Report on the 17th Franco-German Film Meetings

The wide-ranging program notably included the organization by the CNC and the FFA Filmförderungsanstalt of a new Franco-German Mini-Treaty Committee tasked with delivering the mini-treaty's final decisions of 2019. The list of projects benefiting from support from the mini-treaty was announced by Olivier Henrard, general director of the CNC (photo), during his opening speech at the event.

Also at the Film Meetings, the Franco-German Film Academy held a meeting of its board of directors in order to set up a series of work groups, a new initiative that increased exchanges between French and German industry professionals and representatives from public institutions. These work groups focused on three themes: Franco-German coproductions, the distribution of low and medium budget films in France and Germany, and film exhibition (this group presented the main points of its deliberations to the public).

The customary Coproduction Market threw the spotlight on twenty-two projects initiated by France and Germany at a meeting space dedicated to the event, which was open throughout the Film Meetings (another new innovation this year).

One of the high points of the event was the presentation of the 1st Franco-German Film Academy Prize to Mia Hansen-Løve. This award, which was handed to the film director by the producer Marie Masmonteil (president of the Academy) and Serge Toubiana, aims to honor a leading artistic figure in the movie industry whose work has helped to strengthen ties between France and Germany, and the selection of this filmmaker (the majority of whose films have been coproduced by France and Germany) was "an obvious choice," according to the Academy president.

Punctuated by presentations by the City of Mulhouse and the Mulhouse-Alsace Agglomeration on the attractiveness of their region, as well as by the Région Grand Est on its initiatives supporting the movie industry (the PLATO network and the INTERREG project), plenary sessions concentrated on the capturing, or recapturing, of French and German audiences by movie theaters, distributors, and film festivals, as well as the development of ongoing campaigns and initiatives undertaken on both sides of the Rhine (with a panel discussion organized by the Atelier Network composed of former students at the Atelier Paris-Ludwigsburg), and the opportunities and limitations brought about, or imposed, by the rapid expansion of SVOD platforms at this time.

The next edition of the Franco-German Film Meetings will be held in Germany in 2020, in accordance with the principle of alternating each year between venues in France and Germany.

The photo portfolio can be viewed below.