Les Icares du Cinéma
International Aerial Film Festival of Saint-Hilaire-du-Touvet
2026
About Icares du Cinéma
Icares du Cinéma — edition 2026
The 44th Icares du Cinéma festival takes place from September 15th to 20th, 2026, under the Cinema marquee at Déco Sud in Saint-Hilaire, during the 53rd Coupe Icare. This international aerial film festival will screen 36 competitive films, including 6 animations, across six sessions held from Tuesday to Thursday. A special "Carte Blanche" showcase for the Eho Mountain Film Festival from North Macedonia is scheduled for Friday the 18th at 5:30 PM, followed by the awards ceremony that evening at 7:00 PM, and a repeat screening of the winning films on Saturday the 19th at 7:30 PM.
44th Edition — September 15th to 20th, 2026
Icares du Cinéma returns for its 44th edition from Tuesday, September 15th, to Sunday, September 20th, 2026, under the Cinema marquee located at Déco Sud in Saint-Hilaire, during the 53rd Coupe Icare. Film submissions closed on June 15th, 2026.
36 films in competition
The 2026 official selection features 36 films, including 6 animations, screened in six sessions from Tuesday, September 15th, to Thursday, September 17th, at 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM. Disciplines covered include paragliding, highlining, base jumping, wingsuit flying, kitefoiling, paramotoring, slacklining, acrobatics, vertical wall dancing, bird flight, and the aerotrain. Two sessions will be subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing: Wednesday the 16th at 9:00 PM and Thursday the 17th at 6:30 PM.
The Juries
After review by the selection committee, the chosen films are voted on by the official jury, composed of sports and film professionals. The 2026 jury includes Solène Rombourg, a paragliding instructor and adventure filmmaker; Anicet Leone, a member of the Flying Frenchies collective who transitioned from base jumping to live performance; Marcial Sommer, a Swiss director and photographer specializing in outdoor sports; and Nathanaël Sapey-Triomphe, a mountaineer and artist. Two other juries will present awards: the Press Jury and the "Mômes" (Kids) Jury, composed of primary school students from the Plateau des Petites Roches and the Grésivaudan valley, who will attend a private screening on Friday morning.
Carte Blanche: Eho Mountain Film Festival
Each year, a "Carte Blanche" is granted to an international festival. In 2026, it is the Eho Mountain Film Festival, North Macedonia's leading festival dedicated to mountain culture, adventure, and nature, founded in 2010 and a member of the International Alliance for Mountain Film. The session takes place on Friday, September 18th, from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM and is free of charge; the film lineup has yet to be announced.
Out of competition film
"Gardiens des Oiseaux" by Muriel Barra (France, 52 min) follows Harisson, a 17-year-old Colombian, and his French friend Mateo, members of a group of teenagers working to study and protect birdlife. The screening date has not yet been published.
Highlights Icares du Cinéma 2026
- 36 films in competition, including 6 animations, across six sessions from Tuesday, September 15th, to Thursday, September 17th
- Carte Blanche: Eho Mountain Film Festival (North Macedonia), Friday the 18th at 5:30 PM, free session
- Awards ceremony on Friday the 18th at 7:00 PM, with directors in attendance
- Repeat screening of award-winning films on Saturday the 19th at 7:30 PM
- Two sessions subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing: Wednesday the 16th at 9:00 PM and Thursday the 17th at 6:30 PM
- 2026 Jury: Solène Rombourg, Anicet Leone, Marcial Sommer, and Nathanaël Sapey-Triomphe
Programme Icares du Cinéma 2026
Tuesday, September 15th, 2026 — Cinema marquee, Déco Sud (Saint-Hilaire)
6:30 PM-8:30 PM · Official Selection
- TXIMISTA — Jon Mendizabal · Spain · 12 min · highline
- IL ÉTAIT UNE FOIS A DRAGONVILLE — Marika Daniel Herz · Belarus · 9 min · animation
- TERRE DE SAUT — Marion Barges · France · 52 min · base-jump
- ACROSS INDIA — Nicolas Alliot · France · 18 min · paragliding
- HABITER ENTRE — David Farge and Daniel Laruelle · France · 25 min · slackline
9:00 PM-11:00 PM · Official Selection
- BATISSEURS DE REVES ATHOMIQUES — Olivier Meissel · France · 45 min · vertical wall dance
- ONE INCH FROM FLYING — Taylor Humphrey · USA · 4 min · highline
- CJ — Brady Mickelson · USA · 10 min · paragliding
- A CEUX QUI ECOUTENT LE VENT — Inès Hurbain · France · 11 min · animation
- ZOZIBABY — Lily Grizard and Hugo Bottin · France · 52 min · paragliding
Wednesday, September 16th, 2026
6:30 PM-8:30 PM · Official Selection
- VOL BRISE — Arthur Jouanny, Jaana Berthelot, Emie Rolland, Sebastien Le Gallic, Aliénor Poignand du Fontenioux and Younes Ayani · France · 8 min · animation
- UP AND DOWN — Paul Lavoine · France · 58 min · paragliding
- First try - a flight through Montserrat — Armando Oquendo · Spain · 3 min · wingsuit
- BIRDDAY — Hugo Lami · France · 11 min · paragliding
- QUI A TUE L'AEROTRAIN — Théo Audoire · France · 33 min · aerotrain
- REFLY — Julia Sánchez Garcia · Spain · 4 min · highline
9:00 PM-11:00 PM · Official Selection, subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing (SME)
- SOBRE EL CRATER — Emiliano Valencia and Miguel Salazar · Mexico · 24 min · highline
- LUNE DE MIEL — Arthur Chays · France · 7 min · animation
- MIGRANDO CON EL VIENTO — Alejandro Padilla · Mexico · 52 min · paragliding
- CONVERGENCIA — Alex Gorman · USA · 15 min · paragliding
- EQUARISSEURS — Hippolyte Burkhart Uhlen · France · 9 min 45 · birds
- REPEAT — Michael Bernshausen · Germany · 16 min · paragliding
Thursday, September 17th, 2026
6:30 PM-8:30 PM · Official Selection, subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing (SME)
- THE EYES OF THE EARTH, THE CALL OF THE ANDES — Bernardita Lira, Mathias Grez and Camila Rojas · Chile · 24 min · highline
- PAPER PLANE — Erik Semashkin · Ukraine · 5 min · paragliding
- 90 CM AU-DESSUS DE LA MER — Florent Boisseau · France · 51 min · kitefoil
- THE POLE OF INACCESSIBILITY — Benjamin Kellett · Great Britain · 25 min · paragliding
- LES HAUTES HEURES — Bibarr · France · 2 min · animation, preview
- SHARE JOY — Armando Oquendo · Spain · 8 min 30 · paragliding
9:00 PM-11:00 PM · Official Selection
- AIR DROP — Benjamin Vallet · France · 8 min · paragliding
- SPY TO FLY — Aurélien Prudor · France · 12 min · birds and paragliding
- CHASSEUR DE VENT — Bastien Beheretche and Zoé Pautet · France · 5 min · wind
- J'IRAI ATTERRIR CHEZ VOUS — Antoine Boisselier · France · 52 min · paragliding
- DREAMING OF FLIGHT — Elena Walf · Russia · 5 min · animation
- DESERT WINGS — Nathan Mc Bride · USA · 4 min · paramotoring
- BEHIND THE ROCKIES — Antoine Girard · France · 38 min · paragliding
- MOMO — Mike Schwartz · USA · 2 min · acrobatics
Friday, September 18th, 2026
- 9:30 AM-10:30 AM — Private screening for the Kids Jury (primary school students)
- 10:30 AM-11:30 AM — Icare Mômes: private screening for schools
- 1:00 PM-2:00 PM — Icare Mômes: private screening for schools
- 5:30 PM-6:30 PM — Carte Blanche: Eho Mountain Film Festival (North Macedonia), free session. Films to be announced.
- 7:00 PM-10:00 PM — Awards ceremony and screening of winning films, with directors in attendance
Saturday, September 19th, 2026
- 7:30 PM-9:30 PM — Repeat screening of the 2026 award-winning films
Out of competition
- Gardiens des Oiseaux — Muriel Barra · France · 52 min · birds. Screening date not yet published.
There are no film screenings scheduled for Sunday, September 20th.
Prices Icares du Cinéma 2026
Carte Blanche session on Friday, September 18th at 5:30 PM: free.
Evening sessions (Tuesday to Thursday): €10 per session, €15 for a full evening (2 sessions).
Friday, September 18th, awards ceremony and screening of winning films: €10.
Saturday, September 19th, screening of winning films: €10.
3-Day Coupe Icare + Cinema Full Pass: €55, includes access to all film festival evenings from Tuesday to Saturday.
Starting Friday, a Coupe Icare entry ticket is required to access the Icare Cinema marquee: €11 per day, €21 for a 3-day pass, free for children under 12.
Online ticketing via Weezevent. Online sales close 2 hours before each session; remaining tickets are sold on-site.
Practical information — Icares du Cinéma
Practical Information — Les Icares du Cinéma
2026 Dates and Times
The festival takes place during the Coupe Icare, from Tuesday, September 15th to Sunday, September 20th, 2026. Official selection screenings are held from Tuesday to Thursday at 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM. The awards ceremony is scheduled for Friday, September 18th at 7:00 PM; the winning films will be re-screened on Saturday the 19th at 7:30 PM.
Cinema Ticket Prices
- Daytime screenings and Icare Conferences: free
- Single evening session, Tuesday to Thursday: 10 €
- Full evening (2 sessions), Tuesday to Thursday: 15 €
- Awards ceremony and winning films, Friday: 10 €
- Winning films screening, Saturday: 10 €
- 3-day Coupe Icare + Cinema Full Pass: 55 €, grants access to all film festival evenings from Tuesday to Saturday
Starting Friday, a Coupe Icare entry ticket is required to access the Icare du Cinéma tent: 11 € for a day pass, 21 € for a 3-day pass, free for children under 12. The online cinema box office closes 2 hours before each session; remaining tickets are then sold on-site.
Screening Location
Sessions are held under the Cinema tent at Déco Sud in Saint-Hilaire, on the Plateau des Petites Roches, at an altitude of 1,000 meters.
Getting to Saint-Hilaire
By car: From Grenoble or Chambéry via the A41, take the Le Touvet exit. From the Chambéry side, traffic is one-way during the Coupe Icare: ascent to the Plateau des Petites Roches via the RD29 from Le Touvet, descent via the RD30 towards La Terrasse. Access via Saint-Nazaire-les-Eymes is recommended, as parking lots accessible from Le Touvet fill up quickly. On weekends, the Trois Villages road is closed in the village center, between the garage roundabout and the fire station, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Parking: Free Coupe Icare parking lots are open in Saint-Hilaire starting Tuesday. Overflow parking lots P1 and P2, accessible from Saint-Nazaire-les-Eymes, are connected to the site by the free purple "St Hilaire Les Margains" shuttle, running continuously from Thursday to Sunday; the P6 overflow lot in Saint-Bernard, accessible from Le Touvet, is served by the same shuttle on Saturday and Sunday. Camper vans can park in P1, P2, and P5 without reservation. Accessible parking (PMR) is available at Pré Lacour starting Tuesday, and at the Gaudes primary school on Saturday and Sunday.
Public transport, carpooling, and cycling: Options serving the Coupe Icare (public transport, carpooling, park-and-ride with free weekend shuttles, landing-to-takeoff shuttle, cycling routes) are listed on the SMMAG website, which manages mobility for the Grenoble region.
Accommodation
Hotels, gîtes, bed and breakfasts, and campsites are available on the plateau and in the Grésivaudan valley. Book several months in advance: accommodations fill up completely during the Coupe Icare. For information, contact the Chartreuse Tourist Office: www.chartreuse-tourisme.com
Good to know
- Bring warm clothing for evening sessions: the plateau is at an altitude of 1,000 meters and screenings are held in a tent.
- The detailed screening program is published at coupe-icare.org.
- Payments on the Coupe Icare site are cashless, using a bracelet that can be topped up online or on-site. Balances are refundable from September 21st to October 5th, 2026.
- The electric vehicle charging station at Place des Fontenettes in Saint-Hilaire will be unavailable for the duration of the event.
Les Icares du Cinéma: The International Air Film Festival
Established in 1983, ten years after the birth of the Coupe Icare, the Les Icares du Cinéma festival is a benchmark for films dedicated to free flight, air sports, and mountain life. Held every September on the Plateau des Petites Roches in Saint-Hilaire-du-Touvet, nestled in the heart of the Chartreuse massif facing the Belledonne range, it welcomes nearly 5,000 spectators, ranging from film professionals to free-flight enthusiasts.
A festival dedicated to air, wind, and flight
Les Icares du Cinéma showcases short, medium, and feature-length films focused on air, wind, flight, and air sports: paragliding, hang gliding, skydiving, base jumping, wingsuit flying, hot air ballooning, human-powered flight, gliding, bungee jumping, kite flying, boomerang, and slacklining. Films centered on mountains and bird flight are also welcome. Motorized air sports are limited to paramotoring, microlighting, aeromodelling, aerobatics, and aerial stunts.
Each year, the selection committee receives around a hundred productions from all over the world. After viewing, the selected films form the official competition and are screened on the big screen throughout the festival week.
Three juries
The selected films are judged by three different juries:
- The Official Jury: Composed of sports and film professionals, it awards the Icare d'Or, the festival's highest honor, as well as prizes for solidarity and free flight.
- The Press Jury: Made up of specialized journalists, it awards the Icare de la Presse.
- The Kids' Jury: Composed of primary school students (CM1 and CM2) from the Plateau des Petites Roches and the Grésivaudan valley, they attend a special screening on Friday morning to award the Icare des Mômes.
The audience also votes for their favorite film, the Icare du Public.
Where the screenings take place
Sessions are held under the Cinema tent, located at Déco Sud in Saint-Hilaire, at an altitude of 1,000 meters on the Plateau des Petites Roches, right in the middle of the Coupe Icare site. Daytime screenings are free; evening sessions require a ticket.
Cinema, sport, and adventure
Directors come to present their films and engage with the audience after the screenings. Each year, a carte blanche is given to a partner foreign festival—an exchange that has been running for twelve years, helping both events reach new audiences. The awards ceremony brings together directors and spectators to celebrate the year's winners.
Where does it take place — Icares du Cinéma
Icares du Cinéma in brief
History of Icares du Cinéma
Edition 2025 Sep 2025Other festivals near Saint-Hilaire-du-Touvet
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