Presentation

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The association FILMS EN BRETAGNE,

founded in 1999, brings together and represents the audiovisual and film professions in Brittany. The purpose of FILMS EN BRETAGNE is that of favoring the region's audiovisual and cinematographic production. To do so, it pursues four objectives: that of bringing together professionals; that of observing the profession and making proposals to it; informing and promoting; and the reception of film productions in Brittany.

The association has been a signatory since 2007 of a three-year agreement with the Regional Council of Brittany; this has made it possible for the organization and its partners to better plan and orient the direction of its work.

The association is working towards three objectives :

BRINGING TOGETHER PROFESSIONALS

FILMS EN BRETAGNE brings professionals together into four structures, or collèges, to represent Breton audiovisual: the audiovisual producers association of Brittany (APAB), the writers and directors association of Brittany (ARBRE), the technicians and actors association of western France (ACTIONS OUEST) and several structures working in the areas of research, distribution, archive management and film and video education, grouped into Collège 4.
The association is a unique place favoring work and exchanges, having set the following goals for itself :

promotion and moderation of the professional network : this goal has been the base of the association’s work since its creation.
integrating new players into the field : the association is open to the new visual media practices and to the players concerned, to increase its representation and the pertinence of its proposals, in light of developments in the audiovisual and cinematographic sector.
encounters with future professionals : analysis of the profession has made it apparent that a certain know-how is not being passed on to future generations; the difficulties that new professionals face on entering the field following their initial training has also been brought to light.

OBSERVING THE PROFESSION AND MAKING PROPOSALS TO IT

By bringing together the main players in audiovisual and cinema and by helping to structure the sector, FILMS EN BRETAGNE has made certain advances possible through concerted debate, reflection and proposals. The Association reinforces :

representation by an entity in a privileged position for dialogue : at the heart of the profession and its problematic, the association is an objective representative, an entity in a privileged position for dialogue, a partner and a resource for an across-the-board focus on the issues concerning audiovisual and cinema in Brittany.
keeping watch over a sector undergoing change : database creation, a research panel observing the field’s professions, training follow-up, reception of young doctoral candidates conducting research, etc.

INFORMING AND PROMOTING

Historically speaking, this has always been one of the Association’s main goals. FILMS EN BRETAGNE centralizes information and ensures its circulation, encouraging a network of reflection and an exchange of ideas. In this way, the Association has the purpose of :

sharing know-how : in its seven years of existence, the newsletter Lettre de Films en Bretagne has become not only a reference in Brittany and in France, but also a means for information and debate for the entire profession with an interest in the region’s production. The website is a tool providing services and additional information to the professional network, the sector’s partners, and the interested public. Statistics on patronage confirm for us the importance of its informational and promotional role in connection with Breton audiovisual (from 7,000 to 10,000 visitors monthly).
promoting productions and know-how : created in 2001, the annual Doc’Ouest is a means for documentary filmmaking encounters, making it possible to compare experiences and open up new lines of thought regarding documentary creation and production. By welcoming professionals from other regions, by inviting documentary unit heads from the national networks, these encounters, bit by bit, have opened up documentary-making to new horizons. The Doc’Ouest identity has proven itself to be an essential inter-regional encounter: a place where films from here and from very far away undergo comparison and critical examination; a place of welcome for the professions’ diversity and that of the people who work in the region's emerging cinema.
favouring encounters with the public : in the continuity of the work that has been undertaken since 2005 to promote knowledge and understanding of Breton culture, joint initiatives have been implemented to favour collective consideration of encounters with the public, and to reinforce promotion and distribution of productions made in Brittany.
accompanying professionals in the markets : FILMS EN BRETAGNE is developing professional presence in the region at French and foreign film festivals and markets.

Board members 2008-2009

AVRIT Muriel Le Groupe Ouest
BARON Philippe, director, président of the association
CRONIER Yves, Artisans Filmeurs associés
DELAUNAY Marie-Laurence, producer Candela Productions
BUDOR Hubert, director
GOUZANNET Eric, Clair Obscur
GUILLAMOT Liza, location manager
LE CORRE Jean-François, producerVivement Lundi
LE GALL Frédéric, location manager, secretary of the association
MOTTAIS Alain, Collectif Cinema 22, vice president of the association
PADOVANI Gilles, producteur .Mille et Une. Films, treasurer of the association
PUIZILLOUT Henry, location manager
RAULT Jean-Jacques, director

THE 4 COLLEGESAPAB:
the Association of Audiovisual Producers of Brittany

The APAB was founded on 21 July 1995. It consists today of 11 production companies grouped for the creation of programs for television and cinema: feature (full-length and short films), documentaries, animated films.

The APAB has the following goals:

organizing encounters to inform members and permit exchanges,
anticipating and supporting changes in the sector: developments in the genres produced, increased international production, etc.
increasing awareness in our partners, whether they are elected officials or professionals, as to the issues and problems of audiovisual and cinematographic production. Independent producers of television and cinematographic works, members of the APAB, have the ongoing concern of defending the quality of their profession, and their preoccupation is to practice it in the region, while maintaining their national and international ambitions.

The members are committed to:

creating a current of exchange and solidarity within the Association, to encourage project development and other undertakings.
contributing to the development of audiovisual creation in Brittany
within the Association, consolidating and favoring the economics of film works and other undertakings
constituting a network of varied expertise existing between undertakings and partner associations
increasing awareness among elected officials as to the cultural and economic importance of film production
showcasing and promoting made-in-Brittany film works outside the region

L’ARBRE:
Writers & Directors in Brittany

The ARBRE brings together over 60 writers and directors of documentary, feature and animated films residing in Brittany and in the Loire-Atlantique region.
The ARBRE is not a union, seeking rather to be a place for debate, encounters, training, information and representation of the film director's profession.
The ARBRE has set itself three objectives in priority: working to improve film content through creativity workshops, encouraging more feature filmmakers to join it, and favoring exchanges between its members and the other bodies of FILMS EN BRETAGNE through the establishment of the discussion forum.

Since 2005, the ARBRE organizes cooperative writing workshops, called “Exchanging Looks” (“Echanges de regard “), which brings together feature and documentary film writers. For one weekend, five to six writer-directors accept submitting their project to their peers in a welcoming setting of collective emulation. These sessions can be repeated once or twice more, according to the needs of the participants, to help them complete their respective projects. In 2006, these workshops were extended and completed with creative support workshops to turn out collective films. These nine-day sessions aimed at experimenting with new ways of cinematographic directing and writing, in terms of both feature and documentary film.

The ARBRE also continues organizing the encounter "Désir de Film", which permits an in-depth exchange with a director “grilled" on his desire to make films. The half-day of debate results in articles later published in the newsletter La Lettre de Films en Bretagne, which is also accessible on its website. Since their creation, these encounters have hosted Charles Najman, Ariel Nathan, Jean-Michel Carré, Henri François Imbert, Robert Bozzi, Yves de Peretti, César Paes, Rithy Panh, Jean-Louis Comolli, Agnès Varda, Manuel Poirier, Mariana Otero, Stéphane Brizé, etc.

The ARBRE also organizes "Cross Encounters" ("Rencontres Croisées") with colleagues from Alsace, Marseille, the Nord region and Paris, to lay the foundation for a "creative federation" and true recognition of regional work of quality. It is as much a question of defending common interests as discussing practices and relations with professional and institutional partners, which can vary from one region to another. These encounters are also an occasion to discover films.

ACTIONS OUEST

A real showcase for regional potential, Actions Ouest brings together live performance and audiovisual professionals from the Greater West region of France, grouped into two bodies: audiovisual and live performance

The association’s goals are to bring together, promote, inform, and reflect together.

Bringing together: Creating links between members to better represent them to private sector and institutional partners - such as employers or film production companies (regional councils, the DRAC, municipalities, etc.).
Promoting: Seeking to develop professional activity in the regions through several initiatives: professional directory, casting, and a framework to welcome and provide advice to new professionals.
Informing: Job offers, regional internships, the profession's employment news, (Statut, Unedic, ANPE, etc.), but also tax and grant information.
flecting together: Bringing together individuals and creative structures for joint thinking about the profession's issues. (professional practices, creative distribution in the region, financing for culture).

COLLÈGE 4: the RELATED PROFESSIONS

The related professions include distribution, archive management, research, film and audiovisual education (24 members).
Promotion and encouragement of cultural understanding, education, festivals, archives, and training, production means, etc. Since January 2004, these activities to showcase Breton cinema and audiovisual have become an integral part of FILMS EN BRETAGNE and comprise the fourth body of the Association. The general goals of this body are above all an exchange of ideas, concerted effort and harmonization to make members more aware of the synergies existing between them, to propose structuring initiatives to regional partners.

These aim principally to:

Improve cultural distribution
This thinking bears on the actions in each département to facilitate distribution in cinemas and media libraries, as well as the professionalization of film projections (animated, documentary
and feature films), the harmonization of festival financing and aid in the switchover to digital.

A first inventory was conducted, the purpose of the study carried out in 2004. Following this, joint proposals were submitted to the region’s local authorities, for distribution in cultural venues in the five Breton départements of works produced or directed in Brittany.

Making regional audiovisual heritage more accessible
This is a question of determining priorities for digital and collective means to showcase and communicate.

Training, on the one hand, and the place of Breton language in regional audiovisual production, on the other hand, are also at the centre of this body’s preoccupations.

Please see the list of member societies and organizations in the appendix.

films en bretagne - pôle image – quai du péristyle – 56 100 lorient - tél 02 97 84 00 10 - fax 02 97 84 01 63