What is the Pastille Festival?
Every year in November, the Pastille documentary film festival offers a selection of films for discussion on access to healthcare, the development of universal health cover and the promotion of health and prevention.
What does it mean to be in good health?
Why do health inequalities exist?
What is solidarity in health?
The 7th Pastille 2023 Festival took place on 15 and 22 November in Nantes.
Every year in November, the Pastille Festival offers a selection of films designed to promote discussion about access to healthcare, the development of universal health cover, and health promotion and prevention.
The festival has a number of objectives: to raise public awareness of inequalities in access to healthcare in France and around the world, to change current perceptions and deconstruct preconceived ideas, while stimulating and supporting commitment to greater solidarity in healthcare.
This year’s event focused on the central themes of mental health and food sovereignty, both of which are also themes of the Solidarity Festival.
Programming
This year, two screenings took place on Wednesday 15 November from 7pm to 9pm, followed by four more on Wednesday 22 November from 4pm to 9pm, at Cosmospolis and Théâtre de Poche Graslin respectively.
The aim of the programme is to educate young and not-so-young audiences alike about health issues, and to look at mental health from different perspectives (treatment, representations of mental health, etc.) in order to fuel a debate with specialists in education, psychopathology and psychologists from Nantes.
Cinema in action
At the same time, UNIS CITE and Mutualité Française Pays de la Loire organised a number of events in December. UNIS CITE organised an awareness-raising module on mental health among young people, and Mutualité Française Pays de la Loire organised a film debate on the same theme.
Finally, the festival will be travelling to Senegal for two further screenings in Rufisque in January 2024, thanks to a partnership with the Maison des Eclaireurs.
The Festival in figures
- 7 films selected by a panel of 9, including 4 young people
- 6 screenings in cinemas in France, 2 screenings in cinemas in Senegal, 2 screenings by partners
- 81 people attended the screenings over the 2 days
A unique local festival, the ESN supports and assists in the organisation of the festival in partnership with the association ESSENTIEL, a member of the Education and Solidarity Network. Pastille is an important opportunity for people to meet, raise awareness and reflect on the themes and issues of health and the fight against stereotypes, which are intrinsically linked to the Network’s ambitions and missions. Once again this year, its short films were a hit with audiences, provoking laughter, tears, terror and debate. We recommend them all!
