Les Petites Bobines

A film festival designed for toddlers and families

Born in 2011 on the initiative of Cinéma Bel Air, an art-house cinema classified as "Art et Essai jeune public" (Art and Essay for young audiences), the Les Petites Bobines festival has established itself over fifteen years as the main event for young audiences' cinema in the Haut-Rhin region. Its unique feature: offering a demanding yet accessible program, with films selected for children from age 2, a rarity in the French film festival landscape.

Quality European cinema

The Les Petites Bobines program highlights European cinema in all its diversity. Each edition features a rigorous selection of animated films, features, documentaries, and heritage works from France, Germany, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and beyond. National premieres are shown alongside restored classics, animated shorts, and original creations. The program favors films that convey humanistic values, wonder, and discovery of the world, while respecting the sensitivity of the youngest viewers.

Cine-snacks, workshops, and meetings

Beyond the screenings, Les Petites Bobines offers a program of various activities that enrich the cinematic experience for young audiences. The cine-snacks on Saturdays and Sundays combine a screening with a moment of gourmet conviviality. Animation film workshops allow children to learn the techniques of film creation: stop-motion, cartooning, Méliès-style special effects. Meetings with directors, composers, and film crews offer families a privileged look behind the scenes of cinematic creation.

Four partner cinemas in the Haut-Rhin

While Cinéma Bel Air in Mulhouse is the heart of the festival, Les Petites Bobines extends to three partner cinemas in the department: Palace in Altkirch, Gérard Philipe in Wittenheim, and La Coupole in Saint-Louis. This network of cinemas allows the festival to reach a broad family audience, beyond the Mulhouse urban area, and to promote young audiences' cinema in towns where cultural offerings for children are sometimes limited.

Fifteen years of wonder

Over fifteen editions, Les Petites Bobines has accompanied thousands of young viewers in their discovery of cinema. The festival benefits from the support of the DRAC Grand Est, the Collectivité européenne d'Alsace, and the Passeurs d'Images program, which guarantee the quality of the programming and the accessibility of the event. By offering demanding yet kind cinema, adapted to each age group, Les Petites Bobines contributes to shaping the gaze and nurturing the imagination of tomorrow's cinephiles.