Deauville American Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival: The birth of an internationally renowned event
André Halimi and Lionel Chouchan dreamed of organizing an American Film Festival… Michel d’Ornano — Mayor of Deauville and Lucien Barrière — CEO of the Lucien Barrière Group — were looking for a way to attract tourists to Deauville beyond the summer season… These four illustrious characters were made to get along! In 1975, the Deauville American Film Festival was born.
The creation of the HOMAGE section attracted the first American celebrities. This “star catcher”, as Lionel Chouchan called it, allowed Gregory Peck, Vincente Minnelli and Sydney Pollack to roll out the red carpet in 1977… The dream of a world-renowned festival became a reality in Deauville, on the Côte Fleurie in Normandy.
“Hollywood has found an orchard in Normandy,” Anne d’Ornano sums up nicely.
The Festival inaugurates its Palais des Festivals
The CID Deauville Convention Center is built between the Normandy Hotel, the Barrière Casino and the sea. To preserve the beauty of the waterfront, its structure is mostly located below sea level. To achieve this architectural feat, 160,000 m³ of sand were extracted, so that the glass roof of the convention center does not exceed 3.50m in height. 18,000m² of spaces entirely dedicated to the organization of professional events were designed: meeting rooms, exhibition halls, auditoriums, multi-purpose spaces… To give life to events from 60 to 5,000 participants.
On September 5, 1992, festival-goers flocked to the doors of the Michel d’Ornano auditorium at the Palais des Congrès. Many American celebrities were present, led by Clint Eastwood, to inaugurate the Centre International de Deauville.
“The CID Deauville is like an ocean liner with only the superstructure protruding”. Patrick Le Gosles, Architect of the CID Deauville
The cabins of the Deauville Boardwalk, symbols of a legendary festival
Since the 1990s, the names of the most famous actors and directors invited to the Deauville American Film Festival have been painted on the lices of the cabins along the promenade des Planches. Each year, the honored celebrities inaugurate their cabins on the beach, a symbolic moment that links them to the City of Deauville. As you stroll along the 643 meters of the Planches de Deauville, you will be able to read no less than 200 names of the biggest stars who came to the Deauville American Film Festival.