The 18th edition of the Franco-German Film Meetings came to a close on November 19. This special edition took place entirely online instead of physically in Bonn, Germany, as had originally been planned and where the 2021 edition of the event will be held.
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 its final decisions of 2020. The list of projects benefiting from support from the mini-treaty was announced by Marie Masmonteil (president of the Franco-German Film Academy) during her closing speech at the Franco-German Film Meetings.
As for the Academy, it was able to again bring together (after a first meeting organized in Mulhouse in 2019) several work groups that further enhanced the exchanges between French and German industry professionals and representatives from institutions. This year the work groups focused on five themes: "Green producing: will the future be green" (moderated by the Atelier Network, which also organizied an online party on the evening of November 18); "Shooting films during Covid-19: health measures and their impacts"; "Toward a revival of national production? What future lies ahead for international productions?"; "From the production of feature films to the production of works intended for the TV and VOD markets: how to guarantee producers' independence in the coming year?" and film exhibition (this group presented the main points of its deliberations in a live broadcast).
The customary Coproduction Market threw the spotlight on seventeen projects initiated by France and Germany. A hundred or so meetings were thus able to take place, with each project leader being given a virtual room in which to hold his or her meetings.
Another highlight of the event was the presentation of the 2nd Franco-German Film Academy Prize to Paula Beer. This award, which was handed to Beer by the French producer Marie Masmonteil and the German producer Fabian Gasmia (vice-president of the Academy), honors an artistic personality whose work has helped to forge links between France and Germany.
The plenary sessions focused on changes in the audiovisual sector and in particular on the consequences of the increasing foothold of streaming platforms, the position of the distribution and exhibition sectors and how they have been affected by Covid-19, and the presentation of the Nostradamus Report on possible developments in the film sector hit by the pandemic.
Finally, in her closing speech, Marie Masmonteil, accompanied by Andreas Bareiss (vice-president of the Academy), put forward a declaration on the protection of the independence of film and television producers, which the members of the Academy's board had drafted during this year's edition: the "November Declaration" (downloadable in French and German only, below).
Program
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