In Acid, by Just Philippot, presented Sunday May 21 in a midnight session, a catastrophic future takes the form of acid and devastating rains which threaten the planet. In The Cloudreleased in 2020, the young French director was already staging an attack by giant grasshoppers to better denounce the excesses of productivist agriculture and its consequences on biodiversity.

From fiction to action, he was awarded the Ecoprod prize this weekend, which for the second consecutive year rewards films produced “in the most eco-responsible way possible”.

Raising the public’s awareness of the challenges of our contemporary world has always been one of the functions of cinema, and putting their convictions into practice to achieve this requires a certain consistency.

Shooting is an extremely polluting undertaking in terms of transport, energy and logistics. Since March 31, production companies have been encouraged to submit a provisional and final assessment of the carbon emissions generated during their filming. And public aid will soon be conditional on this double balance sheet.

Relative awareness

Some productions already go further. Reuse of sets and costumes, use of reconditioned technological equipment, recycling of waste produced by filming, vegetarian menus or menus based on local products in the canteen, travel by train rather than by plane… The initiatives are numerous and encouraged by the Ecoprod association, which has been working since 2009 to raise awareness in the profession about ecological transition.

“There is a real awarenesswelcomes Alissa Aubenque, director of operations. Especially on the part of directors and actors who want to match their personal convictions and their profession. » Of the 80 films selected this year at Cannes, 11 applied for this prize, proof that there is still a long way to go.