The Institut français at the Festival d'Avignon 2025
Published on 14 July 2025
The Institut français is present at the Festival d'Avignon from July 7 to 22, 2025. On the program: support for the presence of French and Francophone professionals on international stages, exchanges on changes in the sector and a day, aimed at French professionals, dedicated to the artistic scenes of the Arab world.
Supporting the presence of French and francophone professionals on international stages and connecting them with partners around the world
Throughout the professional week of the Avignon Festival, the Institut français accompanies foreign programmers in their scouting of French proposals(IN & OFF) and thus promotes the development of French contemporary creation internationally. For example, the show Gahugu Gato (Petit Pays), based on the novel by Gaël Faye, directed by Frédéric Fisbach and Dida Nibagwira (Rwanda), shown in Avignon, is supported by the Institut français and the Commission internationale du théâtre francophone (CITF).
On July 8, time will be devoted to the Ministry of Culture's new Pôles internationaux de production et de diffusion (PIPD) scheme. It will provide an opportunity to present it to French and international partners, and to exchange views with foreign artists and operators on the issues of training, dissemination and structuring.
On July 10, to support French professional networks, the Institut français is joining forces with ARTCENAand SACDas part of the réseau international Contxto, for a meeting at the Maison Jean Vilararound translated French-language dramatic writing. Authors Léonore Confino, Penda Dioufand David Lescot will share their experiences of translation and distribution abroad, illustrating the French Institute's commitment to supporting contemporary French dramaturgies in all their linguistic and cultural diversity.
From July 10 to 12, the Institut français is setting up a Café professionnelat the chambre de commerce et d'industrie d'Avignon. This friendly workspace is open to artists, French and foreign professionals, members of the réseau culturel français à l'étranger and all partners, to facilitate their networking. Each morning, it will offer time for exchanges, notably with the Swedish scene (July 10), the Chinese scene (July 11), etc.
From July 15, the cycle of readings Ça va, ça va le monde!, in partnership with RFI, will feature French-language playwright voices from the African continent and the Arab world, including Gad Bensalem (Madagascar), Édouard Elvis Bvouma (Cameroon), Israël Nzila (DRC), Hala Moughanie (Lebanon) and Wael Kadour (Syria).
The Ça va, ça va monde!
Meetings and exchanges on changes in the sector
The Institut français is a partner of the Spectacle vivant - Scènes numériques (SVSN) professional meetings, organized on July 7 and 8 by Dark Euphoria with Le Grenier à Sel, Villa Créative and Avignon Université in partnership with the Avignon Festival. As part of the event, the Institut français invited professionals to discover new forms of creation at the crossroads of live performance, digital and immersive experiences. This partnership illustrates the Institut français' commitment to supporting French artists in contemporary aesthetic and technological mutations.
On July 9, the Institut français is joining forces with the journée professionnelle de l'ONDA, organized in partnership with the Avignon Festival. An international roundtable, moderated by Alia Alzougbi (artistic and general director of the Shubbak Festival, London), will bring together Iman Aoun (ASHTAR Theatre, Ramallah), Silvia Bottiroli (Short Théâtre, Rome), Sofiane Ouissi (Dream City, Tunis). This time of reflection will focus on the role of international festivals in the context of current geopolitical, ecological and aesthetic transformations.
A day for French professionals dedicated to the artistic scenes of the Arab world
As the Avignon Festival invites the Arabic language this year, and the Mediterranean Season opens in May 2026, the Avignon Festival will be an opportunity for the Institut français to present the main thrusts of this highlight.
Piloted by the Institut français, this Season will mobilize French cultural players throughout the country around shared creative projects, particularly with countries on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean. On July 8, a first sequence will see the General Commissioner of the Mediterranean Season, Julie Kretzschmar, present the main orientations of her programming, in dialogue with Lebanese artist Ali Chahrour, guest of the Avignon Festival with When I Saw the Sea, a multidisciplinary creation on the stories of migrant women in Lebanon.
A second sequence around the program Livre des deux rives implemented by the Institut français will be dedicated to aesthetics, languages (translation from French into Arabic and vice versa) and contemporary issues in Arab creation. On this occasion, the bilingual podcast adaptation (French/Arabic) of Baba Fekrane et autres contes by Mohammed Dib (éditions Barzakh), produced by the Institut français with l'Institut du Monde Arabe and the studio Making Waves, will be unveiled. Extracts will be read in French by actress Mouna Soualem and in Arabic by author Salah Badis. Louise and Assia Dib, granddaughter and daughter of Mohammed Dib, will also take part in the exchanges. The day will continue with a round-table discussion featuring Lotfi Nia(France), Soukaina Habiballah(Morocco) and Salah Badis(Algeria), on the relationships between writing, orality, translation and performance in contemporary creationfrom the Arab world.
Detailed program
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