The festival reflects contemporary documentary creation, its evolution and experimentation through its competition, which includes an international and French selection of previously unseen works.
Since 2019, the First window section has brought together debut documentaries made in a non-professional setting, and in particular student films, chosen by a selection committee made up of students themselves.
Out of competition, a thematic or monographic programme invites a dialogue between works, filmmakers and the memory of the genre. This eventful programming sets the tone for the festival.
The Popular Front(s) programme highlights the civic dimension of cinema and the festival, while Festival conversations is a time for cross-disciplinary discussion on the specificities of documentary filmmaking. Each year it is the subject of a special publication in partnership with Editions de l’œil.
Special screenings complete our programme of films never before seen in France, as part of previews in partnership with distributors or special screenings in association with various partners.
The festival’s programming aims to build a reflexive thought on the state of the world beyond its different sections, with films responding to and enlightening each other, and debates and round tables complementing and nourishing each other. This year, one of the big questions that filmmakers are grappling with is: what horizon, in the absence of perspective? What can creation do in the face of a reality we can no longer grasp? Can cinema give meaning to the present?