30e Festival Mondial de L'Image Sous-Marine [www]

The Festival Mondial de L'Image Sous-Marine is an annual festival located in Antibes/Juan Les Pins, on the south coast of France. Although the festival is not well known in America -- outside of the underwater media industry -- the awards they give out annually are generally considered to be some of the most prestigious worldwide. I had heard about the Antibes festival many times during my short, two-year "career" as an underwater photographer; this year, I decided to enter both photographic prints and Wetpixel.com into the competition. Even though my imagination bore a mental image of what the festival might, I arrived in Juan Les Pins unsure of what to expect, and in fact, it was a miracle at all that I managed to disembark from the bus at the proper bus stop, given my complete incompetence in the French language. Five years ago, I traveled across the French Riviera by train on a typical, post-college European backpacking trip, but we were on the move nearly every day and our schedule did not permit us to stop in Antibes. Although it is easy to imagine the small town overrun by summer tourists, it still radiates a friendly, provincial aura. A friendly, "bonjour!" greets you at nearly every corner, and the smell of fresh bread and pastry tempts you as you walk the streets.

After spending a night resting, I woke up on the first day of the festival to sounds outside of my hotel room. Still sleepy, I padded to the door and opened it. Just as I had expected, outside of my room stood Andreas Voeltz and his lovely girlfriend, Aline! Lars Kirchhoff and Laura were just down the hall, also getting ready to head out for the day. Digideep.com and Wetpixel.com were finally given the chance to meet -- and in neutral territory, as well! (I'm joking, of course. We are great friends, and our sites complement each other well.) Andi, Aline, Lars, Laura and I spent the majority of the festival together, three young contributors to the underwater photography industry banding together in digital solidarity (or something like that. :). YUP founder Alex Mustard was slated to arrive later on in the week, but unfortunately, poor weather prevented his attendance.

A large, two-section tent contained the majority of what was offered at the Antibes Festival. Three presentation rooms featured competition films and slides from opening until close, and participants' print entries were prominently displayed throughout the main tent. A small number of small booths were also present, representing European magazines, equipment manufacturers, dive operators, and strangely enough, a company selling trinkets made of rare red coral. For five days, participants and visitors watch films and peruse the prints and booths during the day, and relax and socialize during the evenings. A secondary tent located near the water across the park contained a stage where much alcohol was consumed in the evenings. The regular Antibes band (comprised of participants!) performed live music as well. Although we (the aforementioned quintet of 4 Germans and myself) attended some of the evening parties, I felt somewhat out of place in a room full of slightly older, inebriated Europeans! They really know how to have a good time; on Saturday evening, there was an announcement at 11:30pm that no more soda was to be served; participants were only allowed to drink alcohol thereafter, and since Jamesson was sponsoring the evening, that meant two hours of free whiskey. I can only imagine the antics that followed. Douglas Seifert, one of my few American peers (although we are not really peers, as he is much more accomplished than I), was said to be "half-dressed, dancing around." I wish I had been there with a camera to capture material that might have been suitable for blackmail!

My first Antibes Festival came after attending both DEMA (Miami) and Visions in the Sea (London), and the three of them couldn't be more different from each other. DEMA is a trade show; I spent most of the time running around from booth to booth collecting information and making contacts. Visions is a series of interesting and educational seminars about a wide range of topics around underwater photography/videography. Antibes, however, is five days set aside during the year for the social bonding of European underwater professionals. At the same time, it is a venue to show a wider audience what it is that they do. Each year, the same people come back and socialize together, sustaining community in the industry. This isn't to say that deals aren't made over a beer at the bar, but the ambience of the event is what makes it truly special. I only wish that I could speak French! However, even without command of the language, I met many interesting individuals. European and Asian dive magazines and photo agencies seemed eager to meet and to establish relationships with an American underwater photographer.

Especially notable for us here at Wetpixel was the announcement at the awards ceremony that Wetpixel.com had won the Antibes 2003 Web Site award. Even though I couldn't understand what was being said about us while I was on stage, it was easy to feel the appreciation of what we do from the few organizers and jurors that I had the opportunity to speak with.

It would be great to have more involvement from American contributors at Antibes. In its current state, Antibes is a difficult festival to fully appreciate as a non-French speaker. For example, the awards ceremony was conducted 100% in French. This makes sense because most of the audience can understand French, but even small changes like side-by-side translations in English on the projected slides (the slides were all in French as well) would make it accessible to a much wider audience. My other criticism is that the slides projected were projected onto the entire area of the screen, which meant that the lower portion of each slide was obscured by people on stage. Unfortunately, this was the area of the slide reserved for displaying which entry actually won the award being presented. Not understanding spoken French, those of us in this situation could have at least seen in print who was winning specific awards.

Regarding general contribution and competition at Antibes, it seemed to me that some of the presented entries in both the film and still image competitions were rather weak this year. I haven't been to the festival previously, but some of them fell beneath a basic quality standard that a prestigious competition should have. This suggested to many of us that the number of submissions were low. So if you are reading this, please submit your entries for the Antibes 2004 Festival! You don't have to be there to win an award, but you should try to go anyway, if you can. The area around Juan Les Pins was gorgeous. Andi, Lars, Aline, Laura and I spent some time in old Antibes, just around the peninsula from Juan Les Pins, where a wonderful open-air market greeted us, selling the widest variety of cheeses, sausages, spices, and olives I have ever seen. Even though the festival isn't during the high season, the Festival Mondial de L'Image Sous-Marine makes a fantastic event to center a French Riviera vacation around. In fact, it seems to be the latest in the year that tourists go to the area, as Antibes/Juan Les Pins virtually shuts down for the winter after the festival ends.

On a side note, it was a very nice treat to become friends -- in person -- with Andreas Voeltz and Lars Kirchhoff, the brains behind the Digideep underwater housing database. I also enjoyed meeting and spending time with Harald Apelt, Editor-In-Chief of Tauchen Magazine, Michael Aw and Chris Lee of Asian Geographic, Osvaldo Ballabio, videographer, Mike Busuttili, Juror and Publisher of Divernet, Simon Christopher of Scubazoo Images, Lars Kirkegaard, Business Manager of Dyk Magazine, Eckhard Krumpholz, underwater pool photographer, Robert Margaillan, Editorial Manager of UW Unlimited, Amos Nachoum of BigAnimals.com, Olivier Oudon, Publisher of Plongeurs International, John Rumney, Manager of the Undersea Explorer, Harald, creator of Seacam housings, and many more individuals whose faces I remember, but whose names I have unfortunately forgotten.

Until next year,
Eric Cheng

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The main tent at Antibes (photo: Andi or Lars)

Eric's Mixed Dolphin Pod, Andi's Scorpionfish, and Lars' Turtle and Diver

Andi, Lars, and Harald (Chief Editor of Tauchen Magazine)

The fascade of the Antibes Festival

Lars' Anemonefish and Eric's Turtle

Aline and Andi, on the beautiful (but windy) French Riviera

Aline, Andi, Lars, Laura, Harald, and Eric, at lunch

Harald, with scuba divers

Andi tests out the Olympus E-1 4/3 SLR

Andi and Aline

One of the exhibition halls (it was quiet before the weekend)

Harald of Seacam and Michael Aw look over secret Seacam documents

Lars, Andi, Kurt Amsler, and Harald

Simon Christopher of Scubazoo, and Douglas Seifert

Lars, Laura and I go out for dinner

"We love Americans," she said.

The evening party, before the real craziness begins

Relaxing to wine and music

Lars and Laura review images

Laura, Harald, and Eric. Harald is singing, we think. (photo: Andi or Lars)

Chris Lee, Tony White and his wife

Mike (Divernet), Eric, Lars (Dyk Magazine), and Andi

Douglas, Andi, Aline, Lars, Laura and I go out for a bite to eat

Andi and his turtle

Lars photographs the photo exhibition

The Dive Magazine booth

Anne, giving a short speech before the films begin

The audience, immediately after a... "provocative" abstract film

Andi and Lars have a drink

A blurry photo of Osvaldo Ballabio and Eric Cheng

Andi and Eric, geeking out (photo: Lars)

Andi and Lars look at the photo exhibition

Big waves! (photo: Andi or Lars)

The beautiful Antibes coastline

The work parking job EVER.

Exploring Antibes

Antibes

Antibes

A cute market we found in Antibes

Olives!

Too bad I don't really like olives.

Sausage, anyone?

Sausages

Colorful spices

This market is incredible

More spices

Andi talks about his philosophies (photo: Lars)

Beautiful dusk

Andi and a little girl practice modern dance moves

Digideep: Andreas Voeltz and Lars Kirchhoff

Dusk at Juan Les Pins

The Antibes Festival awards ceremony

The Antibes Festival awards ceremony

The Digideep team sits through an entire ceremony in French

Miss Plongee contest!

Wetpixel.com and Eric Cheng win the Antibes Underwater Website Award (photo: Andi or Lars)

We all check out the golden fin trophy (photo: Andi or Lars)

Laura, Lars, Aline, and Andi, in front of the Antibes Festival fascade

Toasting to the Wetpixel win during dinner in Antibes

Eric Cheng, with Antibes award (photo: Andi or Lars)

Look what winning an award attracts! (photo: Andi or Lars)

I hope to win more of these. (photo: Andi or Lars)

Aline and Laura (photo: Andi or Lars)

A really cute restaurant we found in Antibes

The Digideep team, with Wetpixel.com

Another toast, after dinner

The market, deserted at night

Alcohol-induced fun!

Posing in the streets of Antibes

Aline and Laura, in Antibes

Walking back to the car

Todd Essick, posing with his mother Roberta, and with his photography

Todd, with Alessandra EVANGELISTI, Miss France Plongee 2003

Charlotte mans the Dive Magazine booth

(Dotation du Festival 4000 Euros)

PRIX DU PRESIDENT DE LA REPUBLIQUE
PALME D'OR
à : BHANA Michael (NLLE ZELANDE)
pour : Tuna Cowboys

PALME D'ARGENT
à : BBC NATURAL HISTORY UNIT, BROWNLOW Mark, DISCOVERY (GRANDE BRETAGNE)
pour : The Wildlife Specials : Smart Sharks - Swimming with Roboshark

PALME DE BRONZE
à : NATURAL HISTORY NEW ZEALAND Ltd, WAHBA Lawrence (NLLE ZELANDE)
pour : Spinner Dolphins

PRIX SPECIAL DU JURY
à : WDR, HERZOG Michael, HERZOG Sara, HEMSCHEMEIER Meike, WEIDENBACH Thomas, ARTE, WDR KÖLN (ALLEMAGNE)
pour : 3000 lieues à contre-courant - Le retour du saumon dans le Rhin

PALME D'OR (700 €)
à : MELCHIORI Gian (ITALIE)
pour : Explique moi la mer

PALME D'ARGENT (450 €)
à : BOYLE John, CROW HOWIESON Fionn (GRANDE BRETAGNE)
pour : Undersea homes

PALME DE BRONZE (300 €)
à : PENKIN Alexandre (UKRAINE)
pour : Salem Express

PRIX SPECIAL DU JURY
à : CHANVALLON Stéphanie (FRANCE)
pour : Rance insolite le Peuple discret

PRIX DE LA Commission Océanographique Intergouvernementale de l'UNESCO (2 500 €)
à : GRANER Florian, PEGLEY Kevan, NDR Naturfilm,Studio Hamburg Produktion (ALLEMAGNE)
pour : Norway's Hidden Secrets

PRIX DE LA FONDATION ALBERT 1er MUSEE OCEANOGRAPHIQUE DE MONACO (1 500 €)
à : TEZIER Rémy, TEC TEC PRODUCTION (FRANCE)
pour : Europa, l'île sauvage

PRIX DU PUBLIC
à : MULTIGNIER Benoit (FRANCE)
pour : L'ami du grand requin blanc

PRIX DU DOCUMENTAIRE ANIMALIER
à : WDR, KAUFMANN Gisela (ALLEMAGNE)
pour : La mer des Serpents

PRIX DU DOCUMENTAIRE HISTORIQUE
à : ZDF German Television, FRICKE Hans (ALLEMAGNE)
pour : Dinosaurs of the deep

PRIX INFORMATION
à : RIFF INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION, THIAVILLE Françoise, COURANT Frédéric, GOURMAUD Jamy, BOSCHERON Thierry, GONNER Bernard. (FRANCE)
pour : C'est pas sorcier - "Poulpes Fiction"

PRIX DE L'HUMOUR
à : BLANCO Leandro (ESPAGNE)
pour : The mutants

PRIX DE L'INSOLITE
à : BLANCO Leandro (ESPAGNE)
pour : Dalirium

PRIX DE L'INSTITUT OCEANOGRAPHIQUE PAUL RICARD
à : DUKNIC Milorad, BORA BORA PRODUCTION (YOUGOSLAVIE)
pour : Fate

PRIX DE LA F.F.C.V. (Fédération Française de Cinéma et Vidéo)
à : CHANVALLON Stéphanie (FRANCE)
pour : Rance insolite le Peuple discret

PRIX DIMITRI REBIKOFF
à : VAN BELLE Danny (BELGIQUE)
pour : Les plus beaux camouflages sous-marins

PRIX BRIGITTE CRUICKSHANK (750 €)
à : BOYLE John, CROW HOWIESON Fionn (GRANDE BRETAGNE)
pour : Undersea homes

à : MELCHIORI Gian (ITALIE)
pour : Explique moi la mer

CONCOURS « ARCHIPELAEGO »

PRIX « ARCHITECTURE DE LA MER » JACQUES ROUGERIE ( 1500 € offerts par NAUSICAA)
Ex æquo à : PEDRON Maya (SUISSE)
pour : Une maison sous-marine, type "007"
et à : LOISEL Renaud (FRANCE)
pour : Projet Alpha : Aménagement littoral plongée Handicap

PRIX DU DESIGN  ( 500 €)
à : KILBERTUS Félix (Autriche)
pour : " L'eautomobile" un véhicule pour les futures cités marines

PRIX «  LIBRE EXPRESSION » PHILIPPE TAILLIEZ ( 500 €)
à : FAYEL Jean-Marc et ESCOBAR Alejandro (FRANCE)
pour : Plante dans la Mer

PRIX DE L'ASSOCIATION FRANCAISE DE CONCHYLIOLOGIE
à : PIGNATARO Giuseppe (ITALIE)

PRIX JORGE ALBUQUERQUE
à : KOKICHI Shinshi (JAPON)

PLONGEUR D'OR (450 €)
à : PIVARI Andrea (ITALIE)
pour : Circo

PLONGEUR D'ARGENT (300 €)
à : HOLLOWAY Zena ( GRANDE BRETAGNE)
pour : Watermark

PRIX DE LA MEILLEURE ADAPTATION MUSICALE
à : HOLLOWAY Zena ( GRANDE BRETAGNE)
pour : Watermark

PLONGEUR D'OR (450 €)
à : DRAGO Domenico ITALIE
pour : Adieu à Paris

PLONGEUR D'ARGENT (300 €)
à : BORTOLETTO Pierluigi (ITALIE)
pour : L'homme qui marche au fond de la mer

PRIX DE LA MEILLEURE ADAPTATION MUSICALE
à : BORTOLETTO Pierluigi (ITALIE)
pour : L'homme qui marche au fond de la mer

PLONGEUR D'OR (450 €)
PRIX PAPUA NEW GUINEA (au Plongeur d'Or ) ( 3 semaines de plongée en Papouasie)
PRIX KODAK (500 €)
à : DOMBOVARI Tibor ( HONGRIE)

PLONGEUR D'ARGENT (300 €)
PRIX KODAK (500 €)
à : VEZZARO Davide ( SUISSE)

PLONGEUR DE BRONZE (150 €)
à : THIELE Werner ( AUTRICHE)

PRIX OCEANS "Meilleure diapo de couverture" (380 €)
à : BERNHARD Tobias (ALLEMAGNE)

PRIX de la Revue AQUANAUT au premier Suisse (2 semaines dans des eaux tropicales, vol compris)
à : VEZZARO Davide ( SUISSE)

1 er PRIX (450 €)
PRIX « Tanga Coastal Zone Conservation » (valeur environ 4 000 €)
à : TOMCIK Martin (SLOVAQUIE)
pour : la photo N° 26

2 ème PRIX (300 €)
à : GRAILLE Roland ( FRANCE)
pour : la photo N° 21

3 ème PRIX (150 €)
à : ZANNI Mirko ( SUISSE)
pour : la photo N° 80

PRIX André LABAN "La Passion du Bleu"
à : BOGHOSSIAN Didier ( FRANCE)
pour : la photo N° 36

PRIX « The Best Photo-Sniper »
à : GRAILLE Roland ( FRANCE)
pour : la photo N° 21

PRIX JEUNE PHOTOGRAPHE moins de 15 ans
à : GRITSKAYA Olga ( UKRAINE)
pour : la photo N° 4

PRIX OUR WORLD-UNDERWATER SCHOLARSHIP SOCIETY
à : MAZILLE Guillaume (FRANCE)
pour : la photo N° 26

1 er PRIX (450 €)
à : MAZILLE Guillaume (FRANCE)
pour : la photo N° 26

2 ème PRIX (300 €)
à : CARATTI Enrico ( ITALIE)
pour : la photo N° 30

PRIX JEAN ET MARYSE CHAPEYROUX
à : DAWSON Alex ( SUEDE)
pour : la photo N° 7

Organisé sous le Patronage du
CONSEIL GENERAL DES ALPES MARITIMES

PRIX du CONCOURS « LA MÉDITERRANÉE »
à : MILLE Jean-Michel ( FRANCE)
pour : la photo N° 111

PRIX FRANÇOIS DE ROUBAIX ( 750 €)
à : Jean-Claude TAVERNIER (France)
pour : Percumer II (Les otaries de La Paz)

PRIX DE LA VILLE D'ANTIBES ( 450 €)
à : Tony QUIMBEL (France)
pour : La naissance de l'Hippocampe

PRIX DE L'INSTITUT OCEANOGRAPHIQUE Paul RICARD ( 300 €)
à: Nathalie DAZIN (France)
pour : Immersion

PRIX MONDIAL DU LIVRE D'IMAGE SOUS-MARINE ( 1 500 €)
à : sualtinin yildizlari
de : Alptekin BALOGLU (TURQUIE)
chez : A4 OFSET

PRIX DU MEILLEUR GUIDE DU MONDE SOUS-MARIN ( 1 000 €)
à: A field guide to The Seashores of Eastern Africa
chez : MATTHEW D. RICHMOND

MENTIONS SPÉCIALES
à : Planete Bleue
de : Andrew BYATT, Alastair FORTHERGILL, Martha HOLMES
aux : EDITIONS BORDAS
et

à : SS Thistlegorm & Rosalie Moller
de : Alberto SILIOTTI (Italie)
aux : GEODIA EDIZIONI INTERNAZIONALE

PRIX CORAIL DU LIVRE ( 1 000 €)
à : Pirates
de : Gérard PIOUFFRE, Gérard ROUSSEL (France)
aux : EDITIONS MANGO

MENTIONS SPÉCIALES
à : Jacques Mayol l'homme dauphin
de : Pierre MAYOL, Patrick MOUTON (France)
aux : EDITIONS FLAMMARION

PRIX APNEA DU REPORTAGE SOUS-MARIN

1er PRIX ( 600 €)
à : CIONI Cécile, DI RAIMONDO Gillos
pour : Les amis du bleu

2ème PRIX ex-aequo ( 450 €)
à : ESKENAZI Henri, NACHOUM Amos (FRANCE)
pour : Sardine run

2ème PRIX ex-aequo ( 450 €)
à : JOACHIM Philippe, PONCHON Alain (FRANCE)
pour : Hommes et poissons : de la cueillette à la culture

PRIX DU SITE WEB SOUS-MARIN

1er PRIX
à: CHENG Eric, Wetpixel.com (U.S.A.)
pour : http://www.wetpixel.com

Mention spéciale du Jury

à: GEYER Gerhard (Autriche )
pour : http://www.maldives.at

au Système de robinetterie modulable Poseidon - MPV
pour sa simplicité, sa robustesse, son caractère évolutif et novateur et son prix accessible

Palme d'Or
à : Zena HOLLOWAY (Grande Bretagne)
pour :