“This is the beginning of a great adventure. The award is a sign that we have to keep going.” Achille Coquerel and Thomas Kauffmann, both 27, won the Vimeo Award in the ‘Experimental’ category. Shot with two cameras (a Canon and a Panasonic) their short film, Prie Dieu, stood out from the 2,500 other videos. This was a prolific year for the festival, with 14,567 submissions from 147 countries. “At the awards ceremony on June 7, there was an outburst of joy. We were living a dream, it’s incredible. Not only is the award great, but we spent two days at the festival and made a lot of great contacts. Our videos went from 40 to 1,500 views. We know that today a lot of directors, production companies and digital post-production agencies hire people they find through Vimeo, so it’s really exciting!”
Achille and Thomas were the only French filmmakers to receive awards. “It’s surprising because in France there’s so much talent. In general, French productions are more original than others. We know each other well because we’ve been working as a pair for seven years in the studio. Thanks to Vimeo and the video function on camera, we were able to create our own productions, develop our visual laboratory, Cokau, and make a name for ourselves.”
Read the full text of this article on the French version of La Lettre.
