Festival Mondial de l’Image Sous-Marine (Antibes Festival)
Type: Film and photography festival / competition Frequency: Annual Location: Antibes, France (1974–2008); Marseille (2009–2017)
History
The Festival Mondial de l’Image Sous-Marine was founded in 1974 by Daniel Mercier in Antibes, France. It is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious underwater imaging events, encompassing documentary films, photography, music, books, and conferences. At its peak, it attracted nearly 1,000 competitors from ~50 nations and over 25,000 visitors.
The festival started a touring program in 1979, showing prize-winning films in ~50 cities worldwide.
Wetpixel has a direct connection to the Antibes Festival: the site won the Best Website prize in 2003, an early validation of Eric Cheng’s vision for the online community.
Tony Wu’s Silent Symphony won the Grand Prize for Books at Antibes.
Timeline
- 1974: Founded by Daniel Mercier in Antibes
- 1979: Touring program begins
- 2003 (October): 30th Festival Mondial de l’Image Sous-Marine held in Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins, France. Wetpixel won Web Site of the Year award. Eric Cheng attended with Digideep team. ([1], [2])
- 2004 (October): Laurent Ballesta won the slide portfolio. Nikon D70 was the most popular DSLR at the event. Subal, Seacam, Hugyfot, Sealux, and Subtronic exhibited. Covered by Alex Mustard. ([3])
- 2005: Seacam Seaflash 250 digital strobe introduced at the festival ([4]). Entry deadline September 15, 2005 ([5]).
- 2008: Last year in Antibes
- 2009–2017: Relocates to Marseille
References
Sources
- Wetpixel article, Oct 28, 2003: Antibes Festival 2003 Coverage ↩
- Wetpixel article, Nov 1, 2003: Wetpixel Wins At Antibes ↩
- Wetpixel article, Nov 1, 2004: Antibes Festival 2004 Report1 ↩
- Wetpixel article, Nov 2, 2005: Seacams Seaflash 250 Digital Strobe ↩
- Wetpixel article, Aug 18, 2005: World Festival Of Underwater Images ↩
- Antibes Festival 2003 coverage (article) ↩
- Wetpixel wins at Antibes (article) ↩
- Antibes Festival 2004 report (article) ↩
- World Festival of Underwater Images 2005 (article) ↩
- Seacam Seaflash 250 (article) ↩