Laval Judicial Film Festival

Judicial Film Festival: cinema in the service of justice

The Laval Judicial Film Festival is a unique event in France, at the crossroads of cinema and the judicial world. Organized every November by Atmosphères 53, a film distribution association in Mayenne, the festival offers the general public a better understanding of how justice works through the lens of the 7th art.

A program between fiction and documentary

Each edition of the festival offers a selection of films carefully chosen by a programming committee composed of film and law professionals:

• Preview screenings of films with a judicial theme, allowing the public to discover works exclusively.
• Fiction films addressing the major issues of justice: trials, investigations, fundamental rights, judicial errors.
• Documentaries shedding light on the daily lives of justice and its actors: magistrates, lawyers, detainees, victims.
• Short films and auteur films offering offbeat or intimate perspectives on the judicial world.

Debates, meetings, and conferences

The festival is not limited to screenings. Each session is followed or preceded by an exchange session with professionals:

• Debates with magistrates, lawyers, jurists, and actors from the judicial world.
• Thematic conferences, such as the one on “judicial thriller from writing to screen” led by Maître Julien Monnier.
• Meetings with directors and film crews.

An ambitious educational component

The festival places great importance on image and law education. School screenings are organized on Thursdays and Fridays, with five films selected for their artistic and educational value. Students can thus discover classic and contemporary works while being introduced to justice issues.

Solid institutional partnerships

The festival benefits from the support of leading institutional partners:

• City of Laval
• Judicial Court of Laval
• Laval Bar Association
• City Contract of the Laval agglomeration
• Faculty of Law
• Cinéville Laval and Le Trianon in Bourgneuf-la-Forêt