38th World Underwater Image Festival

There is something for everyone: from the irreproachable animal documentary, which will amaze you and take you on the sea planet, to the offbeat short film which surprises and destabilizes you, through committed films which oblige you think about it. It has always been the hallmark of the festival. A space of freedom, where improbable films can slip. Sure values, as shown again this year Christian Petron ou René Heuzey, won numerous awards. But we also see the emergence of young directors, like Manuel Lefevre (Prize of the Paul Ricard Oceanographic Institute for Fish Life), for whom the first festival in which he participated in 2007, timidly, was a turning point. "For me," he explains, "it was about showing my images and seeing how they were perceived by the public." And it is only there that a beginner director can throw himself into the deep end and rub shoulders with the greatest, "the pioneers of the discipline", as he likes to call them.

And the international dimension of the festival cannot be denied. Reading the prize list speaks for itself: no less than eight nationalities represented among the laureates of the various film categories and more than a dozen among the award-winning photographers from Italy, Japan, Germany, Russia or for example from Brazil. And it is this great crucible that has always given its richness to the Festival. No one else finds so many enthusiasts, whether professional or amateur, from all over the world.

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For the third consecutive year, the festival had taken up residence at the Palais du Pharo: and if leaving Antibes at the time had diverted more than one, we must recognize the exceptional character of the place. We overlook the Old Port on one side, the harbor of Marseille on the other, we see the islands: an invitation to travel, a permanent plunge into two thousand years of history, and a thought for all the pioneers of the world under - sailors who have lived and still live in Marseille. Adding to this impeccable projection rooms, a large square overlooking the port and the city, the equation is perfect.

Yet this year the public has not responded overwhelmingly to the call. For the "badged", those who are there as exhibitors, in competitions, as former winners, as professionals, the festival is always a moment of happiness. Because we find people there that we esteem, whose work we admire, that we discover each other's projects. But sometimes we have the feeling of being among festival-goers, and the impression that the public, in a way, would be excluded from the party.

The festival has always been, whether in film or in photos, a breeding ground for talent, but the less experienced remain a little more in the shadows: and in the face of the pros, the cadors, who know their profession inside out. , there are those who start, who still stammer, but whose barely hatched talent is already showing. One could imagine a special prize, a "hopes" category in a way, as it exists in cinema or music ...

A point undoubtedly marked those who were present, and the phenomenon has grown in recent years: awards without winners ... Despite all the efforts of Marine Etard and Beatrice Laure Berthon, despite all those of the jury members on stage, an award ceremony without a winner has something sinister. Perhaps it should be imposed, even if we understand that the competitors cannot all move, especially when they are foreigners, that each of them has at least mandated a representative, someone who could receive its place its trophy.

This year, we knew, marks the end of an era. Daniel Mercier, after carrying the festival for almost four decades, will pass the hand. He gave us dreams, to share, tirelessly, sometimes carrying the festival at arm's length. Because such an enterprise, in the noble sense of the term, rarely runs on its own, it has put all its energy, all its determination into it for 40 years. The Festival will continue, it will undoubtedly be different, surely reinvented, and we wish the best to those who will take up the torch.

But first we take our hat off, to Daniel, and to all the volunteers in the shade who answered present each year. Thanks Daniel!

Find all of the winners on: www.underwater-festival.com

Today winner of the Paul Ricard Oceanographic Institute prize, Manuel Lefevre, like many of us, began his "career" in the role of spectator, installed Sunday afternoon in the family sofa in front of the adventures of the Calypso! And diving, during the summers spent on the shores of the Mediterranean, very quickly imposed itself on him. Initially a leisure activity to satisfy one's curiosity about the seabed, diving has gradually become a professional vocation.
With a father passionate about images who had made his own camera housing, Manuel was able to seize the opportunity offered to him to take his first underwater images. The whole family is involved in the production of its first 26-minute film “To Each His Own Style”. This experience leaves them with unforgettable memories, such as their first encounter with dolphins in Egypt or the first manta ray crossed in the Maldives. Through the diving masks, the amazed looks of his parents and his sister testify to an emotion that is all the more palpable.
This first "amateur" achievement was well rewarded: the film aroused the interest of professionals, and he signed his first contract with a production company a few months later.
More recently, among his fondest memories, he also tells us how he filmed an anemone laying. Extraordinary images taken at night, almost stolen while he was doing his landing and which allowed him to win the HugyCup in 2010.
With “Fish Life”, a series of 12 documentaries, Manuel has won several awards in festivals. And the recognition is international since the series is broadcast all over the world on Raï, Discovery Channel, TV5 Monde and many others.

However, as a self-taught director, Manuel was often confronted with the difficulties of the environment. To better understand and master the workings of the profession, he then returned to the benches of the university from which he graduated last September, with a professional master's degree in cinema & audiovisual production in his pocket. Finding funding, mastering the production of the film… the bet was risky, and yet Manuel now has major projects in preparation. He now wants to be able to place his films in a real professional context by surrounding himself as well as possible. He has already worked with Danny Van Belle, gold palm of the underwater image festival with "The Law of Hunger" for which he signed the credits.

Surrounded by a production and directing team, Manuel is currently preparing a 52-minute documentary on the Thau pond that he will co-sign with Laurent Ballesta, marine biologist and photographer who is no longer presented. In parallel, he is preparing a new series on the various branches of the marine animal kingdom, starting with an episode on molluscs.