Canada will take centre stage at the upcoming 41st Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, which takes place in Clermont-Ferrand, France, from February 1 to 9, 2019.  We’ll be honoured as the Invited Country: O Canada! at this year’s festival! With competitions, screenings, and its Short Film Market, Clermont-Ferrand is considered to be one of the industry’s most prestigious short film fests.

This will be Canada’s seventh year in attendance at Clermont-Ferrand, and with Canada in the spotlight, Canadian shorts will shine brightly. So hold on to your tuques (yes, there will even be special Canada tuques for sale in the festival’s store for the occasion!) and get ready for a masterclass, industry panel, and a retrospective of Canadian shorts, among other enticing Canadian programming.

Here’s just a taste of what we have to look forward to. In addition to screening a selection of Canadian films submitted to Clermont-Ferrand this year, the festival is programming a Canadian retrospective of 25 short films spanning the past 15 years, all of which have screened at the festival’s prior editions. The Flash Back program will feature shorts by some of our renowned filmmaking icons: Jean-Marc Vallée, Guy Maddin, Denis Villeuneuve, Theodore Ushev, and the late Arthur Lipsett, while Flash Forward will spotlight five shorts by emerging talent. (Flash Forward will also be screened on the web platform of the Quebec-based Facebook festival Festival Plein(s) Écran(s), who will host a live Q&A.)

Other Canuck-flavoured highlights in tribute to our homegrown talent will be a masterclass with a well-known Canadian filmmaker who got started in shorts (to be announced, please stay tuned); a panel for accredited professionals’ and a solo retrospective of works by Toronto-based artist and filmmaker Phillip Barker (known for his award-winning production design on Atom Egoyan’s films), who will be at the festival showcasing his new book. And rumour has it that you’ll also see some of our talent on the festival’s jury.

Within the fest’s Short Film Market (which features an average of 8,000 films each year and a video library that gets about 50,000 views annually) Canada will also have a market screening and a market stand, co-hosted by the SODEC.

Please do come see us there, and keep your eyes peeled for updates and more information about the event!