From October 30 to November 1, 2025, the Festival de la Toile des Palmistes will be held in Cayenne, French Guiana, for its 9แต edition. Organized by G-CAM (Guyane Cinรฉma, Audiovisuel et Multimรฉdia), this event showcases short films and local and international creations in a context where the Guyanese film industry is asserting itself.
The Festival de la Toile des Palmistes, featuring screenings, workshops and professional encounters, takes place at Place des Palmistes and the Eldorado cinema in Cayenne, as well as outside the walls in Rรฉmire-Montjoly. This symbolic location both anchors the event in the urban space of Guyana’s capital and makes it accessible to local residents. The fact that admission to the event is free reinforces this wider public access.
A confirmed ambition
The Festival de la Toile des Palmistes is part of a dual cultural program in French Guiana with the FIFAC (Festival international du film documentaire Amazonie-Caraรฏbes) in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni: while the latter focuses on documentaries from the Amazon-Caribbean region, the Festival de la Toile des Palmistes offers a program more open to fiction, animation and international works. This complementarity helps position French Guiana as a “land of cinema”.
Since 2020, the event has established itself as an annual fixture, helping to structure attendance, strengthen communications and develop outreach to younger audiences. This regularity is a marker of maturity for this ultramarine sector.
For this 2025 edition, the Festival de la Toile des Palmistes offers a program focused on short films (fiction, animation, documentary), but also on youth and comedy. In this vein, a new interactive trail designed with the Digital Street association will enable visitors to discover the film industry in Cayenne. The focus is also on a short-film competition on the theme of “Unfiltered”. According to the rules, entries must be shot in French Guiana, no longer than three minutes, and submitted by October 10, 2025.
This focus on young audiences and local creative practices is a sign of the festival’s commitment: not just to show films, but to encourage people to make films. By celebrating the voice of the French overseas territories, the event is part of a dynamic of cultural enhancement and training.
A professional, training system
In addition to public screenings, the Festival de la Toile des Palmistes is enriched by professional events: workshops, residencies and round-table discussions. From November 3 to 7, 2025, G-CAM will host the EURODOC Amazonie-Caraรฏbe international workshop for producers from French Guiana, the West Indies, Brazil and Suriname, to support documentary co-production. This dimension contributes to consolidating the local audiovisual sector and to making French Guiana part of a regional creation and distribution network.
Wide-ranging, accessible programming
The Festival de la Toile des Palmistes will announce a selection of some forty films from nearly thirty countries. Screenings will begin with a “Young Audience” program (“Ti-moun”), and will cover works from overseas, French Guiana and internationally. The cinema Eldorado, 21 place des Palmistes in Cayenne, will host theatrical screenings, while the place des Palmistes will be the venue for the “Ti-moun”, outdoor sessions, adding a convivial urban dimension to the event.
Why is the festival important?
At a time when French overseas territories are in need of recognition and structuring in the audiovisual sector, the Festival de la Toile des Palmistes plays a key role. It enables :
- โ nurture Guyanese talent in a competitive, training environment;
- โ reach out to new audiences, especially young people, through workshops and mediation;
- โ contribute to the attractiveness of the region for filming and audiovisual production;
- โ weaving links between French Guiana, the Caribbean and the world.
Practical information
- – Dates: October 30 – November 1แตสณ, 2025.
- – Locations: Place des Palmistes (open-air), Eldorado cinema in Cayenne, and hors-les-murs in Rรฉmire-Montjoly.
- – Free admission.
- – “Unfiltered” competition reserved for films shot in French Guiana, max. length 3 min, entry deadline October 10, 2025.
In 2025, the Festival de la Toile des Palmistes will confirm its ambition to become a recognized artistic hub in the French overseas territories. Thanks to its accessible programming, its youth-oriented features and its dual focus on the general public and professionals, the Festival will reinforce French Guiana ‘s position in the circulation of creative images. For local residents, for young people in search of a story, for up-and-coming professionals, this event is a time for sharing and projecting into the future.
Against a backdrop of palm trees and numerous images, French Guiana is taking center stage and giving itself a voice. The Festival de la Toile des Palmistes is one of the instruments of this ambition, to be followed without delay.
