The Institut français

Created on January the 1st of 2011, the Institut français has become the sole operator of France's international cultural missions. Acting under the supervision of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), it is tasked with communicating our renewed ambitions for...

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The term "Season" is both the generic term used by the Institut français to describe this model of cultural engineering, and the most common of its three formats:

• Years usually last 10 to 12 months;
• Seasons usually last 5 to 8 months;
• Festivals usually last 2 to 4 months.

A “Season”...

As an operator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development for the State’s external cultural activity, the Institut français is responsible for organising the Seasons on the French side, and more specifically the Seasons Division. 

The latter is made up of around ten people...

The Seasons are an exercise in bilateral cultural diplomacy. All decisions are therefore made jointly by France and the partner country, through daily dialogue between the Commissions and the operators.

Meetings (Joint Organising Committees) are held regularly, alternately in France and in the...

Not always. It all depends on the priorities of the partner country, which can choose to favour a particular discipline to support to its own communication strategy in France, or to focus on certain regions which align with the goals of its international cooperation.

Approval is a joint exercise conducted in the formal context of the Joint Organisation Committees between the French General Commissioner and that of the partner country. 

The projects presented by French organisations are examined by sector policy officers at the Seasons Centre and submitted for...

The labelling criteria are defined jointly with the partner country, and vary from one season to the next depending on the communications strategies chosen and the image the country wishes to project of itself.

Please note, however, that labelling is only granted to viable projects, i.e. projects...

You can submit a project by filling out a labelling request, available on the pages dedicated to each of the Seasons in progress or in preparation.

Please complete your labelling application as fully as possible so that, in coordination with the partner country, we can process your application as...

​​​​​​​The labelling deadlines vary depending on the frequency of the meetings of the Joint Organising Committees and the accuracy of the information provided in the labelling requests. It is recommended that you submit your requests at the latest one month before the Joint Committee meetings, the...

No, these are two separate questions. Labelling is the registration of your project in the official programme. It does not grant any right to funding from the Institut français, the Sponsors’ Committee if one exists or any other partner.

Depending on their format, not all Seasons have equal...

Some Seasons benefit from the creation of a Sponsors Committee, which works in close collaboration with the General Commission and the Institut français teams. Some of the labelled projects may potentially receive financial support, depending on their quality and the interest they hold for the...

You have received an official labelling letter following the approval of your request. This letter tells you how to obtain the logos you are required to include in all the documents you publish about your project.

These logos, which are presented in indivisible blocks, are mainly of two types:

All approved projects are included in the official programming of the Season. They thus benefit from the generic communications implemented by the Communications department of the Seasons Division in coordination with the partner country and according to the areas it wishes to prioritise.

You...

A dedicated website is set up a few weeks before a Season opens. It allows you to keep up to date with official programming.

A Facebook page regularly posts about calls for proposals, commissioner appointments, and events related to current or future Seasons.