Moulin d'Andé

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Geographic location

The Moulin d’Andé (the Mill at Andé) is on a tributary of the Seine 100 km from Paris, between les Andelys and Rouen, in Eure, Upper-Normandy.

Eure county, stretching across the chalky plateaux west of the Paris basin, is essentially agricultural in character. But the presence of some industry helps to offset the rural exodus which has cast a shadow over the whole sector.

Nearby Paris contributes to the buzz of Eure county, which also offers many tourist and particularly cultural attractions. Eure has an important network of amenities offering major theatrical and musical events.

Eure is also renowned for its policy of favouring the cinema. In particular its initiatives include support for CÉCI (Centre for Film Writing).

Beginnings

The Moulin d’Andé Cultural Association promotes arts, crafts and literature. It has been a haven for intellectuals and writers as diverse as Maurice Pons, Jean-Jacques Peyronnet, Richard Wright, René Depestre, Jacques Stephen Alexis, Hubert Juin and Eugène Ionesco. It has also served as a film location and a base for writing film scripts from 1957 to 1963; for example, it served as a location for Truffaut’s Jules and Jim. Having initially been run on an informal basis for several years, the Moulin Association proper saw the light of day in 1962.

The Association offers a sanctuary to writers, artists, students and young researchers. Through creating and developing artistic activities, organising exhibitions, symposia and receptions, the Association has become a regional cultural focus.

After concentrating on film in its early days, the Association fully embraced music in the 1980s. Since then, there have been about 100 concerts a year, including the Alexander Paley Festival which draws throngs of aficionados.

In 1998, the Moulin d’Andé Association’s activities turned full circle with the establishment of the Centre for Film Writing – CÉCI.

Ongoing plans

Centre for training and research
One of the main aims of the Association is to welcome artists and researchers to facilitate their research & creative work. Thus, each year, CÉCI welcomes as residents - and provides support for - scriptwriters, writers for the cinema and composers of film music. Professional meetings are organised with scriptwriters, filmmakers, composers and key producers. Symposia are also organised around leading filmmakers.

On the musical front, every summer the Association organises the International Music Academy, thanks to which numerous professional musicians have been able to further their training and work with highly qualified teachers. Since the creation of this Academy in 1987, more than 1400 professionals and students have participated in master-classes, led by teachers from around the world. At the end of the session, a music festival allows participants to celebrate their talent.

A place for creation and dissemination
The residencies and training offered by the Moulin d’Andé culminate in musical and film productions. Thus, the “Alexander Paley and Friends” Festival has become an unmissable musical event that each year reunites musicians and spectators who have attended the Festival since its inception in 1992. Like all Cultural Centres, the Moulin d’Andé also has an interest in disseminating work : CECI, Centre for Film Writing, got together with the Research and Experimental Film Group (“GREC”) - which produces the works of young filmmakers – and with Documentaries for the Big Screen (“Documentaires sur Grand Écran”) - which distribute French and international documentaries in cinemas - to create the magazine “Crossover Cinema” (“Cinémas Croisés”). Its first edition came out in 2001.

Open to the world
The Moulin d’Andé welcomes seminars, study days and symposia throughout the year. An extensive programme of refurbishment and development by the owner since the 1960s has resulted in vastly expanded facilities and improved services. Seminars play a crucial role in financing running costs.

Institutional and other support

The Moulin d’Andé-CÉCI receives financial support from the Ministry of Upper Normandy Regional Management of Cultural Affairs (Upper Normandy “DRAC”), the Office for Development and Regional Planning (“DDAT”), the National Centre for Cinematography (“CNC”), Eure county council, Regional Council of Upper Normandy, Society for Authors, Composers & Music Publishers (“SACEM”) and the Society of Authors & Composers for Drama (“SACD”). A partnership is being developed with ARTE for musical composition and the performance of live music.

The Moulin d’Andé-CÉCI is also a partner of Cinéfondation which selects young filmmakers with script proposals for full-length films. They are invited to Paris for six months by the Cannes Festival. Some of them spend time at CÉCI to extend their stay. The Moulin d’Andé-CÉCI have ongoing relationships with the Research and Experimental Film Group (“GREC”) and the Image Centre of Upper Normandy. It also supports the Scriptwriters Festival at Ciotat, the Namur Festival and the open air Festival at Grenoble.

The Moulin d’Andé is constantly on the look-out for new partners to develop its production activities. New links are being formed with the International Agency of Francophonia and PROCIREP; the latter assists production companies with writing and the development of televisual fiction and animation programmes through subsidies.