Eden Eden Eden

When it was created, L’Étrange Festival was brazen enough to proclaim itself as a "cinematographic oasis", with no other intent but to let anyone passing through our doors know that they would be offered an enchanting, peculiar, one-of-kind program.

Thirty years later, nothing has changed. The world squirms and struggles to attain some form of balance it will probably never find. On our side, the passion remains the same. Unaltered, immutable, constant.

This twenty-sixth edition, conceived in the midst of a frantic tempest that reshuffled the deck like never before, pushed us even further to come up with the tastiest cinema program.

From the always boisterous short and feature film competitions to our two glorious guests's cartes blanches, the tribute and spotlight (Focus) sessions, the numerous jewels, Serge Bromberg's unmissable “Retour de Flamme”, or a panegyric panel of the best of today's cinema, everything that makes up our event’s alchemy since the beginning is back, attracted to an ideal paradise where genres know no boundaries and where all is permitted. Especially if it is intended to surprise, jostle, or rejoice you.

Obviously, getting into this world will not be simple and Mother Nature is here to remind us of this.

That is why you'll find crucial indications on how to move around inside the festival during these twelve thrilling days. If we all follow the recommended measures, then we'll experience a fortnight like none before, and leap from a world in limbo into a well-nigh Garden of Plenty for a while. Be sure of it. We're expecting you. As eagerly as ever.

L’ÉTRANGE FESTIVAL

The title of this editorial is a direct reference to the work of Pierre Guyotat, one of the greatest French writers, who passed away this year, and to whom we dedicate this edition, along with Philippe Nahon and Genesis P-Orridge.