Ciclic is a government agency created to provide a cultural service to the public. They offer a wide variety of activities designed to encourage the creation and diffusion of books, digital arts and images. Probably their most high profile activities are their mobile cinema, and their amateur film archive.
Their remit is to encourage diversity and emerging creators in the fields of cinema and the audiovisual arts, from creation to diffusion, throughout Centre Val de Loire. They host a short film festival, a documentary film festival, have a special section for animations and provide grants and a mentorship programme for image makers, authors, producers and technicians.
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| The headquarters of Ciclic, in Chateau-Renault. |
As well as the mobile cinema in a semi-trailer, they have an art class truck and an essay writing truck.
Their education and teaching division gives young rural students access to significant cultural works, gets them involved in artistic practice, and develops their critical sense. There are programmes for senior high school students and apprentices to write and develop a series or an animated film, with both workshops and YouTube training videos. There are also special programmes for the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Students can learn about image creation and the use of images in the media, using their voice, writing for screen or publication, or gain insight into becoming a librarian.
There is a section for 'living literature' and support for authors. Ciclic helps to promote living authors, involving industry professionals including libraries and bookshops with authors who aren't well known, to get their work noticed by the public.
An important part of Ciclic's work is to collect, safeguard and promote the amateur films made in Centre Val de Loire so that they a regional audiovisual 'living memory'. These films are available to view on line and they form an important archive of material showing daily life as filmed by ordinary families in the Touraine.
I'm a big fan of their amateur film archive [link], and of their 'Mille lectures d'hiver' ('a thousand winter readings') programme (which, sadly, Covid seems to have put a stop to).
Further reading: Ciclic have produced a 5 page infographic in English to describe what they do [link].
1 comment:
Thank you for that.... I particularly like their "mobile Film Festival" of shorts and some of the archive films they've amassed and saved.... favourite is the "Last train to Liguel" with the line being lifted the moment it leaves!! It is as if GP is saying.... GO, and don't come back!
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