Paris in the Spring: The European Independent Film Festival 2022
This year, the 17th Edition of the European Independent Film Festival (ÉCU Film Festival) will be taking place in person in Paris over the weekend of 8 – 10 April 2022. Returning to Montparnasse at Les 7 Parnassiens Cinema, the Festival will showcase 58 independent films being a combination of European and non European features, documentaries and shorts.
This year’s edition will also maintain some hybrid features with an online edition available, during the festival’s dates, to experience a live stream of the festival for those that are unable to attend physically. A selection of the films can be viewed online as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.
The opening night of the festival, on Friday 8 April, will include a welcome at 7pm (Paris time) from Scott Hillier, who is President of the ÉCU film festival. For the in person screenings, the films can be viewed in several screens and in between screenings there will also be musical events occurring.
For those viewers fortunate to attend the festival on Saturday or Sunday, there is the possibility of being entertained by live acoustic afternoon performances on the filmmaker patio at Les 7 Parnassiens. Festival attendees can also enjoy further acoustic performances on the opening evening of the festival from 6- 7pm as well as a performance following the jury awards announcement on Sunday evening.
All of these features are included within the Weekend Pass which grants access to all of the film sessions for the festival’s duration at EUR 25. There is also an online only pass which is offered at EUR 10 and both passes can be purchased here.
This year’s Official Selection of films includes shorts such as The Letter Room starring Oscar Isaac, the French Film The Orange Child and European Dramatic feature films such as Early Wedding from Hungary. The European Independent Film Festival has a wide range of films from 24 countries to discover across its film categories.
Plus, the ÉCU film festival is also keen to encourage viewers to re-watch those films that have appeared in previous editions via The European Independent Film channel. The channel therefore provides that opportunity to discover more emerging filmmakers as those films which have not featured during the festival could also be viewed.
This year’s festival is ideally timed to co-incide with the Easter holidays and would therefore be an interesting addition to a springtime visit to Paris within the delightful Montparnasse quartier. Plus, if you are hungry in between film screenings there are the Parisian institutions of La Coupole and Le Bouillon Chartier to choose from on Boulevard du Montparnasse.
The full festival programme for the European Independent Film Festival can be accessed here.
Which films are you looking forward to watching during this year’s European Independent Film Festival? Let us know your choices in the comments below.
