South Korean distributor Green Narae Media has won Unifrance’s first €10,000 Distribution Award for its 2024 release of Tran Anh Hung’s culinary romance The Taste Of Things.
The inaugural award, launched with the CNC, was designed to honour an international distribution company for its innovative and ambitious release of a French film.
The Taste Of Things stars Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel as two cooks navigating a slow-burning romance in late 19th-century France. Gaumont produced the film and has international rights.
Green Narae released the film in South Korea on 100 screens on June 19, 2024, ultimately expanding the release to 234 screens. It went on to reach 46,512 admissions for a gross of €292,271, to become the fourth biggest French title of the year in the territory (behind Anatomy Of A Fall, Robot Dreams and The Jungle Bunch World Tour).
South Korea delivered the 10th biggest box-office result worldwide for The Taste Of Things.
“The work of a distributor isn’t simply to buy films, there is a great deal of reflection, strategy and marketing behind every release,” said Unifrance’s executive director Daniela Elstner. “This award was designed to highlight all of the work they put into releasing these French films and adapting them to their specific territories.”
The winning distributor was selected by the CNC’s commission overseeing selective aid for the international distribution of French films, comprised of sales agents, distributors and digital strategy specialists. They chose from around 40 marketing campaigns from the 350 French films that benefit from the commission’s aid per year.
Gaumont described Green Narae’s campaign as “modern and original, fully capturing the scope of the film and its potential to embody a certain idea of French cinema, gastronomy and romance”.
Audience experiences
According to Unifrance, Green Narae mounted a digital campaign that targeted the 20-30-year-old demographic as well as the affluent arthouse audience aged 50 and older.
Marketing initiatives included “The empty stomach challenge” extending from social media posts to signs for moviegoers at the entrance to cinemas reading: “You might get hungry during the film” or ”You may hear the audience’s stomachs growling. Thank you for your understanding”;
Green Narae created several “audience experiences” around the film’s release such as premieres with food tastings, and partnerships with prestigious restaurants and chefs including Pierre Gagnaire, who is the film’s culinary director and has a location in Seoul.
Unifrance said the distributor allocated over a quarter of its promotional budget to social media marketing starting in May, a month and a half before the film’s local release, and running through August. Social teams flooded platforms with food photos, recipes, film posters and stills, press reviews and partnerships with local celebrities, totaling some 78 publications on Instagram alone and around 100 on X, plus several posts on TikTok and YouTube.
For the older arthouse demographic, extensive press coverage, partnerships with wine merchants, promotional offers for retirees, merchandising and Q&As with the director drew audiences to theatres.
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