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Month: February 2026

5,000 students engaged in Cinema for Change festival

by: Cassandra Tanti
02/02/2026

Nearly 400 schoolchildren from Monaco packed the Théâtre des Variétés on Thursday to watch and vote for their favourite short films addressing global development challenges, as part of the 15th edition of the Cinema for Change festival.

The event, supported by the Prince’s Government through the Directorate of International Cooperation, brought together 18 classes from six schools across the Principality for the festival’s Children’s Prize category. Later that evening, students from Sciences Po Paris’s Menton campus convened to debate and select their preferred film for the Student Prize.

Festival founder Marc Obéron presented six short films from around the world, each illustrating aspects of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in September 2015. The goals address issues ranging from poverty and hunger to climate action and quality education.

Monaco votes join international jury

The votes cast by Monaco students will be combined with those from young jury members in France and seven countries that partner with Monaco’s development cooperation programme: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia.

This international dimension gives Monaco schoolchildren the opportunity to participate in a broader conversation about global development challenges alongside their counterparts in developing countries directly affected by many of the issues portrayed in the films.

Fifteen years of youth engagement

For the 15th consecutive year, the Directorate of International Cooperation has backed the festival’s three Youth Prizes – covering Children, Secondary School Students, and University Students – with the aim of raising awareness about development issues and international solidarity among young people.

The festival uses cinema as a medium to engage students with complex global issues in an accessible format. Short films allow for focused storytelling that can illustrate specific development challenges while remaining suitable for classroom settings and youth audiences.

Sciences Po partnership continues

The evening screening for Sciences Po students reflects a partnership dating back to 2014 between the Directorate of International Cooperation and the university’s Mediterranean-Middle East campus in Menton. The collaboration aims to sensitise students to development questions, human rights and the fight against global poverty.

The five films selected for the Student Prize category typically address more complex aspects of development challenges, suited to university-level analysis and debate. The format encourages students to engage critically with how development issues are portrayed and understood.

Combining education with advocacy

Cinema for Change represents an approach to development education that moves beyond traditional classroom learning. By asking students to watch, evaluate and vote on films, the festival positions them as active participants in conversations about sustainable development rather than passive recipients of information.

The festival’s broader mission centres on using film to drive social change and raise awareness of pressing global issues. The youth prizes form part of this strategy, building awareness among younger generations who will inherit responsibility for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by their 2030 target date.

The prize ceremony for Cinema for Change will take place on Saturday 11th April in Paris, where the winners selected by youth juries across multiple countries will be announced.

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Photo credit: Stephane Danna, Government Communications Department 

 

Football: Monaco record first Ligue 1 win since November

by: Luke Entwistle
01/02/2026
Akliouche and Coulibaly celebrate as Monaco run riot against Rennes at the Stade Louis II

AS Monaco ran riot against Stade Rennais (4-0) as Sébastien Pocogonoli’s side secured all three points in Ligue 1 for the first time since the end of November and a 1-0 win over PSG.

The signs of renewal were already there before Rennes rocked up at the Stade Louis II on Saturday night. Sébastien Pocognoli identified a commonality in Monaco’s last two matches, a “mindset”. But there was a clearer common thread, defensive solidity. Against Le Havre and then against Juventus in midweek, Les Monégasques kept clean sheets. It marked a dramatic departure from previous games, notably the historic defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League (1-6) and the humiliation against Lorient just days earlier (1-3), after which Les Merlus’ manager, Olivier Pantaloni, said that he felt Monaco’s “fear” every time his side got on the ball.

It is in this sense that this Monaco side have become unrecognisable from the one that floundered week after week. Never under Pocognoli have they looked so assured defensively. Against Juventus, it was the decision to revert to a back three and to put captain Denis Zakaria at the heart of it that was key, a tweak with which Pocognoli persisted on Saturday night. But having fixed one problem, against Rennes, another one had to be fixed.

Monaco heed Kohn’s words and then some

Those strong defensive displays came at a cost; Monaco failed to score in both matches. “We kept a clean sheet twice, but we didn’t score. It is the first goal to keep the clean sheet, and the focus is now on maybe scoring the goal to win a game 1-0,” said Philipp Kohn after that draw against Juve. Monaco did much more than that, without sacrificing what made them a more formidable opponent in recent games.

It was with the first clear-cut chance of the game that the Principality club opened the scoring, as Folarin Balogun threaded a ball through the legs of Jérémy Jacquet for Ansu Fati to run onto. The Spaniard finished past Brice Samba. That would be just the start. Balogun’s effort on the stroke of half-time was impressively stopped by Samba, but Monaco wouldn’t be denied for long.

Maghnes Akliouche came on at half-time and needed just five minutes to double Monaco’s lead. He was in the right place after Kassoum Ouattara’s shot cannoned off the inside of the post into the path of Aleksandr Golovin, whose miscontrol fell perfectly for Akliouche to tap into the empty net. A comedic goal, but they count all the same.

The ‘most complete match’ of the season, says Pocognoli

The next goal was always going to be crucial, and Rennes thought they had it when Esteban Lepaul slid home, only for the offside flag to cut celebrations short. And then came the sucker-punch. Seven minutes earlier, the deficit was momentarily reduced to one goal and then it jumped to three, as Mika Biereth played the ball through for Mamadou Coulibaly, who put the ball through Samba’s legs.

The resistance broken, chances were easy to come by. Biereth almost got in on the act, but his shot was met by a strong Samba save, but a fourth would be added, the Dane teeing up Stanis Idumbo for his first goal in a Monaco shirt. “It was our most complete match of the season,” said Pocognoli post-match, who spoke of the game as a “reference point” going forward. These are the performances, he recognised, that would have to be repeated, if the Principality club are to get back into European contention and reach their objectives come the end of the season.

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Photo source: AS Monaco