It has been a year since Unifrance has been deploying its actions and teams to promote French cinema and audiovisual work within the same organization (a merger that took place at the general assembly on June 23, 2021). One year later, it seemed important to take stock of the situation and highlight the points of convergence around the French cultural model, its influence, its diversity, its creativity and its innovative power.
2021 was a historic year. A new chapter in the collective history of Unifrance started during the year, giving new impetus to the joint organization. This expansion allows the organization to be more than ever a real strike force in the service of French works and a soft power for promoting the artistic and cultural ideal that both sectors share.
French cinema and audiovisual creation enjoyed a rewarding 2021: the Palme d'Or at Cannes with Julia Ducournau's Titane, Best Comedy at the Emmy Awards in New York for the series Call My Agent!, and the Golden Lion at Venice for Audrey Diwan's Happening...
Unifrance's new format brings together more than 1,000 members, producers, exporters and artists from both the film and audiovisual sectors, covering the great diversity of our creation – short and feature films, audiovisual works, documentaries, animation, series, VR...
“This new Unifrance is better adapted to the current situation of the cinema and audiovisual sectors. It is a very noble mission because we are fortunate to live in a country with artistic and cultural strength, where the cinema and audiovisual industries have a primordial place in the public and political arena. Our country produces and welcomes many foreign authors who don't have the means to make films and works in their own countries.
In both sectors, there are still battles to be fought over freedom and independence, with the notion that we all share about French creation, in a constantly changing economic and industrial context, under the economic pressure of globalized platforms.” Serge Toubiana, President of Unifrance.
The last two years, marked by a global epidemic of unprecedented proportions, have raised many uncertainties about the future of our sectors; in particular for the cinema industry, which has been weakened by the successive closures of theaters. Unifrance has thus adapted its support to exhibitors around the world, particularly independents, and will strengthen this action in the coming months, in constant dialogue with professionals.
Movie theaters
In 2021, 17.5 million tickets were sold for French films in international theaters, led by Samuel Tourneux's animated feature Around the World in 80 Days. Slowly, spectators are returning to cinemas worldwide and some of the latter are regaining their 2019 attendance levels, notably in South Korea and the The Netherlands. Germany, Italy, and Spain are struggling. English-language films are revitalizing the United Kingdom territory, but we can also note the success of Petite Maman by Céline Sciamma with 45,000 admissions. In the USA, the film recorded nearly 100,000 admissions. Martin Bourboulon's film Eiffel also got off to a good start. The Rendez-Vous With French Cinema festival in New York, organized by Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center, enjoyed packed houses last March and a marked uptick in audience numbers was registered.
For 2022, in view of the worldwide admissions of French films at the end of May, we can hope for a 50% increase in attendance compared to last year, and in 2023 the films Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom by Guillaume Canet and The Three Musketeers by Martin Bourboulon are highly anticipated internationally.
French works on streaming platforms
In 2021, French films were the third most represented by country on subscription video-on-demand platforms with a 4.8% catalog share, behind American and Indian productions. For example, released exclusively on Netflix, Louis Leterrier's The Takedown with Omar Sy and Laurent Lafitte is already the fifth most viewed non-English film since the platform's creation. In terms of non-English language titles, French works are the leaders in number of streams on Netflix in the second half of 2021.
Another success, in April 2022, the HPI series cumulated nearly 175 million views worldwide in the 90 territories where it was exported.
“The new audiovisual landscape, with the massive arrival of platforms, has made the export business terribly complex at the legal and technical level with regard to rights sales, because there are many more distribution channels. This is a tremendous opportunity and it is reflected in the figures for audiovisual exports.” Hervé Michel, Vice President of Unifrance.
French animation: the emblematic genre of French soft power
While the Annecy International Animation Film Festival is in full swing, France can pride itself on being the leading European producer in this field and the third largest in the world. Animation is the first genre to be exported, with 38% of program sales and 26 million euros in revenues from world rights in 2020. France's influence in animation is the result of a virtuous model that combines internationally recognized schools, excellent studios, talented artists, and directors, committed television channels, and ongoing public support.
The audiovisual and cinema merger in practice
The merger has allowed Unifrance to restructure itself with a team of some 50 employees and new members. Unifrance is now a common structure for two sectors with shared objectives and values, while maintaining two distinct bases – cinema and audiovisual – in order to respect their specific needs. As of 2022, Unifrance has also pooled and developed cross-disciplinary actions.
For the 24th consecutive year, the association organized the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris, the largest market and press junket in the world dedicated to French cinema and, for the first time, to the French audiovisual industry.
Digital communication tools have been pooled: at the beginning of the year, Unifrance adopted a new graphic charter, as well as a common newsletter, and social networks have been reorganized.
Currently, Unifrance is working on the development of a common professional database and directories, a new viewing tool that is more flexible and adapted to the constraints of the audiovisual and film industries, and is redesigning its website for professionals and the general public.
Economic intelligence
With its team of experts and territory managers, Unifrance will continue to act as an observatory of the economic vitality of the two sectors on the international scene, alongside the CNC, and will continue to be the primary source of information in terms of figures, reports, and analyses in the years to come. It seems essential to improve the evaluation tools for economic data on audiovisual exports, and this will be a priority.
The recovery plan to support Unifrance's new ambition in terms of action diversification and digital strategy.
Unifrance has received a special grant of three million euros from the CNC to support and secure its merger strategy, both to develop new distribution initiatives and a new editorial policy for digital content.
In parallel with the work underway on new digital tools, Unifrance must become a true generalist and institutional medium at the service of international professionals and audiences, complementing the work done by distributors on a film-by-film basis, thereby supporting the desire for cinema and audiovisual creation, and bolstering the image of French creativity with audiences around the world.
The organization is working to redefine a clear and understandable editorial strategy tailored to specific media and targets with the development of its Youtube channel, which must be strengthened and editorialized, almost relinearized, with diversified, regular, and advance propositions. This Youtube channel will be the entry point of this new dynamic for the benefit of our members' activity and soft power by drawing from directors, creators, and artists and all those who contribute to the success and influence of French production.
Future actions
In the coming months, Unifrance's activities abroad will be focused on Europe (Italy, Spain, and Germany). Thanks to its offices in the United States, China and Japan, Unifrance is also developing operations and events in these key territories.
The Unifrance Rendez-vous will take place in Paris January 2023 and Biarritz in September 2022. 250 buyers are already expected in September in the Basque Country.
International Rendez-vous: Rome (April 2022), Madrid (June 2022), Berlin (November 2022), New York (March 2022), and Yokohama (December 2022) ensure that French cinematographic and audiovisual work has a strong foothold in these countries with screenings in the presence of artistic and production teams.
MyFrenchFilmFestival, the first online French-language film festival will take place in January and February 2023 for the thirteenth consecutive year.
At the same time, Unifrance is expanding its support for genres that straddle both sectors (animation, documentary, genre films) in order to promote the great plurality of French creation.
“There is a real desire for French cinema and audiovisual work. What we need to do is ensure that the diversity of works is valued in its entirety. Unifrance is the collective tool that works where each professional cannot operate alone.
We have a European duty. We need a strong Europe and a strong Europe needs a strong European culture. The healthier the European cinema and audiovisual sector is, the more beneficial it will be for French creation.
Hence, Unifrance doesn't hesitate to expand its fields of action, to open up to European creations, to new technologies and to new uses. The task is as demanding as it is exciting, and we have a responsibility to take up these challenges in order to perpetuate the prime position of French creation in the world.” Daniela Elstner, Executive Director of Unifrance.
