"Not everyone can be a director, there’s a world of difference between wanting to do something and being able to do it." These are the words of Hayao Miyazaki, who announced, with great humility, his retirement from filmmaking in a recent interview with Liberation magazine. In an odd coincidence, at the very same time as this great master decided to bow out of the industry, the streets of Tokyo were packed with crowds queuing at movie theaters, no doubt curious to discover the animated film The Suicide Shop by Patrice Leconte. This inspires a certain pride, even if we clearly must remain humble and clear-sighted ourselves up against the Studio Ghibli, giants of the Japanese animated film world.

An example of the recent success of French films in foreign theaters, also in Tokyo, is the performance of Nathalie Baye, our jury president at the festival in June, who won over audiences with the audacious Lawrence Anyways. Meanwhile in Germany, Paulette captures a growing market share, and in Portugal The Gilded Cage continues a triumphant run, on par with its performance in France.

French films have also been hailed in Toronto. With 33 titles presented at the recent festival, accounting for 10% of all films selected, French productions have enjoyed a remarkably strong presence this year. Catherine Breillat, Nicole Garcia, Martin Provost, Emmanuelle Devos, the Larrieu brothers, Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard, and Léa Seydoux, among others, won acclaim from the American and Canadian media and were warmly welcomed at the now customary uniFrance Films evening event held in honor of French movie talent.

Even if there really is a world that separates wanting to and being able to do something, we can still hope for further international success for French productions in the wake of the market upturn in 2012 and despite highly challenging markets for our films. Since the latest Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, we keep hearing about a "renaissance" in French cinema, of an industry that is regaining momentum. Bolstered by their unrivalled experience in the international arena, the teams at uniFrance Films will be accompanying French films around the world in upcoming months.

Isabelle Giordano
General Director of uniFrance Films

Following in the footsteps of La Guerre est déclarée in 2011 and Intouchables in 2012 (which were not ultimately selected as nominees in the Oscars competition), it's now over to Renoir by Gilles Bourdos to represent France after being chosen as this year's candidate in the 2014 Foreign Language Film category, the final stage prior to the nomination of finalists.

Produced by Marc Missonnier and Olivier Delbosc (Fidélité Films), this film, which tells of the final months in the life of the legendary painter Auguste Renoir, was presented as closing film at Cannes 2012 in the Un Certain Regard section.

Renoir was a surprise hit in the USA in 2013, with 502,064 spectators registered to date and close to $300,000 in ticket sales (distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films). It stands out as the most successful French-language production of 2013, garnering $2.2 million at the box office. All up, the film has attracted almost 600,000 moviegoers in international theaters.

The final list of nominees will be announced in January 2014, with the Oscars ceremony scheduled for February 24.

520,000: That's the admissions figure that this film had to outscore to beat Astérix et Obélix contre César, the highest scoring French film ever released in Portugal. Now it's mission accomplished for the hit comedy La Cage dorée, which, on September 11, after six weeks on Portuguese screens (and sitting at the top of the box office from the start), boasted an impressive running total of 553,000 tickets sold. This humorous and touching portrait of a generation of expatriates has clearly touched the hearts of the Portuguese, a population prone to gentle self-deprecation.

In the House (photo) by François Ozon, Stranger by the Lake by Alain Guiraudie, and The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi feature among the 46 films on this year's pre-selection list for the European Film Award (EFA) nominations.

Eleven other French co-productions are also included in the list, which represents 32 European countries: Araf by Yesim Ustaoglu, A Strange Course of Events by Raphaël Nadjari, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker by Danis Tanovic, Blancanieves by Pablo Berger, Circles by Srdan Golubovic, In Bloom by Nana Ekvtimishvili, Hannah Arendt by Margarethe von Trotta, The Great Beauty by Paolo Sorrentino, The Congress by Ali Folman, Only God Forgives by Nicolas Winding Refn, and Paradise: Love by Ulrich Seidl.

In upcoming weeks, the 2,900 members of the European Film Academy will vote to select nominees in the categories of the year's Best European Film, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenwriter. A jury of 7 members will select the films to compete in the categories of Best Cinematographer, Editor, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Composer, and Sound Recordist.

Nominations will be unveiled November 9 at the Seville European Film Festival in Spain. The winners will be announced at the 26th European Film Awards, to be held in Berlin on December 7.

With three French films selected in competition this year (Landes, which was also represented by Marie Gillain, Jappeloup, and the minority French production Cha Cha Cha) as well as a string of prestigious premieres (Perfect Mothers), La Religieuse, and Camille Claudel 1915, French cinema was well represented at the Montreal World Film Festival. The Grand Prize of the Americas went to the Polish film Life Feels Good (Chce sie zyc) by Maciej Pieprzyca. The FFM also gave uniFrance Films the chance to meet with all of the distributors and Canadian partners present at the event.

Whether in the Official Selection, tributes, preview screenings, or on closing night, films by directors Abdellatif Kechiche, Bertrand Tavernier, François Dupeyron, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, François Ozon, Albert Dupontel, and Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu will be in the spotlight at the 61st edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival, to be held September 20 through 28, 2013.

This year, thirteen French majority productions and co-productions will be showcased at the event, including three titles in the Official Selection:

- Quai d'Orsay by Bertrand Tavernier and One of a kind by François Dupeyron are both selected in competition, and will be accompanied by their creative crew members.

- The Young and Prodigious Spivet, the latest offering from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, will be screened as closing film on September 28.

At an opening gala event held September 20, representatives from the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) will present the Grand Prize for Best Film of the Year to Abdellatif Kechiche for Blue is the Warmest Color. This prize is the result of votes cast by 245 film critics worldwide, members of FIPRESCI, for titles premiered during the previous twelve months. The winning film will be presented in a special screening. Previous high-profile winners of this award include Pedro Almodovar, Jean-Luc Godard, Michael Haneke, Roman Polanski, and Terrence Malick.

The Pearls section will showcase the latest films by François Ozon (Young & Beautiful), Rithy Panh (The Missing Image), Albert Dupontel (9 mois ferme)—which the director will present together with his lead actress Sandrine Kiberlain—and Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu (Love Is the Perfect Crime), to be screened in the presence of the directors and actor Mathieu Amalric.

La Dune by Yossi Aviram, a French majority co-production, is included in the New Directors section, while the producers of Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants will accompany their film, which will be presented in the Zabaltegi section.

And finally, the thematic retrospective Animatopia will give audiences the chance to savor different aspects of the world of avant-garde animated cinema, and includes Valse avec Bachir by Ari Folman, The Painting by Jean-François Laguionie (screened in his presence), and the collective work Fear(s) of the dark.

We can also note the presence of Valeria Bruni-Tedeschii at the event, as a jury member.

Eastern Boys by Robin Campillo (Les Films de Pierre) was awarded the Orizzonti Prize for Best Film (Official Selection, Orizzonti Section).

La Belle vie by Jean Denizot (Mezzanine Films), which was presented in the Venice Days section, won the Europa Cinéma Label as well as a Special Mention from the Venice Days Jury.

UniFrance Films was present throughout the festival, accompanying and providing support to all of the crew members of French films in attendance at the event, hosting lunch and dinner events with movie industry professionals. The French actors and directors present include Patrice Leconte, Rebecca Hall, Thierry Ragobert, agnès b., Jean Denizot, Edgard Reitz, Robin Campillo, Olivier Rabourdin, Merzak Allouache, Philippe Garrel, Louis Garrel, Anna Mouglalis, Cécile Bicler, and Abdellah Taïa, as well as the producers Saïd Ben Saïd, Marie-Ange Luciani, Hugues Charbonneau (Les Films de Pierre), Philippe Martin (Les Films Pelléas), and Mathieu Bompoint (Mezzanine Films).

The involvement of Capricci Films, co-producer and international sales agent, in Historia de la meva mort (Story of My Death) made it a minority French production. Albert Serra defines it as "a film about the beauty of horror, but also about the horror of beauty."

The Best First Feature award went to Mouton by Gilles Deroo and Marianne Pistone, a 100% French film, produced by Boule de Suif Production.

25 French features and 7 short films were presented this year at the Locarno International Film Festival.

With comprehensive details on awards, selections, delegations, and news, we have created a specific section on our website allowing you to search for any information linked to French feature films presented at international events.

[Click here to access the "International feature film festivals and markets" page]

While French films' market share is one of the highest for many years (despite a decline in attendance figures overall), admissions did not exceed the record figures of 2005 of 7.4 million spectators. It is significant that over 5.5 million admissions were credited to French-language productions in 2012.

The excellent performance of Intouchables (2.6 million admissions) and The Artist (658,000) account for a large share of the year's results, but other successful titles also played their part, such as Dans la maison (206,500 admissions), La Délicatesse (196,000), Les Femmes du 6ème étage (191,200), Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro (154,000), Le Prénom (143,000), and Le Capital (131,000).

As concerns foreign-language productions, Taken 2 attracted 588,000 spectators.

There are around twenty distributors in the Spanish market with an ongoing interest in French films. Golem Distribución leads the pack, with 12 French titles released in 2012. They are followed by Vertigo Films (who are associated with Wild Bunch Distribution, with 8 titles released) and A Contracorriente Films (6 titles). One of the traditional devotees of French film distribution, Alta Films (the 5th most active distributor of French films in 2012) sadly closed down in 2013 after shutting down numerous theaters. As many of Alta’s competitors have pointed out, and confirmed by local institutions and uniFrance Films, this bears witness to the poor state of the Spanish theatrical market at this time, despite 2012 bringing improved results for French films. 

2013 does not promise to be as successful as 2012, since according to results from September, French films have so far this year amassed a total of 1,214,600 admissions from the 27 films released, with 40 titles currently on the screens including films on continued release. Nonetheless, certain titles have put in good performances, such as Amour (206,000 admissions), Un plan parfait (91,500), and Les Saveurs du palais (82,463). In the foreign-language French film category, The Secret (118,627 admissions) and Upside Down (112,537) have posted respectable scores.

These film markets aimed at exhibitors in Russia and the former states of the Soviet Union for which Russian distributors acquire film rights, are held in Moscow twice a year (in March and December), once a year in Sochi (in June), and once annually in St. Petersburg (in September). After a positive experience at last year's market in Sochi, uniFrance Films is now welcomed in St. Petersburg. UniFrance Films is occupying a booth from September 15-19, with a brochure provided in Russian together with a DVD of 38 trailers of new French films. This event, at which France is the only foreign country represented, will enable us to introduce exhibitors of the former USSR to new extracts of French films.

Help ! by Jean Marbœuf has won the top award for a short film at the latest Festival des films du monde de Montréal.

This prize adds kudos to Marboeuf's long career as a director of, as he likes to describe his work, "successful, almost successful films, complete failures, and not quite failures," films that are nonetheless all provocative and free-spirited.

The Festival des films du monde de Montréal requires films to be presented as world premieres in the competitive short film section. This year, eleven shorts have been selected, including two French titles.

Since the festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the director has the possibility of being selected to join in the race for an Oscar. We'll keep you posted!

Watch the film at: http://www.unifrance.org/film/36291/help (pro access only)

From September 6 through 14, 2013, this event brought together up-and-coming artists from a wide-range of cultural disciplines. Natives of France, Quebec, Chili, Benin, Mexique, Pologne, Acadia, Togo, and Russie, to name but a few nationalities, formed delegations of artists and professionals who once again helped to give creative expression to the event, which featured a film competition, as many short films as viewers desired, creative laboratories, clips, Web TV, and more.

Held as a sidebar event, the 7th international film market, which is geared toward traditional distributors of short format film product, is actively involved in promoting and encouraging the existence of a short film market on new media channels associated with the internet and mobile devices.

The French films featuring in the 2013 awards list:

• Diagnostic by Fabrice Bracq: People's Choice Award
• Electric Indigo by Jean-Julien Collette: EuroOffrancophonie Prize
• Les Perruches by Julie Voisin: Prize from the Basse-Normandie Region – OFQJ Prize
• Le Retour by Yohann Kouam: uniFrance Films Prize for Subtitling Aid, awarded to the production company Mezzanine Films
• Le Bout du fil by François Raffenaud: Critics' Prize

• La Femme qui flottait by Thibault Lang-Willar – Karé Productions
• Les Ombres prennent des couleurs dans le miroir by Diako Yazdani – Kometa Films
• Zygomatiques by Stephen Cafiero – Partizan Films
• Si proches des miens by Baptiste Debraux – 10:15 Productions
• Ogre by Jean-Charles Paugam – offshore

With comprehensive details on awards, selections, delegations, and news, we have created a specific section on our website allowing you to search for any information linked to French short films presented at international events.

[Click here to access the "International short film festivals and markets" page]

Compared to the all-time record year of 2012, in which French films registered 65 million admissions during the same time period and in the same 40 markets, 2013 shows a distinct lack of hit French titles with strong commercial potential producing high attendance figures abroad. While French films have not held a strong attraction in our major markets so far this year, China has for the first time become our leading market in 2013, with 4.1 million admissions registered by six films. Only five films have attracted more than 1 million spectators outside France since the start of 2013, three of which are French minority productions shot in a foreign language: Upside Down (2.5 million admissions in 2013 – 4.1 million in total), Love (2.3 million in 2013 – 3.5 million in total), Colombiana (1.6 million in 2013 – 9.6 million in total), Mariage à l’anglaise (1.2 million), and Sammy 2 (1.1 million in 2013 – 4.8 million in total).

In this current context, French-language productions generated 56% of all admissions to French films in international theaters, while French majority productions accounted for 68%. 

Focus on a selection of French majority films that stood out in July and August, 2013

The Gilded Cage has registered exceptional results in theaters in Portugal since its release four weeks ago, and already boasts a total of 398,000 admissions in this market. Over the next few weeks, this film looks set to become the most successful French film ever monitored by UniFrance films in Portugal, thereby eclipsing the fine results of the first three installments in the Asterix series, which until now have ranked as the top-scoring French trio in Portugal (including Asterix and Obelix versus Cesar, the highest performing French title, credited with 520,000 admissions in 1999). On top of this, The Gilded Cage's success has been achieved against a background of a currently declining market in Portugal, which suffered an overall fall of 12.1% in movie attendance in 2012. Just a few months after its surprise success in France, in which The Gilded Cage achieved 1.2 million admissions, its Portuguese distributor Lusomundo wisely timed its release during the summer period, a time when many Portuguese expatriates residing in France return to their homeland. The Gilded Cage has also made its mark in Quebec, where it pulled in 11,000 admissions at the end of its fourth week on the screens. This is a respectable score in this market, in which only one quarter of the 48 French titles released in 2013 have managed to top 10,000 admissions. Also freshly released in Germany, it has enjoyed a reasonable debut, registering 22,000 spectators in 4 days from 62 prints.

The Gilded Cage currently totals over 500,000 admissions in international theaters.

In Germany, Paulette has attracted 346,000 moviegoers after its sixth weekend. This is an excellent performance that enables the film to claim the title of top-performing French film in Germany in 2013, wrestling victory from On The Other Side of The Tracks, whose German run ended in May with 275,000 admissions. This is an excellent score in this market, where only around sixty French films have attracted more than 300,000 admissions since the beginning of the 2000s (including 34 French-language titles). In upcoming weeks, Paulette should come close to matching the performance of the surprise hit of 2012 in Germany, Et si on vivait tous ensemble? (404,000 admissions). For the record, it is worth noting that Paulette's German distributor, Neue Visionen Filmverleih, had predicted an optimistic scenario of achieving 250,000 admissions.

Elsewhere in Europe, Paulette has garnered 67,000 admissions in Portugal, 55,000 in Italy, and 28,000 in Austria, for a total of 523,000 admissions outside France.

Houba! On the Trail of the Marsupilami is credited with 226,000 admissions in China after three weeks. This is a disappointing score given that it was offered a wide release on 3,800 screens at the time of its opening. This has caused some dissatisfaction for Domo Media, who are handling its release under the banner of China Film Studios and Huaxia. Domo Media estimated a minimum of 600,000 admissions, for which they invested considerable funds to promote its release. However, China Film Studios announced the release date just two weeks in advance, thus adversely affecting the efforts of the film's distributor, whose promotional material arrived after its release. So-called "family films," or films for children, rarely produce successful results in China. The high cost of a family movie outing for Chinese audiences remains a prohibitive factor. Chinese movie audiences nowadays are thus mostly composed of young adults aged between 18 and 35. In previous years, Arthur and the Invisible (607,000 admissions in 2007) succeeded in putting in a strong performance, although other family-oriented titles, such as Asterix at the Olympic Games (168,000 admissions in 2008) and Little Nicholas (around 60,000 admissions in 2013) achieved far more modest results.

Since the start of its international career in April 2012, Houba! On the Trail of the Marsupilami has tallied a total of 1.2 million admissions in foreign theaters, including 348,000 in Russia, 261,000 in Belgium, and 148,000 in Poland.

The Attack continues its run in the United States and English-speaking Canada (Cohen Media Group). It has clocked up over $1.5 million after ten weeks, representing around 200,000 admissions. It registers the 3rd highest score by a French film in 2013 in these markets, behind Renoir ($2.2 million, for around 300,000 admissions), and the French minority production Love is All You Need (Sony – $1.6 million, for 215,000 admissions). This is the best performance of all the French films distributed by the relative newcomer on the scene, Cohen Media Group. Cohen Media were behind two successful French films in 2012: Farewell My Queen ($1.3 million, for just under 170,000 admissions) and Fils de l'autre ($1.3 million, for 157,000 admissions).

The Attack has registered 220,000 admissions in international theaters.