On June 12th 2009, Teresa Cavina succeeded Pierre-Henri Deleau as the Fipa's Artistic Director.
On March 9th 2009, the Fipa association committee, composed of the CNC and the organizations Adami, Sacd, Sacem, Scam and Procirep, and the city of Biarritz, elected Olivier Mille to the presidency of the Fipa for a three-year term. He succeeds Caroline Huppert.
Pierre Henri Deleau, Artistic Director from 1987, the year of the festival's creation, to 2009, its 22nd edition.
On July 4th 2006, Caroline Huppert, French director and scriptwriter, succeeds Yamina Benguigui as President of the Fipa.
June 17, Yamina Benguigui, French director, producer and writer, succeeds Marie-France Pisier, as President of the Fipa.
"Some time back, I found myself at the Fipa when the jury awarded the Michel Mitrani Prize to my documentary, Mémoires d'immigrés, l'héritage maghrébin.
Today I now enjoy another honor: that of being named Fipa president for a three-year term."
Extract of Yamina Benguigui's editorial, 2004.
January 28, the members of the board of directors elect Marie-France Pisier, French actress and novelist, to the Presidency of the Fipa.
Bernard Chevry, Vice-President of the association, gets by interim the Presidency of the 10th edition of the Fipa dedicated to Michel Mitrani.
"This 10th edition, Michel mitrani's last, opens new horizons and imposes new obligations on us. We must follow this road, lay new tracks, invent new strategies, develop a market economy, facilitate the work of artists, take part in an ever-evolving technological modernity. In short, take the pulse of the time and try to influence certain new directions. It's up to us to innovate. Way up there on his little cloud, Michel Mitrani is watching us out of the corner of his eye with irony and warmth. It's our duty not to disappoint him."
Extract of Pierre-Henri Deleau's editorial, 1997.
"In hosting the Fipa from the 16th to the 21st of january, Biarritz will become for a few days the center of the world's audiovisuel production. Centered around demanding selection of programs from the five continents, the principal players of the audiovisual market will gather in the Basque country for a peaceful and stimulating confrontation of which the real purpose is to serve a television of quality, more creative and more attractive. In fact, the pairing of the Fipa and Biarritz is no accident. It is on the contrary the natural rendez-vous of a big cultural event, both very contemporary and forward-looking, and a town that gets its strength from its reputation and its identity."
Extract of Didier Borotra's editorial, 1996.
Michel Mitrani, director and a great name of the French Radio Television, sets up the association of the International Festival of Audiovisual Programs. For the first time, the Fipa takes place from the 15 to October 16, in Cannes; it is the edition zero, the foreword of a long adventure.
"How do we use the audiovisual language at the end of the 20th century ?
We do not mean to anticipate the judgement of history, even though a festival contributes to it, but to set up an observatory for the international community. It will compare the most sophisticated expressions of this language thanks to a genuine and independant selection. Afestival cannot be reduced to a show. (…)
The concentration of all these people coming from all over the world to a festival gives the films which would not get much audience if released otherwise, the opportunity of becoming rapidly successful. Disagreement can be as productive as agreement. The tensions revealed in a movie divide the audience in two factions. We know also how a little scandal can help the career of a film. However, it is how a film is watched that gives its life expectancy. There is no cursed fatality in the origin or the destination. The attention paid to motion pictures should also be paid to television films. This is what we propose for this Audiovisual Festival."
Extract of Michel Mitrani's editorial, 1987.