The 31st Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre, the world's largest market dedicated to French audiovisual programs, will take place from September 1 to 5. During this flagship event for the sector, nearly 150 buyers from some 40 countries will be able to discover more than 500 audiovisual programs covering all genres (fiction, animation, documentary, live performance, and entertainment), presented by 51 distributors of French audiovisual works.
Among the 150 buyers expected to attend, several will be participating in the Rendez-Vous for the first time, including Quintus Studios (a pioneering German AVOD distribution company), Televize Noe (a Czech Christian television channel, non-commercial and non-profit), and Central Cooperation International Co Ltd (a Chinese distribution company).
Longstanding partners, such as RTS (Switzerland), ZDF (Germany), HRT (Croatia), Helio Media / Tet (Latvia), TVP (Poland), and the Markíza group (Slovakia), remain faithful to the Rendez-vous, accompanied this year by new representatives.
The event will welcome a large European delegation, with the participation of numerous companies from Western Europe (Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, etc.) and Eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, etc.).
Alongside this European presence, numerous participants are also expected from all continents. Buyers from the Middle East (United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey), Africa (Tunisia, Cameroon, Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo), America (United States, Canada, Brazil), and Asia (Japan, China, South Korea, India, Indonesia) will also be present, confirming the event's global reach.
In terms of distributors, 51 French companies are expected to attend.
> The full list of participating companies can be found here.
The Rendez-Vous will open on Monday, September 1 with an evening event at the MuMa, the Musée d’Art Moderne André Malraux, hosted by the Mairie du Havre, in the presence of Édouard Philippe, the Mayor of Le Havre and president of the Communauté urbaine Le Havre Seine Métropole.
On Wednesday, September 3, participants will also be invited by the Région Normandie to a cocktail reception at the Palais Bénédictine in Fécamp, hosted by Hervé Morin, president of the Région Normandie, and in his presence. This reception will be an opportunity for Deadline, a partner of the Rendez-Vous, to present the second Deadline French TV Disruptor Award to an artist with a remarkable career.
The video library will open its doors on Tuesday, September 2 at Carré des Docks, initially only to buyers, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., for a morning entirely devoted to viewing more than 500 French audiovisual programs covering all genres. This year once again, each company has been able to showcase a flagship program in the form of a highlight, with privileged visibility in the Screening Room. These programs are already available online on the event's viewing platform and will also be accessible on site in the video library.
Parallel to this, French distributors will be invited to a morning of conferences, taking place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., introduced by Gilles Pélisson, President of Unifrance, and Daniela Elstner, Executive Director of the organization, as well as Gaëtan Bruel, President of the CNC. At 10:15 a.m., Pélisson and Yannick Carriou, CEO of Médiamétrie, will present an initial conference about data and digital distribution, with the key topic centered on the audience measurement for programmes on platforms. At 11:15 a.m., the CNC and Unifrance will co-present the 2024 figures for French audiovisual program exports during a second conference that will be broadcast online and translated into English.
Registrations here
The market will open its doors on Tuesday, September 2, in the afternoon, starting at 1:30 p.m., to welcome members' appointments until the end of the day on Thursday, September 4. The video library will remain open to buyers throughout the duration of the market.
This year, the gala reception will take place on Tuesday, September 2, starting at 7 p.m., and will honor the fiction series Vendetta (6x52’), created by Ange Basterga, written by Basterga, Pierre-Marie Mosconi, and Emmanuelle Michaux, produced by CPB Films, and distributed by France tv distribution. Thierry Neuvic and Vahina Giocante play the main characters in this Corsican family saga, which spans from the 1990s to the present day. Ange Basterga, Thierry Neuvic, and Vahina Giocante will be in attendance to present an exclusive screening of the first episode of the series at the Pathé Docks Vauban cinema and to meet with foreign professionals during a festive dinner in the Carré des Docks theater.
The closing night will take place on Thursday, September 4, starting at 7 p.m., at Magic Mirrors, and will feature the series Barbapapa en famille ! (104x11’), created, written, and directed by Alice Taylor and Thomas Taylor and distributed by FESTIVAAL Distribution. To mark the series' 55th anniversary, the buzzy family is making a comeback on screens to once again bring joy to children's daily lives.
Throughout the event, accredited guests will be invited to discover several upcoming productions during screenings:
- The documentary Nature: The Call for Reconciliation (105’), written and directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and distributed by Federation International. Nature traces the history of life, from its cosmic origins to its contemporary challenges, and calls for collective transformation to reconcile humanity with nature. The documentary will be screened at the Pathé Docks Vauban cinema on Tuesday at noon.
- The scripted drama series After Us (6x45’), created by Louis Aubert and Matthieu Bernard, co-written with Clément Marchand, directed by Franck Brett, and distributed by Mediawan Rights. Starring Natacha Lindinger, François Berléand, Marie Colomb, and Léo Legrand, it follows the Alpha Group, a clandestine organization that decides to fight climate inaction by kidnapping the children of business leaders to force them to keep their commitments—on the eve of a European forum. The series will be screened at the Pathé Docks Vauban cinema on Wednesday at noon.
- Season 2 of the scripted drama series Escort Boys (6x45’), written by Marc Syrigas, Ruben Alves, and Yael Lebrati Attuil, directed by Ruben Alves, and distributed by Wild Bunch TV. After a successful first season, the series reunites its four protagonists—played by Guillaume Labbé, Thibaut Evrard, Corentin Fila, and Simon Ehrlacher—who are forced to return to escorting just as they were about to save their family estate. The series will be screened at the Pathé Docks Vauban cinema on Thursday afternoon.
> The event's full program can be found here.
Unifrance warmly thanks the Ville du Havre and the Région Normandie for their support and joint efforts in making the Rendez-Vous a success, and looks forward to seeing this collaboration come to fruition throughout the event.
The 31st Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre benefits from the invaluable support of: the République française, the CNC, PROCIREP, Ville du Havre, Région Normandie. Unifrance also thanks Super Bock, the event's official supplier, as well as its patrons Accor, BNP Paribas, and Vranken-Pommery Monopole, and its media partners Variety, Prensario, and Deadline.
