Lumexplore, the festival of scientific and environmental exploration film, invites you to La Ciotat from Thursday, September 16 to Sunday, September 19, 2021, for its 6th edition.This festival brings together the general public and explorers from all backgrounds for 4 days! Film screenings, exhibitions, conferences… discover the best of what scientific adventure has to offer for the knowledge of our planet and humanity. Visitors will be able to meet and discover the work of filmmakers, speakers, and prestigious guests, including Laurent Ballesta, Gil Kebaïli, Jean-Paul Justiniano, Antoine de Maximy…Plongez! will be present at this event alongside the Water Agency, featuring the exhibition Regards on the Mediterranean throughout the festival. Nicolas Barraqué, publication director of the magazine, will also be present at a conference on marine biodiversity on Thursday, September 16.

Animations and exhibitions

Numerous animations will be organized, and stands will be set up on the esplanade of May 8. It will also be possible to visit for free 7th Continent, the oceanographic expedition ship. Five exhibitions will also be accessible to the public for free at the heart of the Chapelle des Pénitents in La Ciotat throughout the festival:– Projection du making of dthe previous editions of LLumexplore.
– Water Agency : Regards sur la Méditerranée
– CNES : la mission alpha de Thomas Pesquet
– National Museum of Natural History : Premières évidences de peintures et gravures l’île de Madagascar
– Maurice Thiney : La Chine ou l‘apologie d‘un creuset mystérieux

Lumexplore Prize

This festival is also a major prize rewarding films, works, and other achievements on the theme of scientific adventure. The awards ceremony will take place at the cinema of Eden, on Saturday, September 18 at 8:30 PM. Find, in the program for this sixth edition:

– 13 films in competition for the Grand Prize Lumexplore including: Titanic, at the heart of the wreck, by Thomas Risch; Silence in the Mediterranean, by Jean-Charles Granjon; Deep Hope the last refuge, by Vincent Perazio; The lost worlds of the Mediterranean, the sunken secrets, by Sophie Elwin Harris; The secret history of the cenotes, by Hervé Glabeck and Anaïs van Ditzhuyzen…– 6 books in competition for the Book Prize.

– 5 films of 5 minutes made by students in competition for the Lumexplore Junior prize.

– 5 comics in competition for the Lumexplore Junior comic prize.

– 8 films out of competition including: Coming Mediterranean, by L. Bissey, E. Gasparin, T. Szelingiewicz; Gombessa 5 – Planet Mediterranean, by Gil Kebaïli ; The Messengers of the Earth, by Fred Tardieu….

Conferences and round tables

A series of conferences will punctuate the 4 days of the festival at the cinema Eden in La Ciotat.DAY 1: Thursday, September 16, 2021
5:00 PM – Conference by Gil Kebaïli and Laurent Ballesta on the scientific mission Planet Mediterranean, Gombessa sciences.5:45 PM – Water Agency round table: conference on marine biodiversity with Pierre Boissery and Nicolas Barraqué.11:00 PM – Conference by director Thomas Risch, Jean-Paul Justiniano, pilot of the Nautile and Jean-Louis Michel, discoverer of the wreck with Bob Ballard on the secrets and achievements of the dives that located the Titanic, lighting up the wreck like a movie set, penetrating inside with the help of robots, and the treasure hunt for relics.DAY 2: Friday, September 17, 2021
12:15 PM – Conference by Rémi Canton, alpha project manager, CNES, on Thomas Pesquet’s new mission in the ISS5:45 PM – Water Agency round table. Restoring the biodiversity of the Mediterranean, is it possible? Round table moderated by Pierre Boissery, participants: Gilles Lecaillon and Rémi Dubas, from the company Ecocéan, and Franck Lorrain (associate producer at Frozen Frogs), images and short film.10:15 PM – Conference with director Alain Tixier on Narbonne, which was one of the largest metropolises of the Roman Empire in Gaul. Recent discoveries and scientific advances provide information on the crucial role of this flourishing city rightly called « the second Rome. »DAY 3: Saturday, September 18, 2021
2:45 PM – Conference by Fred Tardieu on the new project of marine protected areas in the Philippines.6:00 PM – CNES Conference: presentation of a teaser on the planet Mars by Alain Tixier with the participation of Lionel Suchet, Deputy General Director of CNES.DAY 4: Sunday, September 19, 2021
10:25 AM – Conference with Leslie Bissey and Typhaine Szelingiewicz on the Weocean project, composed of an all-female team of marine biologists, photographers, and directors based on a sailing ship conducting scientific expeditions for awareness in the Mediterranean.11:00 AM to 12:00 PM – Ifremer Master Class: Course on writing and directing a film with the participation of Alain Tixier, author and director of Ushuaïa, and Jérôme Cecil Auffret, for script writing and shooting and Antoine de Maximy, author and director (J’irai dormir chez vous) for sound and equipment. Projection of the Lumexplore Junior Prize as an example.3:40 PM – Covid conference: Hélène Soubélet, veterinarian by training, director of the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity, and Gilles Pipien, from the association Humanity & Biodiversity.5:45 PM – Conference by Antoine de Maximy on Volcanoes in the Antilles.Practical information: visit the ship 7th Continent, free animations and exhibitions, paid entry to the Eden cinema (5 € per module, 10 € per day, 30 € for the festival pass), book at the cinema sitea. Find the complete Lumexplore program here.