The General Assembly of the Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinemas was held at the FICAV house on Friday, October 16, 2020 in the evening, in the strictest respect for health recommendations in times of the covid-19 pandemic.
After approval of the moral report and balance sheet by members of FICAV, it was debated whether to keep the implementation of the 27 th FICAV from 26 January to 2 February 2021 .
Analysis and Reflection:
On February 18, 2020, the 26 th FICAV closed. The virus was already there and had prevented us from welcoming our Chinese guests. But the festival could proceed normally, with nearly 33,000 spectators.
On March 17, life stopped in France for several weeks.
The pandemic was here. The summer lull gave us hope, but the fall disappointed us
However, the good progress, in September-October, of film festivals such as Deauville, La Roche-sur-Yon, Saint-Jean de Luz, Bordeaux, the Cinémed de Montpellier and the Festival Lumière de Lyon, were encouraging signs that you have to know how to adapt to the epidemic by taking all the necessary health measures, that there is no inevitability. Renunciation would be a sign of weakness. Life is a fight.
Will there from January 26 to February 2, 2021 a 27 th FICAV in Vesoul?
Discussion and reflection are essential.
The final decision will not rest with the leaders of the FICAV, since, of course, they will follow the recommendations of the governmental and health authorities.
If it happens, festival-goers and guests know that everything will be done to ensure that all safety conditions are ensured.
It was therefore decided to prepare this 27 th edition:
Why ?
Of course, it would be more comfortable for us to say that the 27 th FICAV will take place in 2022.
Martine and Jean-Marc Thérouanne measured, as Director and General Delegate of the festival, the weight of responsibilities that weighs on their shoulders and which will mean that, for them, serenity will not be there in January-February 2021.
However, if they made this decision, it is mainly for three reasons:
– economic: professionals depend on us: service providers (technical, projectionists, printers, transporters), hoteliers, restaurateurs and caterers and more broadly, the city traders who not only would be deprived of festival guests as their customers but also and above all, festival-goers. There are also the train, planes, buses… the distributors of films, and of course, the cinemas of the department including the Majestic where most of the screenings take place.
– artistic: The producers allowed films to be made; the filmmakers shot these films.
What are these films if they have no viewers?
A festival is the link between those who make films, those who buy them and allow their distribution, and the spectators who see them. If festivals don’t exist, what will become of them? Where are they going to find the money to make other films?
And this is especially true for filmmakers from countries that lack the market power of large nations.
– cultural
At a time when, even outside this pandemic, conflicts are agitating the world in various places, sometimes even within the same country, at a time when ideas and positions are radicalizing, culture not only should not be relegated to the background by telling ourselves that in the face of the health and social emergency it is not that important, but on the contrary, should be the element of reflection, of freedom… which we so need.
For some spectators, FICAV is the event they expect all year round… when all is well. This year, and they let us know, they expect it even more. They need this moment outside of everyday life to escape, to share, to discuss. If the public comes to a festival, it is not only to see films, but to see them together, to interact with the guests present but also with each other.
For young people, going to see the films of the festival will perhaps be for them one of the only possible outings of this school year 2020-21.
With the development of new technologies, we began to watch films on televisions and then on computers, tablets and even mobile phones.
COVID-19 can kill movie theaters if viewers get into the habit of watching movies online.
The need for culture and the culture of hope:
With determination and desire, the whole festival team prepares the 27 th edition which will take place if all health conditions are met, from 26 January to 2 February 2021 .
We are aware that this edition will not be like the previous ones and we hope the following ones will be different, but it seems important to us, even vital, that it can take place.
We have, and especially in these difficult times, cultural needs, and culture needs hope.
