Télérama Film Festival

The Festival Cinéma Télérama: A Popular Celebration of Auteur Cinema

Since 1998, the Festival Cinéma Télérama has become an unmissable event at the start of the year for French cinephiles. The concept is simple and appealing: for one week in January, viewers can watch or rewatch a selection of the best films of the past year, chosen by the editorial team of Télérama, at the single price of 4 euros per screening, in over 500 art-house cinemas participating in the event across France.

To benefit from this special rate, simply get the festival pass, valid for two people, available in the January issues of Télérama magazine, as well as on the magazine's website and app. This clever system helps to retain readers while attracting a broad and curious audience to the cinemas.

A Historic Partnership Between Télérama and AFCAE

The festival is the result of a partnership between the cultural weekly Télérama and the Association française des cinémas d'art et d'essai (AFCAE), which brings together over 1,100 cinema establishments in France. This partnership embodies a shared ambition: to make auteur cinema accessible to the greatest number of people and to support independent cinemas, which are often threatened by market concentration and competition from digital platforms.

A Demanding and Eclectic Selection

The festival's selection, comprising about twenty films, reflects the editorial choices of the Télérama team. It includes intimate dramas, comedies, documentaries, animated films, French and international works – all films that have marked the cinematic year and that the festival offers the opportunity to (re)discover on screen. Several films are presented in preview, creating an additional event for the audience.

A Considerable Impact on Cinema Attendance

With around 250,000 spectators each year, the Festival Cinéma Télérama is one of the most unifying events in French cinema. It helps to extend the theatrical life of films that may have been released several months earlier and creates valuable word-of-mouth for works that have not always received wide media coverage upon their release.

Live Q&A Sessions from Cinema Le Balzac

Some screenings are followed by live Q&A sessions broadcast from the cinema Le Balzac in Paris, allowing viewers from all over France to ask questions to the film crews via SMS. This innovative system creates a link between cinemas and reinforces the unifying nature of the event.