Beaune International Thriller Film Festival

Beaune has been hosting the International Police Film Festival since 2009.
Each year, it offers all fans of crime fiction and film lovers an overview of the best films in the genre from all around the world.

Beaune International Thriller Film Festival 2019

The 11th International Beaune Police Film Festival ran from 3 to 7 April 2019.
You find all the ingredients that made previous years so successful. An unmissable event for fans of the genre.
 

The posters of the Beaune International Thriller Film Festival

Beaune and cinema

Quite a history that began more than a century ago, even before the official birth of cinematography, thanks to the invention of the chronophotographic gun by Etienne Jules Marey.
Since then, Beaune has risen to the challenge of a studio town, offering a wonderful natural setting to the greatest directors, La Grande Vadrouille, an anthology film shot in the heart of the most famous monument in Burgundy, the Hospices, and Claude Lelouch's successful Roman de Gare, shot in 2007.
This long connection between Beaune and cinema continues today and was embodied in the creation of the "Film Workshops" in 2015.

Why a police film festival?

"Every detective novel implies, consciously, first a metaphysical will, and then a humility. These two things are almost a definition of the artist." Claude Chabrol - Polar, October 1982
 
Whatever its particular type (thriller, suspense, black, mystery...), crime fiction has for decades enjoyed ongoing success in all the world’s theatres: Europe, USA, Latin America, Asia ... It always attracts just as many young directors as established ones. It is a popular genre that has now become fully established.

Festival DNA

In the space of five days, the Beaune International Police Film Festival offers an overview of the best films of the genre from around the world. It puts new directors with promising talents in the spotlight, while honouring their more experienced peers who have left their mark on this type of cinema. The predominant theme, then, is the police in all their different forms.

Police film festival jury and prizes

Two juries, made up of well-known and prestigious cinema personalities, are created around the different film categories: feature films & new blood. The Special Police Jury is itself composed of members of French and foreign forces.
These juries award 5 prizes:
- The Grand Prix
- The Jury Prize
- The Special Police Prize
- The Critics’ Prize
- The "New Blood" Prize that showcases filmmakers with a different outlook on the genre
 
A Claude Chabrol prize was also created in 2011, following the death of the director. This award recognises a French film released in the course of the year whose cinematic qualities are a credit to the detective genre.

The presidents of the "feature film" jury of the Police Film Festival

2017 (9th Edition) : Jean Paul RAPPENEAU
2016 (8th Edition) : Sandrine Bonnaire 
2015 (7th Edition): Danièle Thompson
2014 (6th Edition): Cédric Klapisch
2013 (5th Edition): Pierre Jolivet
2012 (4th Edition): Jean-Loup Dabadie
2011 (3rd Edition): Régis Wargnier
2010 (2nd Edition): Olivier Marchal
2009 (1st Edition): Claude Chabrol

Grand Prix jury – Prize Winners

2017 : Le Caire Confidentiel
2016 : Man on High Heels
2015: Victoria (Sebastian Schipper)
2014: In order of disappearance (Hans Petter Moland)
2013: Drug War (Johnnie To)
2012: Margin Call (J. C. Chandor)
2011: The Man from Nowhere (Lee Jeong-beom)
2010: Dans ses yeux (Juan José Campanella)
2009: Dans la brume électrique (Bertrand Tavernier)

Tributes

The festival is also a time for celebration.
A tribute is paid to a personality from the literary world and a leading figure from the world of the crime film, whether filmmaker or actor.
A city is also honoured for its influence and evocative power within the crime genre. Among them: Paris, New York, Hong Kong, London, Rome/Naples, Mexico City, Seoul.
 

The thriller literary prizes

Literary prizes are also awarded, rewarding the best crime novels.
A jury of personalities from literature and film presents the Grand Prix of French Crime Novels and the Grand Prix of Foreign Crime Novels, along with the Mask editions prize (first novel).