Taking environmental responsibility
Soft mobility
The Festival does not use domestic flights, favoring the train for travel within France and between bordering countries, for its guests and its teams. As the TAP is close to the train station, most of the guests are escorted by foot for their arrival and departure or via an electric vehicle.
Since 2023, the Festival has reduced the number of international guests, especially for the professional workshops. It opts for longer stays, only using flights for trips longer than 4 days.
Responsible waste management
The Festival has not used plastic bottles since 2021. Washable glasses and water fountains are available for the general public as well as bins for recycling and composting. Joining forces with its food-related partners, it implements a system for sorting recyclable waste and composting bio-waste. It uses washable silverware and plates in the cafeteria. It limits the sale and distribution of goodies and collects the lanyards at the end of the Festival for the following year.
Responsible eating
Since 2019, the Festival has worked with ecologically-minded food partners: vegetarian menus as well as seasonal and local products.
In 2023, alongside the caterer Hybrid Films – Je m’appelle Reviens, it opted for an exclusively vegetarian cuisine, which will also be the case in 2024.
Energy conservation
The TAP is committed to reducing its carbon footprint. On December 31, 2022, 37% of its spotlights were replaced by LED technology. Since 2021, the TAP has chosen to work with a local gas supplier that produces and invests in renewable energy and an electricity supplier that guarantees that its electricity is generated from renewable energy sources.
Ensuring equality
Professional representation
A particularly important subject given its young audience, the Poitiers Film Festival has been championing the representation of women in the film industry for years.
It ensures equality in its content, and amongst its guests and teams.
Over the course of its editions, the Poitiers Film Festival has observed that women study film just as much as men. In recent years, they represent on average 48% of enrollments. This ratio is reflected in the International Selection: half of the competing films are by women. The Festival ensures gender equality in all its programs.
The Festival puts together equal juries and selection committees. For its thematic programs and master classes, it invites female artists and technicians. The professional workshops aim to welcome the same number of male and female talents.
This support contributes to the professionalization of filmmakers graduating from film schools or from disadvantaged environments. It is especially vital, given the fact that breaking into the film industry is difficult for young filmmakers in general, and for women in particular.
Since 2023, the TAP (Théâtre Auditorium de Poitiers) has been directed by a woman and the Festival’s general delegate is also a woman. The team is predominantly made up of women, both in terms of regular employees and new recruits hired for the event: head of professional programming, public relations manager, head of welcoming guests, copy manager, moderator, interpreters…
Preventing Sexist and Sexual Violence in the Workplace
In 2023, the TAP organized training programs for all its employees in order to raise its teams’ awareness of issues, risks, and responsibilities related to sexist and sexual violence and harassment in the workplace.
2 employees volunteered and were trained to become points of contact. They wrote a protocole enabling victims of sexist or sexual violence to report said violence and seek support.
The establishment is committed to the “Demandez Angela” initiative, aiming to assist and support victims of harassment.
In 2024, the Festival is a stakeholder in the think-tank days organized by the “Collectif des festivals de cinéma de Nouvelle-Aquitaine” revolving around inclusion, the first of which is dedicated to equality and fighting sexist and sexual violence in the workplace. It continues to reflect on the best ways to raise awareness amongst its filmgoers: flyers, hashtags, teasers, extensive communications at the locations of partner festivities…
The Festival is a signatory of the Collectif 50/50’s charter. As of 2024, the TAP is a member of the Collectif.
