France’s top TV fiction creators and networks are gathering for the Festival de la Fiction, which is taking place from September 13-18 in the coastal town of La Rochelle.
The event has become a key rendez-vous for the French audiovisual industry and this year is expanding its international reach. For the first time, Netflix and Prime Video are premiering their latest forays into French-language TV fiction and each major French TV network is unveiling its line-up to a crowd of industry professionals, press and local audiences.
The oldest TV fiction festival in France was born in Saint-Tropez in 1999 before moving to La Rochelle in 2007. This year’s festival features five days of screenings and meetings devoted to French, Francophone and European creation.
The fest’s 2022 jury – chaired by French actress Sandrine Bonnaire, who also stars in TF1’s First World War drama Women Of War – will name the winners of the 15 prizes given during a closing-night ceremony on September 17. In total, 41 series and TV films have been selected to screen at the fest including 25 French titles in Official Competition.
Busier than ever
After a Covid-induced cancelled 2020 edition and a lighter 2021 return, participation for the 2022 festival has jumped 30%. According to organisers, the 2022 event is welcoming 2,500 professionals, the majority of whom are French with around 150 hailing from other countries, in addition to 15,000 local audiences.
“French creation is our DNA, but the industry has evolved and has become more international, so we have to, too,” said the festival’s president Stéphane Strano. “We didn’t go out and seek it – it developed naturally. French fiction has become exportable, so today we couldn’t imagine the festival without an international presence.”
While the festival doesn’t have an official parallel market, the event is a strategic stop for every major producer and network – and now streaming platform – in France and is wooing international industry heavyweights looking to acquire hot titles or snag fresh French talent.
“The international presence, already increasing in our past editions, is literally exploding this year,” Strano said, adding, “Not only are they coming out in droves, but they’re coming with enthusiasm.”
According to CNC figures, in 2021 the volume of TV fiction produced in the country increased by 37.7% compared to 2021 – a new record in France. “We are in the midst of a global upheaval, a radical and beneficial change for the industry,” Strano said.
While TV fiction was long considered to be the lesser form of the country’s acclaimed “7th art form”, more and more feature film directors and on-screen talent are making the jump, particularly as the US mega-platforms continue to move into the territory with their super-sized budgets.
In La Rochelle, Netflix is hosting the world premiere of Notre-Dame, a French-language drama series about the impact of the 2019 cathedral fire on a diverse group of Parisians. Inspired by true accounts from French firefighters, the series is produced by Cheyenne Federation from director-creator Hervé Hadmar and stars Roschdy Zem, Caroline Proust and Simon Abkarian.
Federation – which has rebranded as Federation Studios from Federation Entertainment – is out in force at the festival with five major screenings planned and talent in tow. They include One Of Us produced by Fanny Riedberger for TF1, a comedy drama with a disability theme, and Flemish drama Hate To Love You produced by Shelter and screening as part of the European Competition. There will also be public screenings of the third season of Federation’s hit series Deadly Tropics and Caméra Café – 20 Ans Déjà.
“La Rochelle is the place to be for all French fiction,” said Federation’s co-founder and managing director Lionel Uzan. “All of our clients and streamers are present. The meeting opportunities between producers, broadcasters and creators are important and meeting audiences is an exceptional moment for the film and series teams.”
Prime Video is screening Miskina, a French-language original comedy set to premiere on the platform at the end of September. Created by popular local actor and comedian Melha Bedia, the series is produced by Quad and follows a young French Muslim woman living with her grandmother and in love with her best friend.
Expect a major blast from the past with historical series such as Canal Plus’ Marie Antoinette and France Televisions’ The King’s Favorite. The King’s Favorite stars Isabelle Adjani as Diane de Poitiers, Henri II’s courtesan, in this period drama from Passion Films. Directed by Josée Dayan, the series’ all-star French cast also includes Gérard Depardieu, Julie Depardieu, Jeanne Balibar, Olivier Gourmet, Hugo Becker, Samuel Labarthe, Virginie Ledoyen, and JoeyStarr. It will air on France 2 and is distributed internationally by France TV Distribution.
Canal Plus’ eight-part series Marie Antoinette opened this year’s festival. Created and written by The Favourite’s co-screenwriter Deborah Davis, the English-language production is produced by Banijay Studios France, Capa Drama and Les Gens and stars Emilia Schule as the avant-garde queen. The series shot in Paris studios and on location at famous chateaux in Versailles, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Fontainebleau, Lésigny, Champs and Voisins. It has already been snapped up by BBC2 in the UK, BBC First in Australia and will air in France on Canal Plus in October.
In addition to these star-powered productions, several internationally-recognised names will be in town promoting their latest titles including Tomer Sisley, Audrey Fleurot, Caterina Murino, Nicolas Duvauchelle, JoeyStarr, Virginie Ledoyen, Julie Gayet and dozens more French talents.
Other high-profile titles screening include TF1’s Women At War (Les Combattantes) starring Fleurot, Bonnaire and Tchéky Karyo. Set during the First World War, the eight-part miniseries tells the story of four women whose fates collide.
Arte is launching Black Butterflies, a six-part series created and written by Olivier Abbou and Bruno Merle, and produced by GMT Productions.
M6 is bringing La Maison d’En Face from Incognita productions starring Julie de Bona, Marc Ruchmann, Murino and Thierry Neuvic, while France Televisions is also in town with Vortex, a sci-fi series from Quad Drama for France 2 starring Tomer Sisley.
Pitch sessions
This year’s event also features roundtables, meetings and pitch sessions aimed at bringing together international investors, producers, distributors and broadcasters of French-language series with international potential.
“Four years ago, the pitch sessions were in a tiny room and now there are 300 seats in a giant amphitheater filled by top industry pros. It’s where they buy their next projects,” Strano said.
All of the major French networks are represented in the official selection or in town for meetings and screenings. Global industry heavyweights participating include the UK’s Lionsgate, Fremantle, All3Media and ITV Studios, US studios like Disney+, Apple TV+, Netflix and Prime Video, Germany’s Beta Film and ZDF, Belgium’s RTL, Italy’s RTI SpA – Mediaset and Israel’s Keshet International.
“For now, there isn’t a TV market at La Rochelle Festival and we are not travelling with our complete sales team, but it’s a great occasion for us to meet with our producers, some important international partners, French broadcasters, and some global SVoD players,” France Televisions Distribution’s head of sales Julia Schulte told Screen.
“Through the festival, you get a great overview of the trends and new talents coming from France and we are proud to see our series The King’s Favourite and Vortex for the first time in front of a public audience.”
As well as the 37.7% volume increase shown by CNC figures from 2020 to 2021, investment in French fiction also jumped 32.4% to €1.1bn ($1.09bn). It marks the first time such content has exceeded the €1bn threshold. Foreign contributions (ie, non-state aid or funding from local networks) reached €72.4m ($72.2m), up 23.0% compared to 2020 and the highest level in the last 20 years.
“France is part of a global movement to change what we’ve been doing until now. For years, France was far behind what the US and UK TV industry was producing, but today we have auteurs that are high in demand both at home and abroad – and in the French language,” Strano noted.
The profusion of productions, both in France and abroad, has led the industry to question how it can respond to the demand for content, how it can produce more without compromising quality, how it can preserve European cultural identity and the role of independent producers in a platform-dominated world, and how production can become more eco-friendly.
These are all burning questions that professionals at La Rochelle will be discussing in the coming days – but, of course, with French hospitality at the fore.
“We are here to help structure the industry, to ask the tough questions,” Strano said, adding: “It’s a place of celebration set in a beautiful location. Our festival is known for its welcoming atmosphere and the French art of hospitality. These are the conditions that spark the inspiration and encounters that push the industry forward.”
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