What place should television and cinema have in education? What is at stake? The proliferation of images and their omnipresence oblige us to exercise a more critical regard, to interpret and analyse, and to better use our understanding of expression and communication. Five days of television at the Fipa give us the occasion to reflect on these themes and to examine the transmission of the wisdom and values of a society through the images on screens large and small. Every year, the presence of more than 1,000 middle and upper school students at the festival's screenings attests to the richness of its programmes, which allow for a multidisciplinary approach to history, geography, social studies, literature, modern languages, economics and media education. Within each programme, the director's critical, political or personal perspective on current events, political news or historical events can serve as a springboard to debate and to a deeper reflection on contemporary society. All programmes are presented in their original language (subtitled in French), which allows a rare opportunity for teachers and students of modern languages.
Q&As are often held after a film's screening between students and the filmmakers and producers. These exchanges allow different viewpoints to be raised and underline the importance of personal commitment in the creative process. Each screening costs €3.00 per student and is free for the teachers that accompany them.

For middle and upper school teachers
A special catalogue, organized by theme, is published for middle and upper school teachers and presents the current selection of the festival.

Please note that the catalogue is only available in French.
Download the catalogue
Download screenings

For middle and upper school students
Since 2002, in partnership with the Bordeaux Rectorat, the Fipa has hosted several "Passport Classes" - a one-day programme dedicated to the schools affiliated with the Bordeaux Academy. For the young festival-goers participating in this initiative, screenings are followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers, and the students participate in a workshop animated by a journalist on how to write a film review, etc...

This year, the following schools will attend the Fipa:

• Middle School "Langevin Wallon" of Tarnos
• Middle School "Irandatz" of Hendaye (64)
• Middle School "François Truffaut" of St Martin Seignanx (40)
• Upper school "Navarre" of St Jean-Pied-de-Port
• Upper school "Louis de Foix" of Bayonne
• Upper school "Gaston Fébus" of Orthez
• Upper school "Cassin of Bayonne (64)
• Upper school Saint Thomas d'Aquin of Saint Jean-de-Luz (64)
• Upper school Bernard Palissy of Agen (47)
• Upper school Saint Louis Villa Pia of Bayonne (64)
• Upper school Charles Despiau of Mont de Marsan (40)
• Upper school Sud Médoc of Taillan Médoc (33)
• Upper school Saint Christophe of St Pée sur Nivelle (64)

For middle and upper school teachers and students

Alongside with the screenings, the Fipa organizes for teachers and students master classes tutored by professionals. These debates are a rare opportunity for students to meet with skilled filmmakers, scriptwriters, or musicians: in past years, Francis Girod and Philippe Madral (director and scriptwriter), Gérard Mordillat (writer and director) Rémy Grumbach (winner in 2006 of the Sacem Grand Prize for best writer, film and video director) were invited by the Fipa to converse with students and share their work's experiences. In 2008, students had the opportunity to attend a music lesson with Eric Demarsan, composer. Since 2007, the Fipa and French channel France 5 offer a master-class on documentaries.

Meet Patrick Jeudy
Truth Through Lies
History - an entity of documents and fiction
Thursday, January 28th / Le Colisée - 10h-11h30 a.m.

"Bit by the bug" of story-telling, Patrick Jeudy looks back at his auteur-director trajectory, revisiting three of his television films: "The Eyes of Eva Brown" (1991), "Marilyn The Last Takes" (2008) and "The Four French Lieutenants" (1994). In all of his films, he takes leave of the classical and illustrative use of archive footage, in favor of the narrative line. With the help of numerous clips, he will enlighten us about filmmaking as based exclusively on archive images, as well as about the particularities of arranging archival images in the film (the role of narration, of sound, of editing), running up to the manipulation of archival material. He will explain how to mould a fiction out of archival footage and how to stand staunchly by the historical facts, maintaining all the while the form of the fabula.

At times imaginary, always very novelistic, the lives outlined by Patrick Jeudy take us somewhere between the truth and the fiction. Portraits of historical figures between narrative and documentary filmmaking.

France 5 Masterclass
FBI, Police d'état : Sur le fil du rasoir (Episode 3)
Friday, January 29th / Le Colisée and La Médiathèque - 9h30 a.m to 15h p.m

A documentary series of five 52-minute films by Fabrizio Calvi and David Carr-Brown "FBI, Police d'état" retraces the history of America's 20th century as seen through the prism of the "Bureau". The series is steeped in the behind-the-scenes history of FBI as unveiled through hours of exclusive interviews with 50 agents, and as illustrated by documentary images from FBI's private archives as well as with a great many feature films for which certain mythical histories of the organization have been the inspiration. Episode 3, "Sur le fil du rasoir" deals with FBI's fight against organized crime from the 60s onwards and with the infiltration of members of the Bureau in the country's biggest mafia families.

The masterclass will proceed in three distinct steps: following the screening of the documentary, the groups will be taken aside to reflect on the specific issues that concern a documentary series made up of witness accounts and archival materials and regarding special services more generally. This session will conclude with a meeting between all the groups and the film crew (writer, director and/or producer, France 5 programmer), who will speak about the course of the filming, the directorial choices, the voiceover, the archival images, the filmed testimonies etc...