No doubt - Paris is a multicultural city and a leader in the world of art. Experience an annual Festival of International Documentary Films, or to give its correct French title – Cinema du Reel. Be inspired! Continue reading...
One of the many reasons why I love Paris so much, is because of the sheer volume of artistic and cultural offerings that the city has. Like New York or London, Paris is a multicultural city and a leader in the world of art. I recently experienced this at the annual Festival of International Documentary Films, or to give its correct French title - Cinema du Reel.
For 10 days every year, the city plays host to an inspiring array of informative documentaries from the around the world. What struck me most about this festival was the diversity of subject matter on offer. When the festival says global, they really do mean global. From immigration. The rules in Canada to the Amazon rainforests, politics and the environment took central stage this year.
The event is held around the middle of march each year and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger as more talented directors and producers attempt to capture your attention by showcasing the issues that really matter to them. It is a competition at the end of the day, but I have to say, as a viewer, I wasn't particularly concerned with which one I thought was better or worse. I watched a total of 4 over the 3 days that I had off work.
Tickets were not that expensive. The average price was around 3 euros. For me, it's things like this, that give Paris a massive advantage over other major multicultural cities - events are not that expensive. The competition is funded by the National Library of Paris and so the tickets are heavily subsidized by the organizers. Many people might disagree with me or hate for saying it, but in my opinion if events like these were in London or New York, they would cost triple the price. Art is so accessible in Paris.
The Cinema du Reel, has been going strong since 1979 and has always been hosted in the Centre Pompidou, although in recent years, screenings have been shown in different locations as it has become so big. Each movie is screened 3 times, so theres no need to panic if you don't get the opportunity to see it first time round.
The reason why I choose to write a blog entry about this particular festival, is that I don't think theres a a lot of content out there (in English anyway) about the modern art events that happen in this wonderful city. I mean, we all know about Impressionism and the Louvre and so on.. But it's important to remember that this city is not only relying on its history to attract and inspire people. Events like this one, help remind me that I live in a very modern city. I'm surrounded by hundreds of years of history, yes, but I'm also in a central and dynamic place.
As for the films, although I didn't think it was competition, I did have a favorite. The Indian production called The Battle for Banaras. It was incredible. It's about the political story of India's prime minister. But I guess that's another blog post.
