This month’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris will give international buyers a first glimpse of the French films and television that will figure at festivals throughout the year.
With supersized slates, a bevy of buyers, a slew of screenings and a mountain of market premieres, Unifrance’s 26th annual Rendez-Vous in Paris (January 16-23) is shaping up to be its largest yet.
However, with many European distributors struggling in a post-pandemic world, the Rendez-Vous is focused on projecting a message of stability to the industry.
“The pandemic was an earthquake that shattered the industry. When everything shuts down for two years, there are aftershocks. Things are constantly changing and we have to adapt,” says Daniela Elstner, executive director of Unifrance. “Our goal is to ensure business as usual as much as possible in a time that is more unusual than ever.”
The Rendez-Vous has become a launchpad for France-based sales companies to showcase their local-language slates and tease titles set to land at upcoming markets and festivals. This year, line-ups are more robust, buyers from South America are now invited, and an additional 100 TV buyers will attend the French TV Screenings with presentations from eight local distributors.
The event lends itself to small meetings, centred inside the Hotel du Collectionneur with parallel market screenings at several adjacent cinemas in the Champs-Elysées neighbourhood. “Buyers and sales agents spend four days together [at the market] so there is a lot of exchange and it’s less rushed than other markets,” suggests Elstner. “It’s the first time they hear about projects. They listen, they watch and that’s where the magic begins.”
While buyers were cautious last year, Elstner believes “they have more confidence in saying today, ‘This is a film for theatrical release, so I’ll buy it.’”
Bigger budget, star-driven commercial packages are typically the focus at the market. But following a year when top festival prizes and early awards season victories have been fuelled by French films such as Anatomy Of A Fall, all eyes are on this year’s Rendez-Vous to spot the titles that could shake things up on the global awards and festival circuit in 2024 — and boost the box office.
“What’s great is that, in the beginning of the year, we never know. We bet on some films, then others end up standing out. The strength of French cinema lies in its capacity to produce surprise success stories like those,” Elstner says. “That’s why the Rendez-Vous is so appealing to global buyers — they all want to find the next French gem.”
The concentrated market by day, combined with cocktails and soirées in the evenings, gives buyers and sellers time to discuss upcoming films more informally beyond their French-language slates. “They may not arrive on Tuesday and buy a film by Friday, but they talk about it at the Rendez-Vous, maybe see it at EFM and buy it in Cannes. It all starts in Paris.”
For Elstner, a successful Rendez-Vous means “buyers who tell me months down the line, ‘I found it at Rendez-Vous. This is a film or a script I bought in Paris or saw for the first time at the event.’”
Bold showcase
The Rendez-Vous is also an opportunity for Unifrance to pull out all the stops for its members, donors and government officials. Among the events the film promotion body will host are a lavish opening night and gala premiere screening of Pascal Bonitzer’s Auction, an evening at the Ministry of Culture celebrating Melvil Poupaud (the recipient of this year’s French cinema award), rising star showcase 10 to Watch and a closing night that doubles as the Lumière Awards ceremony.
A star-studded press junket from January 20-23 will see talent from around 68 films and 16 audiovisual programmes join nearly 130 journalists to promote their content on the global stage.
Amid all the glitz, organisers are tackling global events and the precarious state of the industry. Export Day will bring together producers, distributors, broadcasters, sales agents, talent and institutions for a talk focused on the complicated geopolitical landscape.
“From a post-Covid world to conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, we as an industry — both film and audiovisual — have to ask ourselves important questions,” says Elstner. “I want this event to be a place of stability despite the insecurity facing the industry. All with a touch of Parisian glamour and some French-accented surprises.”
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