The ÉCU European Independent Film Festival has cemented itself as one of Europe’s top destinations for indie filmmakers to explore high quality short, music video, documentary and feature film productions. Launched by Scott Hillier in 2006, the ÉCU Film Festival takes place in Paris and invites filmmakers from all over the world to attend screenings, workshops, special live performances and exclusive afterparties.
Filmmakers that are selected also get the opportunity to speak at the end of their screenings with live Q and A sessions as well as benefit from access to industry events and networking sessions. From humble beginnings, the festival has made a name for itself in supporting up and coming talent as well as highlighting thought provoking films you would not often see at other major festivals such as Cannes and Berlin. The festival also goes on the road and showcases films from its selections in other cities around the world throughout the year.
“We have our official selection, but mainly our award winners get picked up by our other partner festivals. In Brazil, the city of Rio flew us over and gave us a cinema for a week. They said “We want to see Europe’s best independent films.” For filmmakers it’s great because you submit one film to one festival and if it’s in our official selection, our partners show them, and they travel around the world. It’s a pretty good deal. I’d like that for my films!” – Scott Hillier, President, ÉCU Film Festival
To discover more about the festival you can check out its Face Of Film listing here and submit your films for next year’s festival. The 13th edition of ÉCU will be held in Paris the 5th and 6th May 2018.