PARIS INTERNATIONAL
LESBIAN & FEMINIST FILM FESTIVAL

Quand les lesbiennes se font du cinéma

October 31st to November 3rd, 2019

  Archives 2019

2019 Financial Report

The 31st festival took place from 31 October to 3 November at Espace Reuilly. A total of 56 films from 19 different countries were screened. There were 1455 festivalgoer-members in attendance, which represents a number equivalent to 2018, and an increase of 11% compared to 2017, previous edition on 4 days. The proportion of reduced-rate memberships has decreased (-2.5%) while supporting memberships are increasing (+1.5%). In addition, a large number of festival-goers contributed to the "pending tickets" programme, which was renewed for the sixth year in a row: a lot of tickets were distributed to festival-goers on limited budgets. Overall attendance at screenings went down, to a total of 4080 (-12%) for 16 screenings, five less than the preceding year. At equal number of screenings in 2017, the decrease in attendance was -1.2%. Therefore, the average number of tickets per screening go up by 15.4% compared to 2018 but fell very slightly compared to 2017.

Cineffable 2019 Financial Report

The selection of the 31st festival featured 56 films from 19 countries. Women filmmakers, producers and technicians came to meet the spectators at the end of the screenings of their works. The most popular screenings reflected the festival's diversity: the feature films Tell It to the Bees (470 spectators) and Wild Nights With Emily (362), the shorts programmes Vice Versa (424) and Recto Verso (405), the opening night associating the concert of Helluvah with a series of short documentaries (306) and the screening of short films Du Q, du Q, du Q on Saturday night (306). The feature-length documentary The Story of a Panty and of Those Who Make It as well as the series of shorts Brisons nos entraves and Vices cachés, also attracted festival-goers (respectively 292, 280 and 229). Overall, there is a higher concentration of entries on the weekend (58.5%) than in 2018 (48%) without reaching the maximum of 2017 (59.7%) thanks to the number of entries on public holidays. On the other hand, attendance is predominant on the evenings (52.7%), much more than in the two previous editions. As every year, all foreign language films have been subtitled by the team's volunteer translators, as well as all French-language films to allow access to deaf and hard-of-hearing spectators, for a total of 1,203 effective minutes, which represents a considerable number of working hours. A total of 823 minutes of films were adapted from a foreign language, 132 minutes were subtitled from an existing translation and 248 minutes were the subject of specific subtitles for deaf audiences (French-language films or sound indications in films without dialog).

With the theme "Divine bodies", the art exhibit of the 31st festival presented the work of six women artists: photographs by Fabienne Forel, Laurence Le Goffic, Laetitia Notarianni and Maïa Taïeb, drawings by Marion Plumet and the Brandt alphabet created by the graphic designer Stéphane Dupont. In addition, the theatre company La Divine Bouchère executed a performative reading of extracts from Monique Wittig's The Lesbian Body in the screening room during the festival's closing session, and the exhibition committee organized a conference-debate on essential women at within the Bauhaus movement presented by Stéphane Dupont and Elisabeth Lebovici. The presence of the artists on the exhibition always allows a very liked exchange of festival-goers.

As an extension of the activities around the celebration of the 30th festival in 2018, a brand new conviviality commission initiated in 2019 spaces and moments of interactive exchange with festival-goers who should develop in future editions. The festival-goers could also choose to participate, upon registration, in six workshops (legacy and transmission, discovery of Wutao, dance in pairs, slam, dance and personal development and a moment of intimate sharing).

The stands present at the 31st festival were: Violette and co (bookstore and signatures of authors), Homoromance editions from Montreal (meeting and signatures of authors), the author of erotic comics Lud, the Orev Factory cooperative, the non-profits associations Atalante Vidéos féministes and SOS Homophobie.

As in previous years, a room was rented from the neighbouring cultural venue Le Chantier in order to be able to propose five debates and round-table discussions, as well as the aforementioned workshops.

Over the course of the year 2019, the Hors les murs screenings, open to all, were the opportunity to reprogram shorts selected in previous editions: prize-winning shorts from the 30th festival with artists' exhibition, DJ, bar and striptease workshop at the Bellevilloise; a screening debate at the Utopia cinema (Bordeaux) in partnership with the association AIDES Gironde; a short session at Espace des Blancs Manteaux as part of the Printemps des Assoces; an evening combining exhibition and screening at the bar A2 - à d2ux (Bordeaux); an evening of screenings, meetings and live performances at Garage MU as part of the Fortnight of LGBT prides at the initiative of the Inter-LGBT; and a presentation of the screening of award-winning short films from the 30th festival at the cine-club of the Hystérique association at the University of Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle.

The result for the 2019 financial period is surplus (+€876.28), thanks to the maintenance of festival revenue supported by good attendance and the modification of the ticketing. The choice of a reduced four-day duration led to a turnover of 6.6% lower than the previous year, while expenses decreased by only 2.9%, due to an increase in expenses related to the venue. This is the result of an increase in the rental price of Espace Reuilly (+17%) and additional security services for the provision of the site rooms to host debates and workshops (+34%). Holding the festival over a three-day weekend allowed memberships to increase by 2.7% and record an increase of 0.9% on ticket sales for screenings. The cafeteria crew continued its organizational work while maintaining the constant concern to control the cost price. As a result, the surplus generated is up 2.3%. Expenses related to the opening-night concert returned to the same level as in 2017.
Expenditures for the catalog and festival documents are down (-34.3%) and remain low (3.5% of festival expenses). Digital communication is today the majority without additional cost thanks to the volunteer commitment of the members of the communication commission. The events Hors les murs and the parties Gouines on Green on June and Gouines en Feu on October are also means of direct communication to audiences potentially interested in the festival.
Operating costs decrease (-19.3%) despite the continued increase in the rental of the equipment storage place (+4.1%) and the increase in bank charges resulting from the growing demand from suppliers to be paid by bank transfer rather than by check. Overall these expenditures represent 12.9% of the total budget. The contribution of dance parties represents 3%.
Supports and donations are clearly decreasing (no raffle this year), while concessions for rights to use subtitles are returning to the same level as in 2017 after a sharp increase last year.

The City of Paris has renewed its operating subsidy for an amount reassessed to €4,000.

The treasury is stable but remains insufficient at the approach of the festival and several people on the team had to advance funds or pay bills directly for a total of €10,000.

Partners 2019

Centre LGBT Paris IdF
Jeanne Magazine
La LIG - Lesbiennes d'Intérêt Général
City of Paris
Bookshop Violette and Co
Well Well Well