It was a resounding success for this year's edition of the Rendez-Vous with New French Cinema in Rome, a festival initiated by the French Embassy in Italy and organized by the Institut Français, in collaboration with Unifrance. The event took place from March 30 through April 4, 2022.
Over 3,000 spectators came out to watch the screenings in Rome held at the Cinema Nuovo Sacher site owned by Nanni Moretti, with evening sessions screened to packed houses. The attendance figures for the extended event, held in Naples, Bologna, and Turin pushed up the figures even higher, as did the audience support for the virtual theater (limited to 500 places) that was organized by the Italian streaming platform MyMovies.
The Italian director Moretti, despite being in the midst of principle production for his upcoming film (in which Mathieu Amalric takes the lead role), managed to take time off his shooting schedule to greet a number of artists at the event, including Emmanuel Carrère, Mikhaël Hers, Laurent Cantet, Arnaud Desplechin, and Claire Simon.
Readers may recall that Antoine Barraud, Stéphane Brizé, Emmanuelle Devos, and Sandrine Kiberlain (who was the subject of a Special Focus section that included a presentation of her debut film as a director) were also in attendance in Rome, while Laurent Cantet and Arnaud Desplechin extended their presence at the festival, in Naples and Bologna respectively.
Another mark of the success of the 2022 festival: the full media coverage offered to the event, which notably featured a strong participation by press outlets and a presentation of the event held during TV news broadcasts on the channels Rai 1, Rai 2, and Rai 3.
The section of the festival aimed at schools was expanded this year, with the organization of screenings held in a new partner theater, the Nuovo Cinema Aquila, and the creation of a program of works proposed by teachers who signed up to the "Rendez-Vous Play" offer. (https://www.institutfrancais.it/italia/edizione-speciale-rendez-vous-2022).
The professional section of the event featured a proposal made by Unifrance, in partnership with the ANICA: a Franco-Italian Meeting held at the Palazzo Farnese/French Embassy.
Three French producers (Julien Deris/Cinéfrance, Laurence Lascary/De l'Autre Côté du Périph', Caroline Nataf/Unité) and four sales agents (Renan Artukmaç/France tv distribution, Nicolas Eschbach/Indie Sales, Valentine Loche/Pulsar Content, François Morisset/Salaud Morisset) were present for this meeting. Following an introductory speech by Daniela Elstner (Executive Director of Unifrance) and Roberto Stabile (Director of International Relations at ANICA), they were able to participate in presentations by five Italian industry professionals, Federica Lucisano (Lucisano Media Group) and Marco Chimenz (Cattleya), Simone Gialdini (ANEC, Association of Italian Exhibitors), Guglielmo Marchetti (Notorious Pictures), and Davide Novelli (Vision Distribution), who provided a comprehensive review of the current state of the production, distribution, and exhibition sectors in Italy.
After each presentation, the French professionals present were able to respond with their comments and reactions, share their experiences of the French situation at this time, and report on this ecosystem in which the variables (notably in terms of funding windows, the chronology of the various media, and the integration of digital platforms in the industry) are not always the same in the different countries.
The discussions and exchanges proved highly fruitful and stimulating in this "work group" format, which was very well-received by all of those present.
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