The TorinoFilmLab and Talent Short Film Market took place in Turin during November, as a sidebar event at the Torino Film Festival. Unifrance supported the presence of short film production and distribution companies, as well as the promotion of French VR.
Unifrance partnered for the first time with the TorinoFilmLab by supporting a French project selected for the FeatureLab, a program dedicated to the development of first and second feature films. The FeatureLab focuses on film projects at an advanced stage of development: fiction, creative documentaries, experimental films, animation, and any other form of film creation. Program participants, directors, and producers, have the opportunity to develop their projects, prepare them for international markets, and meet with potential co-producers, distributors, and other industry professionals.
For this first collaboration, Unifrance supported the feature film project Terra, written by Gabrielle Demeestere and produced by Clémentine Mourão-Ferreira(So-Cle) (photo illustration) Unifrance's support consisted of awarding a grant to the French project selected within the framework of the program, covering 50% of the registration fees and the travel expenses of the author and producer (a member of Unifrance).
Gabrielle Demeestere and Clémentine Mourão-Ferreira participated in the residency sessions planned within the program: the first was held in June in Poland, and the second, the TFL Meeting Event, from November 24 to 26 in Turin. During this event, they presented their project during pitch sessions, which were followed by two afternoons of one-to-one meetings.
Alongside the TorinoFilmLab, at the second edition of the Alpi Lab, a program of training and exercises in Franco-Italian co-production, the French project Les héros américains – which will be directed by Sophie Beaulieu and produced by Camille Genaud (Paraiso Production) in co-production with Ottavia Fragnito (Maremosso) – was named the winner of the Scarabeo Award, which consists of € 20,000 for post-production expenses.
Unifrance at the TSFM
Unifrance also strengthened its partnership with the Talent Short Film Market (TSFM) (formerly Torino Short Film Market), with the support of the Institut Français in Italy. The Turin market took place from November 27 through December 1. The opening cocktail reception, co-sponsored by Unifrance and Creative Europe Desk Italy MEDIA, brought together a hundred international short film professionals.
The four days of the TSFM were punctuated by conferences, works In progress and pitches of international projects in development. For the first year, a Lab around animation was set up, resulting in a specific award allowing the recipient the opportunity to spend two weeks in a writing residency in Sardinia.
Unifrance accompanied a delegation of French distributors for multiple one-to-one sessions held over two days with international buyers.
In addition, a dozen hand-picked French immersive works were on view, in the wings of the market and throughout its duration, at the Museo del Cinema in Turin (photo) as part of I <3 FRENCH XR, a partnership between Unifrance and the TSFM to promote immersive content to the Italian public. This initiative proved highly successful.
Two works were awarded at the TSFM: The Rai XR Award went to Dream Builders : The Cenotaph for Newton by Arnaud Desjardins, while the feature project A Touch of Harmony by Céline Gailleurd and Olivier Bohler received the Experience Sardegna Award.
The French immersive works presented:
- Dream Builders : The Cenotaph for Newton by Arnaud Desjardins
- They Dream in My Bones - Insemnopedy II by Faye Formisano
- Gloomy Eyes by Jorge Tereso
- PLANET ∞ by Momoko Seto
- Revivre Paris by Chloé Rochereuil
- Accused#2: Walter Sisulu by Nicolas Champeaux
- A Bar at the Folies-Bergère VR by Gabrielle Lissot
- Isle of the Dead VR by Benjamin Nuel
- Kinoscope by Clément Léotard
