Baleine Festival – Independent, Growing, and Cinema-Driven
A Growing Home for Bold Independent Short Films
Born as an independent and nomadic dream, Baleine Festival has grown year after year into a structured, vibrant, and eco-minded gathering in Northern France (La Ferté-Milon). We don’t aim to be a massive corporate event; our strength lies in what truly matters to filmmakers: a rigorous cinematic curation, a dedicated and cinematographic jury; exceptionally warm, engaged audience.

Where Disciplines Meet Without Rules
We believe cinema shines brightest when it talks with other arts. While short film remains the heart and soul of our programming, Baleine Festival embraces a transdisciplinary spirit—blending film, music, sound creation, and live performance to celebrate raw human experience and creative- freedom.

Curation & Jury Quality: We're truly looking for a film..  guest juries of filmmakers, musicians, and industry professionals..  passionate artistic risk-taking conversations., a story.

Audience: Located an hour from Paris , in La Ferté-Milon, our festival draws an enthusiastic blend of local film lovers and curious Parisian audiences. Screenings take place in iconic venues like Cinéma Jean Racine, while expanding partnership with a Parisian cinema to build an even stronger synergy between the capital and our region, high -art, here and there.

Sustainable, Artisanal & Unique Experience
We grow at a human scale alongside local artists and craftspeople. In line with our eco-responsible ethos, our festival trophies are custom-crafted by a local sculptor using reclaimed scrap metal.

As our signature tradition, the grand prize-winning films are projected under the stars directly onto the historic stone walls of the castle ruins—a monumental 102-meter-wide by 28-meter-high open-air screen for an extraordinary experience.

Be part of an evolving ecosystem where your film is respected, your voice is valued, and artists grow together.