With the intention of strengthening the presence of French films in South-East Asia, UniFrance is testing out a new initiative aimed at French sales companies that is based on a hybrid model combining a study trip with a mini French film market.
The inaugural edition of the operation will be held in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur from July 14 through 17, 2019. This new initiative benefits from the support of our embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Hanoi.
Why Kuala Lumpur?
With a movie sector that counts 1,100 screens and registered ticket sales of over 72 million in 2017, Malaysia has the second highest per-capita movie attendance figures in the region (after Singapore), with an average of 2.3 films seen per person per year, whereas none of its other neighbors average more than one film admission per capita. Malaysia is also the birthplace of some of the leading media groups of the region, such as the Astro Group broadcasting and media entity, and the "low-cost" SVOD platform WeTV iFlix, which is expanding its services in many developing countries, including in the African continent. Unsurprisingly, it is in Kuala Lumpur that MUBI has recently chosen to open its regional office in Asia.
The timing of this operation also coincides with the Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFEST), which was previously held in March but will take place this year from July 14 through 20.
A trip with two components
The first part of the trip made by French sales companies will be devoted to learning about the Malaysian market, with a full program of visits to local operators: exhibitors, distributors, online platforms, and television networks operating in the country. The second component is a classic-format French Film Market to be held over two days during which participants will include, in addition to Malaysian buyers, around twenty buyers from across South-East Asia. The first morning of the film market will be devoted to a presentation of the promo reels and lineups of the participating French sales companies.
French sales companies present:
- Artedis/Panoceanic (Pierre-Richard Muller)
- Celluloid Dreams (François-Nicolas Descombes)
- Indie Sales (Florencia Gil)
- Kinology (Emmanuel Pisarra)
- Le Pacte (Nathalie Jeung)
- Les Films du Losange (Tess Masse)
- Loco Films (Arnaud Godart)
- mk2 films (Ola Byszuk)
- TF1 Studio (Alexandre René)
- Wide (Maxime Montagne)
- WTFilms (Clara Flageollet Schmit)
