Les Arcs Festival Joins Forces With Tel Aviv Student Fest, CineFabrique School to Launch Talent Village

By Elsa Keslassy

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Les Arcs Film Festival is joining forces with the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival and CinéFabrique in Lyon to launch a “Talent Village” during the upcoming 10th edition of the French Alps-set event.

The Talent Village, which will be part of Les Arcs’s Industry Village, will showcase seven to 10 emerging European directors who are developing a feature film. The helmers will be chosen among recent graduates from the best European film schools and among those who directed short films that premiered at international festivals.

The selected directors will take part, with or without their producers, in a weeklong workshop, including three days at CinéFabrique, the Lyon-based national film and multimedia school, as well as four days at Les Arcs’ Coproduction Village. At both events, the directors will have the opportunity to meet with industry professionals and other creatives from Europe.

Les Arcs will also give an award to a short film that was featured on T-Port, the online platform of Tel Aviv’s student fest. The winning short will receive the T-Port – Les Arcs Prize, and its director will be invited to participate in the Talent Village.

Since launching a decade ago, Les Arcs Film Festival has been a key venue for many talented emerging directors and has helped them finance their feature debuts through its Coproduction Village as well as the Film School Village. Celebrated alumni include László Nemes with “Son of Saul,” which went on to win Cannes’ Grand Jury Prize and a foreign-language Oscar, as well as Alice Rohrwacher (“The Wonders”), Carla Simon Pipo (“Ete 93”), Lukas Dhont (“Girl”), and Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt (“Diamantino,” pictured).

The next edition of Les Arcs’ Industry Village will take place Dec. 15-18.