films in and out of competition and wrote the program. PHOTOS UE

The young people present a film night once a month at the Espace Culturel de la Pointe de Caux in Gonfreville lOrcher, to maintain ties with the public.
Rendez-vous avec la peur (28 January) with Les Autres (The Others) by Alejandro Amenabar and Rendez-vous avec la Peur (Night of the Demon) by Jacques Tourneur
Venez, cest marrant (25 February) a program of short films and Human Nature by Michel Gondry
Miyazaki (11 March) Le Chateau Ambulant (Castle in the Sky) and Le Voyage de Chihiro (Miyazakis Spirited Away)
Le Nouveau Manteau de Martha (Marthas New Coat) by Rachel Ward (27 April), in partnership with the Festival Cin Junior 94

They produce the newspaper Le Canard Engrain, via which they can share their passion and their musings on matters relating to film, image and sound.


They organise a scriptwriting competition every year (this year on the theme of the absurd).
They make films.
In 2003 and early 2004, they made filmed portraits the first series of which were presented at the 4th Du Grain Dmoudre Festival.
For the opening night of the 5th Du Grain Dmoudre festival, they presented a mini-survey film on the theme of rebellion.
This year, they are making a film on the theme of the absurd.


Themes

Each year, the young people choose a theme for the festival.
2000 Transmission
2001 Young People and Europe
2002 Otherness
2003 Fear
2004 Rebellion
In 2005, they have chosen to explore the Absurd. This is the theme of the screenwriting competition open to young Europeans aged 15 to 25, as well as the heritage films programmed and the exhibitions presented.