Très Court International Film Festival

ℹ️ Festival discontinued. The Tout en Très Court association announced its dissolution on October 11, 2025, and the festival will not be renewed in 2026. The 27th and last edition was held in June 2025 in Tours and in several dozen partner cities worldwide. No 2026 edition will take place.

The very short film festival: a global adventure born in France

The Très Court International Film Festival was a unique cinematic event entirely dedicated to films with a duration of less than 4 minutes. Created in 1999 by Marc Bati and Pascal Toutain, the festival began at the Forum des Images in Paris before establishing itself in Tours, which became its main anchor city in France. The Tout en Très Court association coordinated the entire event from Paris.

A simultaneous festival on five continents

The major particularity of the Très Court was its international and simultaneous dimension. Every year in June, for about ten days, the same film programs were screened in nearly 100 cities spread across thirty countries on five continents. This unique formula allowed spectators worldwide to discover the same films at the same time, creating a global community around the very short format.

Several selections to explore the short format

The festival's programming was structured around several selections: the international competition, which presented the best very short films from around the world; the Très Frenchy selection, a panorama of very short creation in France; the Très Fièr·e·s selection (inclusive, queer and feminist); the Très Familiale selection, accessible to all audiences; as well as documentary and thematic selections. The Défi 48h Très Environnement (Very Environment 48h Challenge), launched in 2019, invited filmmakers to create a film in 48 hours on the environmental theme.

Tours, the beating heart of Très Court in France

In Tours, screenings took place at Cinémas Studio, the city's art house cinema located on rue des Ursulines. Cinémas Studio, with its seven screens, was an emblematic venue for Tours' cultural life and a loyal partner of the festival. The sessions were complemented by meetings with directors, discussion times with the public, and festive events.

A springboard for creators worldwide

Over the years, the Très Court became a true springboard for emerging filmmakers. The less-than-4-minute format imposed stimulating creative constraints that pushed filmmakers to get to the essence. Fiction, animation, documentary, experimental: all genres were represented, offering a rich and eclectic panorama of contemporary audiovisual creation. Over its 27 editions, the festival welcomed renowned jury presidents, including Michel Hazanavicius and Fabrice Maruca.

The end of an adventure

On October 11, 2025, the Board of Directors of the Tout en Très Court association officially announced the dissolution of the association and the discontinuation of the festival. In a press release signed by the Board of Directors and accompanied by a message from founder Marc Bati, the association explained that, in an unstable political and financial context and facing a lack of human resources, the decision to end the adventure was taken unanimously by the general assembly. The 27th edition in June 2025 will therefore be the last. The spirit of Très Court, praised in the press release for having supported the democratization of short video creation for over twenty years, nevertheless lives on through the many filmmakers and spectators it brought together.