PARIS INTERNATIONAL
LESBIAN & FEMINIST FILM FESTIVAL

Quand les lesbiennes se font du cinéma

October 28th to November 1st, 2016

  Archives 2016

2016 Financial Report

The 28th festival took place from 28 October to 1 November at Espace Reuilly. A total of 81 films from 31 different countries were screened. There were 1261 festivalgoer-members in attendance, which represents 11.1% fewer than in 2015, despite the long weekend followed by a bank holiday. The proportion of reduced-rate memberships has decreased (-29.7%) while supporting memberships are increasing (+11.8%). In addition, a large number of festival-goers contributed to the "pending tickets" programme, which was renewed for the third year in a row: over 100 tickets were distributed to festival-goers on limited budgets. Overall attendance at screenings went down, to a total of 4236 (-6.4%) for 21 screenings, five more than the preceding year. Therefore, the average number of tickets per screening fell dramatically, by 28.6%.

Cineffable 2016 Financial Report

The most popular screenings reflected the festival's diversity: the feature films Io e lei - Me, Myself and Her (419 spectators) and While You Weren't Looking, presented at the opening session, in conjunction with the musical performance Quand les mots résonnent by the duo Sails and Natalya N'Rouv (357); the shorts programmes Encore une fois (254) and Une fois n'est pas coutume (253) and the feature-length documentaries The Same Difference (323) and Gender Troubles: The Butches (315). Although it is less striking than in 2014 and 2015, attendance continues to be concentrated on Saturday/Sunday (53.5%) and evenings (49.0%).
With De l'autre côté de la peau by the duo Futur Oublié, the "transmission" event extended the festival's inclusion of live performance, which began in 2015.

The art exhibit, entitled "Intimate Explorations: New perspectives on women's bodies," presented the work of five women artists, and included sculpture, photography, drawing, video and animated film. A prize drawing, the artists' active presence during the festival (both in the gallery, and for the workshops: Textual play, Queer Tango initiation and Tantra for women, contributed to the exhibit being more connected to the rest of the festival.

Alongside the feminist and LGBT bookstore Violette and Co., other stands gave space to non-profits such as SOS Homophobie and Education féministe, the lesbian magazine Well well well, the politically committed t-shirt designer Sarah Calas and the DVD shop Outplay.

Despite the difficulties engendered by the space, the cafeteria crew once again managed to satisfy festival-goers with their lovingly prepared meals. And finally, as in previous years, a room was rented from the neighbouring cultural venue Le Chantier in order to be able to propose four debates and round-table discussions, as well as the aforementioned workshops.

Over the course of the year, a series of Hors les murs (outside of the festival) screenings took place, offering a chance to re-screen shorts from earlier editions. Those selections were geared to the themes chosen by the events they were a part of: prize-winning shorts from the 27th festival for the 1st Festival of LGBT cultures programmed in partnership with the Centre LGBT Paris Île-de-France, two evenings of screening at the Bar'Ouf and three screenings in Marseille, in partnership with the Centre Evolutif Lilith (CEL).

Going back to a 5-day festival led to a 11.9% increase in expenditures, while reduced attendance rates prevented an equivalent rise in revenue. The increased expenditure concerned logistics (renting the venue and the cooking material, and security services). In addition, due to the on-going state of emergency and risks related to terrorism, a cancellation insurance policy was taken. Communication expenses continue to decrease, thanks to the choice of providing information on line and through social networks rather than via printed material.
The translating and sub-titling done for free by our organizing-committee members is used as barter with other festivals, and generated a small profit this year. The dance parties' contribution to the overall budget (2.9%) also went down this year due to incidents beyond our control: a soirée at the Tango was cancelled, and the Love On The Clit party had to be postponed to after the festival.
Revenue from the cafeteria increased by 6.7% due to the festival being longer, but profits went down by 4.0%, essentially because of lower attendance. Structural expenses decreased by 9.2%. Expenses for the opening-night concert and the art exhibit were kept to a strict minimum, as in previous years, thanks to activist commitment on the part of both the artists concerned and the organizing committee.

The City of Paris reduced the festival's operating grant (-12.5%).

Overall, the 2016 financial period closes on a deficit of €7,645. Fortunately, the partial reconstruction of financial reserves achieved thanks to the 2015 donation drive lessens the impact of this new deficit, but we find ourselves in a weakened financial situation as we head into preparations for the 29th festival.

Partners 2016

Centre LGBT Paris IdF
Jeanne Magazine
City of Paris
Bookshop Violette and Co
Well Well Well