The Shortest Day is the name of the first Short Film Festival, launched by the French National Centre for Cinema and the Animated Image (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, CNC).
The festival will take place on December 21, 2011 – winter solstice, the longest night of the year, and therefore, the year’s shortest day.
Why launch this festival? “In France, short films are well-represented at festivals and arthouse theatres. However, in spite of the efforts of some television networks, short films remain almost unavailable to the general public. A paradoxical state of affairs, since the short film format is well-suited to the accelerated rhythm and mobility of modern life.”
Hence the idea of employing public spaces other than movie theatres: train stations, trains, subway stations, museums. You can also participate in the festival, by registering at this site: lejourlepluscourt.com.
For its first celebration of shorts, The Shortest Day has called on the author, screenwriter, and casting director Stéphane Foenkinos and director Alexandre Athané to make this exceptional teaser:
Alexandre Athané is a young French director. He has worked as an illustrator, animator, decorator, graffiti artist and film director in Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. He’s the creator of several short films, as well as many music videos and commercials. He has consented to share his statement of intent for the teaser exclusively with MyFrenchFilms.com:
A day that slips by fast, a moon passed from hand to hand, finally lighting the night-time sky; characters hesitating between too long and insufficiently short…To mirror the insane adventure of making a short film, I wanted to make the teaser for The Shortest Day a vibrant, colourful, animated, joyful little film full of unexpected twists, to celebrate this great holiday of the short.
When asked about his experience creating the teaser, Athané’s answer is tongue-in-cheek:
I will just say this: “It was short, but intense!”
Website: lejourlepluscourt.com
Twitter: @jourlepluscourt (#jlpc)
Facebook: lejourlepluscourt
Sébastien - unifrance.org 
