International music film festival of Pau since 2007. Documentaries, fictions, clips, concerts, meet and greets, DJ sets, viewings, record fair, presentations... Rock this Town of Pau is the first International Music Film Festival of its kind in France. It explores rock and current music at length. Documentaries, fictions, shorts films, biopics are shown on the big screen in an ever-changing festival open to all. A selection of never-before-seen movies: revival films, underground treasures, and regional movies. These movies all have a connection to current music: rock, electro, hip hop, jazz, world music... but is not limited to simple indie music. Behind the currents of the rock stories these movies tell, it is the culture, societies, way of life, history, struggles, utopias, dreams and revolutions that make them a hit.

Most of the showings take place at the Meliès a new cinema downtown. But Rock this Town is an interactive festival that takes their audience around different parts of the city: kiosks, shops, and cafés, music halls and media libraries are in the loop.

Concerts, DJ sets, meet and greets, showings, books & comics, record fair and presentations have become must see sites at this event. Since 2021, Rock This Town has opened up a competition by inviting an international jury to deliberate the selections. Students who study in art or language actively participate in this annual event and a number of schools turn-up for the showings.

Awards & Prizes

- Prix du Public Rock This Town / Rock This Town Audience Award
The public choose their favorite film from the selection and a 500 € will be awarded to the film.

- Prix du Jury Rock This Town
The jury is composed of professional film, audiovisual, or music people. They will choose a film that will receive a reward of 1000 euros with the help of the city of Pau

Rules & Terms

WHICH FILMS ? : Rock This Town festival is looking for films with a musical thematic that focuses on current music : rock, jazz, pop, electro, reggae, blues, hip hop or their derivatives. The Rock This Town festival accepts all types of films. They can be fiction, documentary, stop motion, cartoons or experimental or a mix of several types. The running time of the movies must be more than 45 minutes to be accepted. Each film will be screened twice in public at different times. For the 2022 edition, we are looking for films released in 2021 or 2022. With or without a french distributor.

WHO CHOOSES MOVIE ? : The Rock This Town festival is organized by the arthouse cinema theater Le Méliès in Pau and the selection is made by Xavier Le Falher, in agreement with the director of the cinema Philippe Coquillaud. The films can be sent by the director of the film or the producer or the distributor or others festivals.

INVITATION : our festival invites directors to come and present their film and will take care of travel accommodation and meals. The city of Pau has an airport at 1h15 from Paris and close to Toulouse, Bordeaux, Biarritz or San Sebastian

HOW TO SEND THE MOVIE ? : You can send a watch link or a DVD or Blu Ray or DCP for the movie to be seen by our team in very good projection conditions. Here is the email address where to send the movie : xavier.lefalher@lemelies.net. Please send us a copy under English title and specify if the film has French subtitles.

COMMUNICATION : Once your film is selected or not selected we will notify you by email. Please send us all the documents that can be used to promote the film: photos, synopsis, trailer, poster or visual.

SCREENING : Our festival began 14 years ago with 35mm film but has since opened up to other formats. Our cinema can project DCP, DVD, Blu Ray, MP4, MOV... (and 35mm !!). If your film is selected, please send us the film as soon as possible in one of these formats. A specialized technical team is in charge of transforming the films into DCP, to ensure there is subtitling for the films if it is not already on the copy.

The address of the venue : Cinema 15 place du Foirail - France

AWARDS CEREMONY : The closing ceremony will take place on Saturday, April the 29th at 8pm. Both awards will be announced. And the award-winning film will be screened the next Sunday
3 Reviews
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  • Kamel Azouz

    I am very proud that my film L'Olivier Sauvage (The Wild Olive Tree) has been selected and screened during the 16th edition of this festival, the organization is impeccable, the welcome is very warm and the atmosphere is superb.
    A big thank to the organizers and especially to the efforts of Xavier Le Fahler a true lover of cinema and music.

    May 2023
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  • Jae Shim

    From the moment we were notified of our selection into the 2021 edition of Rock This Town, director Xavier kept us in the loop well ahead of the event. As for the festival itself, I could not describe a more hospitable and wonderful experience. Being a music-themed fest, the film program celebrated an eclectic mix of artists, histories, issues, and conversations, comprising mostly of documentaries. Outside of screenings, RTT attracted the local crowd with live music, happy hours, and other social events throughout the week, all conveniently taking place in the historical church-turned-cinema Le Méliès. I believe a newer modern theater has opened nearby which will be a screening venue for future editions. I highly recommend this festival for music documentaries as your work will genuinely be appreciated by people who love both music and cinema. I want to thank Xavier, Anaïs, Philippe, Vicentia, and the entire RTT team for inviting our team and being such great hosts!

    November 2022
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  • Michael Rainin

    Excellent! Intimate! Amazing! Xavier puts on a great festival with great programming!

    May 2022
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