Two days of discussions and meetings will be aimed at defining development opportunities for the film and audiovisual media sector in French-speaking African countries.
As a continuation of the development of new directions that were highlighted in our Report on Opportunities for French Films in French-speaking Africa released in October last year, Unifrance will host this new event on June 4 and 5, 2015, in Abidjan in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The 1st Francophone Film Meetings will be hosted in collaboration with the Ivory Coast's Ministry of Culture and Francophony and will be held at the Sofitel Abidjan Hotel Ivoire in partnership with DISCOP Africa.
These meetings will be a source of enriching exchanges between around one hundred French-speaking movie and audiovisual industry professionals. Roundtables will be devoted to subjects including development strategies for audiovisual groups in French-speaking countries, resources and limitations in film financing in Francophone regions, and the structuring of the movie sector, divided into five sections: training, production, distribution, exhibition, and promotion.
A presentation of Co-Production Agreements will be made during this event by the CNC - Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée.
The major audiovisual media groups operating in Africa (Lagardère, Orange, Pathé-Gaumont, RTI, and Canal+) will participate in the meetings.
This event will also provide an opportunity to inaugurate two recently renovated movie theaters: the theater at the Sofitel Abidjan Hotel Ivoire on June 3, which has only just completed its refurbishment, and the French Institute's theater on June 4, with an evening reception to be attended by professionals from the film and television sectors.
For some years now, UniFrance films has been studying the movie and television sector in the international French-language community in collaboration with our Belgian, Swiss, and Quebec partners.
A "Francophony" work group led by the producer Éric Névé (La Chauve-Souris), which gathers together directors, producers, and sales agents, meets several times each year under the guidance of UniFrance films to consider new strategies to develop in these regions, while remaining aware of the economic and cultural challenges involved.
