The Lumière! programme [fr]
The Lumière! programme brings together all the artistic, cultural, academic and scientific cooperation activities of the French Embassy in the United Kingdom, offering opportunities for stays or residencies in the UK for French talent.
Mrs. Hélène Duchêne, French Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Lumière! is a series of residencies, training courses, immersive programs, professional cooperation and opportunities for bringing together artists, writers, students, researchers, etc. in France and the UK.
The Lumière program is developed and supported by the Service de coopération et d’action culturelle (SCAC), theService Enseignement supérieur, recherche et innovation (ESRI) of the French Embassy in the United Kingdom, the Institut Français du Royaume-Uni, the Institut Français d’Ecosse, the Maison Française d’Oxford. It relies on a large network of partners in the UK: museums, theaters, festivals, publishers, media, universities, research laboratories, foundations.
You are an artist, a writer, a producer, an entrepreneur, a student, a researcher,... Discover the opportunities offered by the Lumiere program!
The creative scenes in France and the UK are influential. The Arts Office of the Institut français du Royaume-Uni offers several programs to support and promote their work in the United Kingdom to the actors of the French creative scenes
VISUAL ARTS
FLUXUS ART PROJECTS
Fluxus Art Projects, supported by the Institut français du Royaume-Uni, with the support of French and British public cultural partners and private donors, is a bilateral fund to assist the creation and dissemination of contemporary art on both sides of the Channel. Two calls for applications are launched each year in April and October, open to exhibition venues and curators. A third call is open to French and British artists in the framework of Magnetic, the new Fluxus artist residency program designed in partnership with the four British cultural funding agencies.
You are an institution or exhibition space in France or the UK?
Fluxus Art Projects supports venues for exhibitions of artists from the French scene in the UK and the British scene in France.
You are a curator?
Fluxus Art Projects supports curatorial research stays in the neighboring country.
You are artist and you want to do a residency?
Fluxus Art Projects is leading Magnetic, a new program of eight artist residencies, four in France - Villa Arson in Nice, CRAC Occitanie in Sète, FRAC Grand Large in Dunkirk, CAPC in Bordeaux - and four in the UK - Aberystwyth Art Centre in Wales, Flax Art Studios in Northern Ireland, Grizedale Art in England and Cove Park in Scotland.
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Lumière on ...
Eléonore False
In Magnetic residency in Wales, at Aberystwyth Arts Centre in 2022
"Thanks to the Magnetic residency, I can develop my research from weeds in a new and inspiring territory: between tourism and agriculture, sea and land. Ffion Rhys, Head of Visual Arts at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre has provided me with contacts for my research, as well as Fiona Gomersall, Botanist and Natural Heritage Officer at the Elan Valley Centre, and Mel Hughes, a seamstress specializing in the quilt technique. This experience is extremely important at this point in my artistic practice, allowing me to work freely, experiment and test hypotheses in a new studio and location."
Are you an art or design actor interested in exchanges between the French and British scenes?
THEATRE AND DANCE
You are an entity supporting French playwrights?
You are a theater or dance presenting structure in France?
MUSIC
You are a contemporary music venue, an ensemble, a research center?
The Embassy oversees a number of initiatives aimed at promoting French books translated into English and supporting publishers in their efforts.
You are a British publisher seeking to fund the publication of French books translated into English?
BURGESS
The Burgess Program supports about 15 British publishers a year in their efforts to publish French books (all genres) in English translation, selecting their projects via a panel of specialists. Once published, the books are promoted and their authors are invited to the United Kingdom to meet their British public and to dialogue with writers from across the Channel.
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The Burgess Program
"The Burgess Program is a valuable tool that helps British publishers publish contemporary French literature in translation in a very competitive market where foreign literature needs support."
Jacques Testard
Director and founder of Fitzcarraldo Editions
You are the author of a humanities and social sciences book recently translated into English?
BOOKS FOR THOUGHT
The Books for Thought cycle creates synergies between French humanities and social sciences publishing and the British academic world. On the occasion of the launch of their books in English translation, the French authors are invited to come and dialogue with their British peers and with doctoral students from local universities interested in the same research topics.
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Patrick Boucheron
Historian, professor at Collège de France, holder of the Chair of History of Powers in Western Europe (13th-16th century)
"I was pleased to be invited to London, as part of the BOOKS FOR THOUGHT series, to discuss new ways of writing history, along with historian Olivette Otele. The mobility of authors is a fundamental issue in the dissemination of their thinking abroad."
Are you a French publisher interested in selling the rights to yout books to British publishers ?
B2B MEETINGS
In partnership with the Bureau International de l’Édition Française, and in conjunction with major events such as the London Book Fair, the Institut français du Royaume-Uni welcomes French publishers to moments of exchange and networking designed to interest British publishing houses in purchasing the rights to French books.
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Director of the International Bureau of French Publishing
"Through the London Book Fair, Perspectives trips or professional meetings between French and British publishers, the Institut français is a key ally of the Bureau in its pursuit of its mission to promote the cultural and creative industries abroad."
France and the United Kingdom are the two most dynamic European markets for the audiovisual sector, whether for films, television series, Video on Demand services or new formats and creatives processes and platforms such as augmented reality (XR) and metaverse. The Institut français du Royaume-Uni and its partners offer various market access, co-production and export opportunities.
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Audiovisual, Film, Animation, VR
You are a content distributor?
FILM THEATRES
The Institut français du Royaume-Uni has two cinemas (225 and 34 seats), equipped with 35mm and digital projectors, to host B2B screenings for buyers, as well as previews, followed by networking cocktails.
(Lumière on ...
Blandine Lenoir
Actress and director
"I presented two films at the Ciné Lumière at the Institut français. Meeting the London audience, exchanging with the spectators after the screenings, and accompanying in this way the life of a cinematographic work in another country was a great experience!"
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You are a producer?
MEETINGS & IMMERSIONS
The Institut français du Royaume-Uni develops in cooperation with French operators (CNC, UniFrance, Business France, Institut français du Royaume-Uni) and British partners (BFI, LFF ...), meetings of coproduction (cinema, audiovisual, animation, XR / VR) and immersion programs.
(Lumière on ...
Odile McDonald
Producer who participated in the Franco-British co-production meetings New Waves
"I would like to emphasize how interesting I found it to be able to exchange around fictions, regardless of the television, platform or cinema format. The boundaries between genres and modes of dissemination are shaken, they are bound to evolve and I can only congratulate the organizers for knowing how to accompany us in a spirit of openness."
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The French Embassy supports the mobility of French students to the UK. Several scholarship programs are available to facilitate your mobility at Master or PhD level.
You are a PhD candidate or a post-doc in humanities and social sciences?
You are student of maths, computer science, engineering, or biology?
EUROPEAN BIO-INFORMATICS INSTITUTE OF CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARSHIPS
EMBL-EBI Fellowships finance every year the hosting of four to six French students at Master level or from Engineering Schools, for a research internship in mathematics and computer science applied to biology, at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in Cambridge.
>Information and application
Iphigénie Gonnet
EMBL-EBI fellow in 2022
"Thanks to the French Embassy program, I had the opportunity to join the Petaslaki group - Whole Cell Signalling team at EMBL-EBI for three months. I found there a friendly and excellence-oriented work environment that made me discover a whole new aspect of research: dynamic, innovative and collaborative. This experience gave me the desire to continue my studies towards a PhD after my master’s degree".
Have you graduated from French Universities and Grandes Écoles?
The French Embassy actively supports Franco-British research collaborations in all scientific fields. If you wish to set up a research project with British teams or are attracted by a research stay in the UK, we can provide you with logistical and financial support.
You want to initiate a collaboration?
You want to strengthen an existing collaboration?
You want to organise a conference or a summer school?
You want to do a research residency in Cambridge or Oxford?
CHURCHILL COLLEGE FELLOWSHIP
Every year since 1976, our residency program at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, has allowed us to welcome experienced French researchers in all scientific disciplines for stays of three to nine months. This stay confers on you the status of by-Fellow or Overseas-Fellow of Churchill College.
For more information
Aimée Lahaussois
Churchill College by-fellow (2021-2022)
"As part of the Churchill College Programme, I completed a six-month By-fellowship in the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics at Cambridge. My research in the field of Linguistics benefited enormously from discussions with Churchill Fellows from different fields. The exceptional scholarship of the Fellows and the way the College operates allowed for informal interactions that were very rewarding for me professionally and personally."
You are a UK-based researcher?
Lumière! on places
The Lumière! program allows you to go on residency in several iconic locations in the United Kingdom: in particular, London, Oxford, Cambridge, and Edinburgh and in Northern Ireland and Wales.
INSTITUT FRANCAIS DU ROYAUME-UNI in London
Founded in 1910 in London, the Institut français du Royaume-Uni includes a Language Center, a cinema, the Ciné Lumière with two screens, and a Media Library. It organizes a wide range of activities dedicated to the general public and professionals, as well as Franco-British networking events and welcomes over 100,000 visitors per year. It is a place of welcome and exchange for many artists from both sides of the Channel, throughout the year. The Institut français is supported by its Trust, The Friends of the Institut français, which assists it in its cooperation and development projects.
INSTITUT FRANCAIS D’ECOSSE in Edinburgh
The Institut français d’Ecosse is a cultural center that promotes the French language and culture in Scotland. It includes a cultural service, a language course service, as well as a Media Library with access to more than 20,000 books.
MAISON FRANCAISE D’OXFORD
The Maison Française d’Oxford (MFO) is a research center in the humanities and social sciences, supported by the French Embassy and the CNRS. It welcomes students, academics and researchers who participate in its scientific programs. It can also receive artists in residence. Conference rooms are available for one-time events or regular seminars.
MAISON DE L’INSTITUT DE FRANCE in London
The Maison de l’Institut de France in London offers quality accommodation to French researchers and students, whatever their discipline, who have an assignment or research to do in London. The house allows those it hosts to conduct their work in favorable conditions. Nearly a century after Edmond de Rothschild’s donation, its founding intention has lost none of its relevance.
EUROPEAN BIOINFORMATICS INSTITUTE in Cambridge
EMBL-EBI is part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), an inter-governmental research organization funded by over 20 member states. The co-location of the EMBL-EBI with the Wellcome Sanger Institute provides essential synergies, as the EMBL-EBI maintains the most comprehensive range of molecular data resources in the world, developed in collaboration with colleagues from all over the world, and open to all. Every year, French students carry out research internships with the support of the French Embassy.
CHURCHILL COLLEGE in Cambridge
Founded in 1960, Churchill College is the national and Commonwealth memorial to Sir Winston Churchill and embodies his vision of how higher education should benefit modern society. Today, Churchill College has approximately 800 undergraduate and graduate students, 150 Fellows, 50 By-Fellows, and a community of 9800 alumni worldwide. The partnership with the French Embassy allows French scholars to reside at the College each year to conduct research.