Held in Paris January 17-21, 2003, the 5th Rendez-vous with French Cinema organized by Unifrance was an all-out success.
MEETINGS WITH THE PRESS
135 journalists attended the 5th Rendez-vous with French Cinema this year. 25 countries were represented and, for the first time, Latin American journalists were invited to the event. The countries most strongly represented were Germany (17 press and audiovisual journalists), Spain (15), Mexico (9), Great Britain (13), Italy (12) and Russia (8).
Unifrance organized numerous meetings with the press, with a total of 800 individual or group interviews held. The aim of these meetings was to enable journalists to prepare the ground for the upcoming commercial release of French films in their respective countries during the first six months of 2003.
70 films were in the spotlight at these press meetings. Of those films awaiting the greatest number of theatrical releases, we can mention the following: "He Loves Me… He Loves Me Not" by Laetitia Colombani, "The Adversary" by Nicole Garcia, "Euro Pudding" by Cédric Klapisch, "Ball and Chain" by Frédéric Forestier and Alain Berberian, "Carnage" by Delphine Gleize, "Jet Lag" by Danièle Thompson, "Demonlover" by Olivier Assayas, "See How They Run" by Michel Blanc, "The Son" by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, "Gangsters!" by Olivier Marchal, "The Man on the Train" by Patrice Leconte, "Irreversible" by Gaspar Noé, "Novo" by Jean-Pierre Limosin, "Samurai" by Giordano Gederlini, "Read My Lips" by Jacques Audiard and "La Trilogie" by Lucas Belvaux.
121 directors, actors and actresses accepted to participate in interviews.
The directors most sought after by European journalists were:
· Olivier Assayas for "Demonlover"
· Jacques Audiard for "Read My Lips"
· Michel Blanc for "See How They Run"
· Costa-Gavras for "Amen"
· Cédric Klapisch for "Euro Pudding"
· Gaspar Noé for "Irreversible"
· Michel Deville for "Almost Peaceful"
The most sought-after actors and actresses were:
· Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno for "Jet Lag"
· Jean Rochefort and Johnny Hallyday for "The Man on the Train"
· Eduardo Noriega and Anna Mouglalis for "Novo"
· Charlotte Rampling and Carole Bouquet for "See How They Run"
· Chiara Mastroianni for "Carnage"
· Jeanne Balibar for "Who Knows?"
· Isabelle Huppert for "Ghost River" (aka "The Promised Life")
THE FILM MARKET
340 theatrical distributors and TV buyers, representing 260 companies, attended the 5th Rendez-vous. This shows a 21% increase in the number of buyers present (280 in 2002). This considerable hike in attendance figures can be explained by several factors:
- the increasingly high profile of the event
- the united action on the part of French sales agents, who, alongside Unifrance, had prepared the event over several months, and
- the invitation now made to buyers from Latin America and southern Mediterranean countries.
These buyers came to Paris from 50 countries, of which 29 of these are European (including Eastern European countries and Russia). The major countries represented were Germany (41 buyers), Italy (25), Switzerland (25), Russia (22), Quebec (18), the United Kingdom (17), Spain (14), Hungary (11), Belgium (10) and Poland (10).
Among the buyers present, there were 43 representatives from television channels, the same number as in 2002. The presence of these representatives of the major European television channels that broadcast French films is vital since these decision-makers play an influential role in the purchasing procedures of distributors. The fact that the number of attendees is no higher than in 2002 reflects once again the state of crisis currently suffered by the majority of these audiovisual groups, particularly in the major European countries.
The Market’s program consisted of 29 French films that had not previously been screened at an international market, 27 recent French films (having been screened at no more than one international market) as well as promo-reels of films currently in production. The 56 films ( a record for this event) were screened in original version with English subtitles. These screenings were held in 5 private screening theaters in Paris’s Champs-Elysées (the Elysées-Biarritz, Planet Hollywood, Club de l’étoile, Mac Mahon and the Pathé theater).
Average attendance to the event rose to 41 buyers per session this year, a record turnout. This excellent average for professional screenings bears witness to the fact that the event provides an appropriate environment for showcasing films yet to be released, without competition from films from other national industries.
The screenings that attracted the highest attendance were: "Ni pour, ni contre (bien au contraire)" by Cédric Klapisch (presented in a gala screening), "Fureur" by Karim Dridi, "Rire et châtiment" by Isabelle Doval, "Petites coupures" by Pascal Bonitzer, "Monsieur N." by Antoine de Caunes, "Corps à corps" by François Hanss, "Le Bison" by Isabelle Nanty, "Le Pharmacien de garde" by Jean Veber, "Les Enfants de la pluie" by Philippe Leclerc, "Pas si grave" by Bernard Rapp, "La Trilogie" by Lucas Belvaux, and promo-reels of 6 new films presented by Wild Bunch.
