uniFrance Films focuses special attention on animated films, on par with the latter's importance in world sales of French films.
Zarafa in New York, The Illusionnist in Kazakhstan, A Cat in Paris in Tokyo, Arthur 3: The War of Two Worlds in Russia... The animation genre is regularly, if not systematically, present in selections of the festivals organized by uniFrance abroad.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the CITA offer the opportunity of analyzing how the sector is performing and of sharing ideas with professionals about the distribution of films in festivals, with the aim of enhancing international distribution.
Last year during Annecy, uniFrance Films revealed the first study of international results achieved by French animation films. This year, a meeting with producers organised in collaboration with the SPFA (Syndicat des Producteurs de Films d’Animation) allowed professionals to continue thinking about the careers of films, in terms of financing, sales, promotion, and marketing, beyond national borders.
Given their dynamic position in animation film production, short films were obviously a part of these discussions focused on the international market. On this occasion, uniFrance Films produced a special DVD presenting a selection of 11 animated shorts.
It should be noted that Annecy's three top competition prizes were awarded to French productions. The Cristal d’Annecy went to Tram by Michaela Pavlátová, the Special Jury Award went to Edmond était un âne (Edmond Was a Donkey) by Franck Dion, and the Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film went to The People Who Never Stop by Florian Piento.
The Mifa, Marché International du Film d’Animation, finished this weekend on a positive note, with an increase in attendance of 4%. Conditions were favorable to this progression, with the presence of 470 exhibiting firms, 287 buyers, distributors, and investors, and around 2500 accredited participants from 63 different countries.
