Edition 2025

Pre-festival event – Le Splendid Cinema

In the presence of the crew: Armel Le Cléac’h, Sébastien Josse, Marie-José Pérec, Marine Lorphelin, Alexis Michalik and Hugo Roellinger.

• Running time: 29 minutes
• Language: French
• Free
• Limited places: booking essential at the Tourist Office

Through a 29-minute short film, immerse yourself in the transatlantic adventure of the Paris 2024 Olympic Torch. After the screening, the crew will be on hand to share their experiences and answer your questions.

From 7 to 16 June 2024, the Maxi Banque Populaire XI carried the Paris 2024 Olympic Flame powered solely by the wind, travelling from Brest to Pointe-à-Pitre after more than seven days at sea. On board, alongside the sailors Armel Le Cléac’h, Sébastien Josse and media officer Tanguy Conq, four prominent figures looked after this iconic flame: Marie-José Pérec, Marine Lorphelin, Alexis Michalik and Hugo Roellinger.

Opening ceremony short film

With “Dolomites”, Kilian Bron opens a new chapter and gives you an inside look at his vision of mountain biking. Watch an extract from the film directed by Valentin Birant, shown during the Festival’s opening ceremony.

• Directed by Valentin Birant for Commencal
• Duration: 5 minutes

Private screening attended by the director, Eliott Schonfeld.

• Running time: 55 minutes
• Languages: French
• Le Splendid Cinema: private screening reserved for pupils from Val d’Isère Primary School.

In 1968, a man named Richard “Dick” Proenneke left civilisation, determined to fulfil his dream: to return to the wilderness. At the age of 51, he ventured deep into Alaska, where he built himself a cabin on the shores of one of the most inaccessible lakes on the planet. He lived there for thirty years, subsisting on fish and wild plants, with grizzly bears, caribou, wolves and salmon as his only neighbours.

It was this cabin at the end of the world that Eliott Schonfeld set out to find, twenty years after Dick Proenneke’s death: inspired by the old man’s journals, the young adventurer followed in his footsteps through the territory of the Denai’na people. Day after day, he discovers a whole new world: that of extraordinary, untamed and abundant nature.

Through this timeless experience, punctuated by dizzying climbs, torrential rivers and face-to-face encounters with grizzly bears, he reminds us of the urgent need to defend this incredible natural heritage, which is under threat from human folly.

Ushuaïa TV’s Carte Blanche – Le Splendid Cinema

In the presence of director Christophe Raylat.

• Running time: 51 minutes
• Language: French

For 70 years, Antarctica, situated at the very southern tip of the planet, has been protected by an international treaty that designates it as a protected continent – without borders, without weapons and whose resources are not exploited. Argentina and Chile are the countries closest to Antarctica and, as such, claim a permanent presence on the peninsula, which juts out towards the South American continent. For Argentina, this presence even involves supporting families who take turns living there each year, despite a particularly hostile climate.

The travel writer Cédric Gras, who is fascinated by the far reaches of the planet, set off to accompany these families to the Esperanza base.

In total, eight families – comprising 18 children aged between 4 and 16 – will live amongst Gentoo penguins, Weddell seals and sea lions, with temperatures dropping as low as –45°C and winds exceeding 150 km/h.

It takes around ten days to reach the base, travelling by military aircraft, helicopters and an icebreaker. An extraordinary adventure for the planet’s southernmost human settlement, whose permanent presence is driven primarily by geopolitical considerations.