Dinard film festival faces financial audit as mayor weighs its future

Dinard’s British and Irish film festival is facing an independent audit of its future as its 37th edition runs from October 7 to 11 in the French coastal town. Mayor Arnaud Salmon says the town has made no decision about later editions, while reports published on October 9 describe financial pressure on the event.

The review puts a long-running cultural fixture under scrutiny during a live festival, with screenings and jury deliberations still part of this year’s programme. FRANCE 24 reported on October 9 that financial difficulties could threaten the festival’s continuation. Eye for Film reported the mayor’s account of the audit and his insistence that its outcome has not been settled.

Why Dinard is reviewing the festival

According to Eye for Film, Salmon said the town was launching an independent audit as the festival navigates a period of transition. He described the review as a way to ask difficult questions about its future and said the aim was to give the event a stable footing, whatever form it might take. He also said the situation was not a crisis.

The festival is organised and managed directly by Dinard’s civic authorities, Eye for Film reported. That arrangement entails a substantial commitment of staff time and public resources for the town. The publication described the event as carrying a deficit, although a typographical problem in its printed figure prevents a reliable precise amount from being stated here. The scale of the shortfall needs separate verification.

What is happening at the 37th Dinard festival

The festival’s official website dates this year’s edition from October 7 to 11 and lists 42 films. Eye for Film reported that 20,000 tickets had been sold by the previous night, which it described as the festival’s official opening. Those figures show the scale of the current event, though they do not establish whether its finances can sustain the same format in later years.

The official programme names actor Amira Casar as president of the jury. Eye for Film identifies fellow jurors Zoé Adjani, Thibault de Montalembert, Ben Hardy and producer Stephen Woolley. It also reports that artistic director Dominique Green is in her final year at the festival. The reporting does not establish that her departure is a result of the financial review.

This year’s selection includes Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada, starring Callum Turner and George MacKay and competing for the Hitchcock d’Or award, according to FRANCE 24. The broadcaster also highlights the Irish film Trad among the screenings. The programme gives audiences a current showcase of British and Irish cinema while the town examines how it can support the festival in future.

The official festival site describes David Gleeson’s Once Upon a Time In a Cinema as the opening film and lists Madfabulous as the closing film. It says Gleeson’s film takes place during a screening at an Irish cinema in the 1980s and stars Colin Morgan. These programme details concern the edition now underway; they do not indicate an outcome for the audit.

Why the festival matters to Dinard

Salmon described the festival as part of Dinard’s identity and an event the public anticipates each year, according to Eye for Film. He welcomed visitors from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The festival’s focus on films from those countries is central to its place in the town’s cultural calendar and to the question the audit will address: how that event can continue on stable terms.

FRANCE 24 notes that British and Irish cinema has been highlighted in Dinard for more than three decades and cites The Full Monty and Billy Elliot among films associated with the festival’s history. The festival’s own site says Casar previously served on its jury when Billy Elliot won a prize. That history helps explain the public interest in the review, without determining what the town will choose to do next.

What happens after the audit

For now, the clearest public position is Salmon’s statement that the town wants a stable future for the festival and has not chosen its eventual form. The audit’s findings, the verified size of the deficit and any decision about later editions remain open. This year’s screenings are proceeding under the published October 7–11 schedule while the town’s review is pending.