Figures from the latest study conducted by the CNC and Unifrance have revealed an all-time high for French drama, with sales of €80.7 million, representing an increase of 40.9% between 2021 and 2022. For the first time since 1999, when statistical tracking of exports by genre began, fiction has become the leading export genre, accounting for 37.6% of total sales.

It is against this particularly buoyant backdrop that Unifrance will be organising the ninth Coming Next from France event, as part of the Series Mania Forum, and will be present at both the Forum and the festival to showcase the diversity of French fiction creation.

For the first time, Unifrance is presenting seven previously unseen French series at Coming Next from France (compared with five in previous years)

The Coming Next from France sessions, which will be held on Tuesday 19 March from 3.30pm to 4.30pm at the Auditorium Marie Curie (Lille Grand Palais), will showcase seven French series soon to be available on the international market, in front of an audience of foreign decision-makers and buyers. It's an opportunity for teams of distributors, producer, and sometimes artists, to raise the profile of their programs on the international market.

The seven series presented in 2024:

• A Dangerous Friendship, distributed by Mediawan Rights
• Ça, c'est Paris, distributed by Federation Studios
• Carpe Diem, distributed by Newen Connect
• The Eclipse, distributed by About Premium Content
• The Black Widow, distributed by Film & Picture
• Sea Shadows, distributed by France tv distribution
• Zetwal, distributed by Trace Studios

These seven series testify to the diversity and boldness of French fiction. They offer a vast range of writing styles, universes and genres (crime, social drama, history, thriller, science fiction, young adult, etc.), and feature both established actors and promising new faces. Each in its own way, these works explore singular and sometimes little-known worlds, and offer a condensed view of French society, past and present.

Unifrance's presence at the Series Mania Forum

Unifrance is once again joining forces with the Series Mania Forum to present the Welcome Drink, the opening reception of the professional meetings, attended by predominantly international industry professionals.
The organization will also be offering its members a space to host their meetings in the Business Lounge.

A fine representation of French creation in the festival program

In 2024, French creations are very well represented in the program, with 13 French works in all the festival's sections: International Competition, French Competition, Comedy Competition, Short Forms Competition, Special Screenings, and also Documentary Series, a new category created this year.

For the first time, the festival's main juries will include two of the new faces in the French cinema and audiovisual realms, supported by Unifrance as part of its 10 to Watch initiative. Each year, this program honors 10 artists making a splash on the international scene. Actor Sofiane Zermani will be on the International Competition jury, and actress Suzy Bemba on the International Panorama jury.

Unifrance will also be on hand at the festival to promote this sterling French presence and meet the artistic teams behind the selected series: actors, screenwriters, directors, showrunners...
Short videos for the general public will be posted on Unifrance's social networks throughout the festival.

The full French selection at Series Mania 2024

International Competition

• In the Shadows by Pierre Schoeller and Guillaume Senez, France 2
• Rematch by Yan England, ARTE / Disney + / HBO Europe
   

French Competition

• Homejacking by Hervé Hadmar, OCS
• Le Monde n’existe pas by Erwan Le Duc, ARTE
• Machine by Fred Grivois and Thomas Bidegain, ARTE / Prime Video 
• Serial Hunter by Renaud Bertrand, M6
• Ourika by Clément Godart, Prime Video
• A Dangerous Friendship by Alain Tasma, France 2

Short Forms Competition

• Ceux qui rougissent by Julien Gaspar-Oliveri, ARTE /RTS
• Bouchon by Éléonore Costes and Amaury Dequé, ARTE

Comedy Competition

• Extra. by Jonathan Hazan and Matthieu Bernard, OCS
   

Special Screenings — Out of Competition

• HPI — Saison 4, TF1

Documentary Series

• Insoupçonnable by Elie Wajeman, France 2

"It's a dream, but it's also a campaign (to win the Oscar)," said a visibly moved Justine Triet after the prestigious ceremony. "It's really hard work. I never expected what it was going to be like. I've discovered a lot of things." This Oscar is the culmination, as the director recalls, of a long promotional campaign begun last autumn and led by the American distributor Neon.

Produced by David Thion (Les Films Pelléas) and Marie Ange Luciani (Les Films de Pierre), and sold internationally by mk2 films, Anatomy of a Fall has attracted over 1.7 million spectators in France, and to date has sold 3.43 million tickets internationally in some sixty countries. It will be released in March in Morocco, the Baltic States, and China, with some countries still to be determined (Serbia, India, the Philippines, Tunisia, etc.).

Unifrance warmly congratulates all the teams who have made this success possible.

Unifrance also congratulates Kaouther Ben Hania, director of Four Daughters, nominated in the Best Documentary category, as well as the teams behind the two French short films nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short: Letter to a Pig by Tal Kantor (Miyu Productions) and Pachyderm by Stéphanie Clément (TNZPV Productions and Folimage).

Unifrance: What inspired you to bring Robert Merle's historical saga to the small screen? What is your personal relationship with these novels?

Christopher Thompson: I read Fortune de France when I was a teenager. I remembered the emotion of the initiation novel, the family saga, a country plunged into civil war and looking for a way forward. I had long thought that this would be a rich source for a series that would tell the great timeless themes of family stories via an era that appears to be a distant mirror of our own. This first season focuses on a great love story thwarted by conflicting beliefs, and the coming-of-age of a generation that must learn to maintain its humanity in a polarized and violent world.

To what extent did you remain faithful to the narrative of the novels, and how did you also distance yourself from it?

C.T.: The novel is constructed as a chronicle, which is a difficult form of storytelling to adapt to the screen. From the novel, my co-writers and I drew on the abundant gallery of characters, the daily life of a family in a world in chaos. And a certain musicality to the dialogue. But we also worked hard to rewrite the characters, especially the women, in the light of issues that are shaking up contemporary society: the place of women, the rejection of otherness, the rise of intolerance. I think we've taken a lot of liberties and strengthened the dramatic stakes, while remaining faithful to the humanist spirit of the novel.

This is your second series project, following the success of Bardot in 2023. What do you like about the serial format? What did it allow you in terms of the writing for The Huguenots?

C.T.: The series format offers great freedom in terms of storytelling, with the possibility of following characters over time, allowing them to grow and evolve. I also like the idea of reviving the serial tradition reminiscent of the sagas of Alexandre Dumas or Charles Dickens.

You've made a link between this story and a classic Western. Was this something you had in mind for the mise en scène? What were your inspirations in general?

C.T.:  The reference to the Western was something we'd been thinking about right from the writing phase. In this isolated château, far from the capital, there's something reminiscent of the besieged fort often evoked in films depicting the mythology of the "conquest" of the West. There's a closeness to nature, to wide-open spaces. As in the Western, we're in a world that dictates its own rules and partially escapes central authority. During the shoot, references to Westerns continued to assert themselves, particularly the films by John Ford. In fact, there's a direct reference to Ford's Fort Apache, from which the wedding sequence is inspired.

How did you go about assembling the artistic team around the project, and in particular the remarkable cast?

Jean Cottin: Christopher Thompson surrounded himself very quickly and very early on with a team of experienced location managers, including Benoît Cissilkiéwitch for set design, Benoît Chamaillard for the cinematography, and Nathalie Chesnais, overseeing the costumes, who had previously worked on those in The Queen Margot.
The goal of our artistic approach was to achieve a very realistic rendering, emphasizing the fact that The Huguenots is a story of daily life in a provincial château, rather than in the royal palaces of the capital.

As for the casting, Thompson and casting director Michaël Laguens did a lot of preparatory work beforehand. The Huguenots tells the story of a family, the Sioracs, with masters and servants. We have a large cast of three generations of actors: children, teenagers, and adults.
First, we prioritized the choice of the duos that make up the cast. Starting with the duo of the Lords of Mespech with Jean de Siorac and Jean de Sauveterre. We wanted Nicolas Duvauchelle and Guillaume Gouix for these roles from the outset. We also have the Siorac duo, Jean and Isabelle. The casting challenge was to introduce a new face to the general public, which led to the choice of Belgian actress Lucie Debay. Last but not least, we have the "villain" duo with the roles of Baron de Fontenac, played by Grégory Fitoussi, and Gamelin, played by Antoine Gouy.

The rest of the cast was assembled like a theater troupe. A special feature of The Huguenots is that  it brings to life the community of members of the Château de Mespech.

The landscapes of the Périgord region, the château, the stunning horse rides, and the costumes are impressive. How did you find the locations for the shoot? How did you go about the historical research needed to faithfully recreate 16th-century France?

J.C.: We were committed on the artistic and production level to shoot the series entirely in natural settings, in the settings of the story imagined by Robert Merle.
The series was hence shot entirely in the Périgord region, notably in two châteaux that served as backdrops for the series. Château de Fénelon was transformed into Château de Mespech, and Château de Beynac became Château de Fontenac.
We also recreated Sarlat's central square in 1567, using the Château de Biron as an open-air studio. Most of the interiors were shot at Château des Bories, also in Périgord.
Another particular aspect of The Huguenots, for a historical series, is its extensive use of natural exterior sets, which supports the series' realism. 65 percent of the series was shot on natural exterior sets. And 100 percent in natural settings.
The writing was supported by historical research by Baptiste Roger-Lacan, co-writer of the series and an associate professor of history, who added many realistic and historically accurate details of daily life to the series.

Do you have any anecdotes about the film shoot that you'd like to share?

J.C.: With regard to the production, we were faced with a shortage of period costumes in Europe. We therefore had to set up a costume atelier six months before shooting began, in order to create the many costumes the series demanded.

This work blends historical narrative and intimate storytelling, making the subject very universal. What are its key features that will appeal to the international market?

Julia Schulte: The Huguenots is, in fact, an exceptional historical series that reconfigures its genre: by blending the captivating and cruel history of the war of religions in Europe and the external threat that haunts the Huguenots, with a family story and its generations, the series throws us right inside a conflict that is played out within the couple, between the parents and the children (who play a very important role), inside the Château de Mespech, offering a very strong dramatic dimension. The series has been produced with great ambition, shot in historic locations: the château and the exceptional surroundings of the Périgord. It takes us into villages, into forests; it also borrows the codes of cloak-and-dagger films, but with a modern twist. With Nicolas Duvauchelle and Guillaume Gouix in the lead roles, this universal story is embodied by an exceptional cast who already have established movie careers, which reinforces its international potential.

What are your ambitions for the series? Are you targeting specific territories or audiences?

J.S.: The Huguenots is aimed at a very broad audience: its multi-generational heroes will appeal to a family demographic. Its eclectic cast and ambitious direction also make it a series for fans of sagas and adventure series. As a distributor, we have interests and negotiations underway with streaming platforms, as well as with free-to-air and pay broadcasters, depending on the territory.

The Huguenots

Anatomy of a Fall remained at the top of the monthly charts for the fourth consecutive month, bolstered by 626,000 spectators. The Three Musketeers - Milady and The Jungle Bunch: World Tour took second and third position.

Box office results for French films consolidated internationally

French films registered 2.55 million admissions and generated €17.0 million in ticket sales in foreign theaters in January. Monthly admissions were 17% higher than the previous month, with higher values than in January 2023 (2.44 million) and January 2022 (2.28 million). This is despite the fact that the number of films already in theaters and the number of new releases were both at the December level.

What remained unchanged was the name of the French film attracting the largest number of foreign viewers: for the fourth month running, Anatomy of a Fall far outstripped its rivals, buoyed by new releases and a strong return to cinemas in countries where it was already playing, thanks to multiple awards and the announcement of five Oscar nominations. 102,000 new tickets sold in Spain took it past the 300,000 mark in total sales (Elastica, €2 million), while over 77,000 Mexican (Diamond, €0.35 million) and 76,000 Brazilian (Diamond, €0.34 million) moviegoers flocked to it during its first week of release. In January, Anatomy of a Fall continued to show on the big screen in some 30 foreign territories on five continents.

The top three rankings were rounded off by two titles, both of which attracted over 200,000 viewers outside France. The first, The Three Musketeers - Milady, attracted 106,000 in Mexico (Zima, €0.40 million) and the same number in 17 other markets, while the second, The Jungle Bunch: World Tour, attracted 124,000 in Poland alone (Kino Swiat, €0.57 million). While Milady has not yet followed in D'Artagnan's footsteps in Mexico (Zima, 378,000 admissions and €1.35 million in 2023), the second instalment of The Jungle Bunch saga considerably improved on the first instalment's Polish score: in the space of a single week, it accounted for more tickets sold than the first ended 2018 (Best, 47,500 and €0.15 million)!

A total of six films scored over 100,000 international admissions in January, and six were programmed by cinemas in more than 10 territories. In addition to the aforementioned Anatomy of a Fall, The Three Musketeers - Milady, and The Jungle Bunch: World Tour, Dogman, ranked in fourth position, joined this closed club, bolstered by solid ongoing runs in China China Film, 444,000 admissions and €2.24 million in total) and new releases, including in Mexico (Diamond) and South Korea (Atnine), both close to 45,000 tickets. The minority-French-financed production The Old Oak is also included in this group. Thanks to its successful career in Romania (Ro-Image 2000, 83,000 admissions and €0.38 million in total revenues) and a success that enabled it to top the Slovenian chart the week of its launch (Karantanija, 18,000 and €0.12 million), the must-see Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening retained its place in the top five, even though its international tour will soon be coming to an end.

The lower end of the monthly top 10 welcomed a number of new entrants: the most popular title of the Tour de Cine Francés 2023, Sugar and Stars is now being regularly programmed in Mexican cinemas (Nueva Era, 72,000 and €0.28 million in total revenues), while Open Season mobilized 20,000 Hungarian moviegoers (Prorom, €0.12 million), and Sidonie in Japan was released in Italy  three months before France (Academy Two, 32,000 and €0.20 million).
 

Germany, Mexico, and Spain: the top three territories in January

As usual, Europe remained the leading geographic zone for French cinema (65% of monthly admissions). The West contributed 1.1 million admissions to the monthly total, but, along with Asia, these were the only regions where admissions for French films fell compared with December 2023. In Latin America, on the other hand, attendance rose exponentially (+379% in one month). Cinemas in this zone were finally able to program some eagerly-awaited French titles, including Anatomy of a Fall. Germany returned to the top of the territories' ranking after July's feat, and only 4,000 admissions separated it from Mexico, which was back with a vengeance after last appearing in the top three in April 2023. Seven foreign territories offered more than 100,000 admissions each to French productions in January 2024.

Drama took the lion's share, animation progressed

In January, drama retained its title as the preferred international genre (1.28 million viewers, 50% of the monthly total), thanks to the breakthroughs of Anatomy of a Fall, Dogman, and The Old Oak (minority-French production). While comedy and animation still sat on the top three podium, it was the latter genre that benefited from renewed dynamism, posting the best monthly increase in viewers (+117%). Majority-French productions (80% of total admissions) and French-language productions (77%) continued to account for the lion's share of the month's admissions. They respectively generated 19% and 36% more admissions than in December 2023, compared with +10% for minority productions and -20% for foreign-language productions. The latter two categories were mainly driven by the success of Dogman and The Old Oak. Finally, one million admissions went to arthouse films (40% of the monthly total), led by Anatomy of a Fall and The Old Oak.

French films at international film festivals in January 2024

The latest (53rd) edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) once again provided a fine showcase for French films in all their diversity. The French selection featured both emerging and established directors, including Quentin Dupieux (Daaaaaalí!), Daniel Mann (Under a Blue Sun) and the duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (The Soul Eater), the latter was also presented at the Gérardmer festival a few days earlier. Numerous genres were represented, from drama to comedy, documentary to animation, biopic to genre film. The list includes Jérémie Périn's Mars Express and Kaouther Ben Hania's Four Daughters, both at Cannes, as well as Bertrand Bonello's The Beast, which had already been screened at TIFF and the Venice Film Festival , and will soon be shown at the 31st French Film Festival in Yokohama, organized by Unifrance. And let's not forget the world premiere of Bolero, directed by Anne Fontaine, in the presence of the film's crew.
To round off this report, we must mention that awards also went to French minority-French co-productions: Power Alley by Lillah Halla (Youth Jury Award) and The Green Border by Agnieszka Holland (Audience Award).
 

> This report can be downloaded in PDF format below (French version only).

> This report is based on results recorded on February 19, 2024. Since our statistics for film releases are continuously being updated, the graphics generated automatically on our website will differ from the chart featured in this article.

On the audiovisual front

Of Money and Blood arrived in Spain on Filmin: "Right now, fiction is the best way to tell the story of how the world works," says its director Xavier Giannoli in El País.
➡️ Read the article online

 

In Italy, Sorrisi announced the broadcast of the thriller drama series Conviction on Top Crime.
➡️ Read the article online

Worldscreen revealed the return of the teen series Totally Spies!
➡️ Read the article online
 

Deadline announced that Sea Shadows will be distributed by France tv distribution.
➡️ Read the article online

Variety published an interview with Jean-Xavier De Lestrade, during the presentation of Samber at the London Screenings.
➡️ Read the article online
 

Also at the London Screenings, C21 took an interest in STUDIOCANAL's line-up.
➡️ Read the article online

Sophie 'Kido' Prigent talked about Hari International 's sale strategy in Señal News.
➡️ Read the article on line

Collider wrote about the series Class Act: "A cautionary tale about careerism and unhinged ambition."
➡️ Read the article online

And in Poland, the Swiat Seriali website published a portrait of Mehdi Nebbou.
➡️ Read the article online

 

Awards and festivals

The Hollywood Reporter covered Mati Diop winning the Golden Bear at the Berlinale with her documentary Dahomey.
➡️ Read the article online

Meanwhile, the Japanese website Screen On Line relayed the press conference of the French Film Festival in Yokohama, organized by Unifrance, which will take place between March 20 and 24.
➡️ Read the article online

Variety wrote about the César Awards ceremony: "Justine Triet "became the second female filmmaker in the César Award's 49-year history to win the best director trophy."
➡️ Read the article online

The German website Film Starts announced the winners of MyFrenchFilmFestival - 2024: "These French films are definitely worth discovering!"
➡️ Read the article online

And on Business Doc Europe we learnt that Visions du Réel's Atelier will be dedicated to Alice Diop, who will give a masterclass at the Swiss event, which will also feature a retrospective of her work.
➡️ Read the article online
 

In international theaters

In Canada, Cinoche published an interview with Thomas Cailley during the release of his film Règne animal: "If we mess up a single creature, the whole film is botched."
➡️ Read the article online

In Mexico, Lie With Me arrived in theaters and drummed up more than 30,000 admissions! A Tiempo dedicated a glowing article to it.
➡️ Read the article online

"Love, Loss and Loins of Veal" is the headline the New York Times used for its article about The Taste of Things, which successfully released on American screens in February.
➡️ Read the article online

"It's difficult for men to love women who succeed," Justine Triet declared in the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper in Finland.
➡️ Read the article online
 

In Belgium, La Libre Belgique focused on Lina Soualem's documentary Bye bye Tiberias.
➡️ Read the article online

 

In Norway, Cinema magazine puublished and interview with Eric Besnard about his film A Great Friend: "Humor takes precedence over emotions."
➡️ Read the article online

In Czech Republic, Cat & Dog – The Great Crossing racked up more than 20,000 admissions! "The furriest entertainment of the year," we can read in Total Film.
➡️ Read the article online

We finish this roundup with Livre des solutions by Michel Gondry in Portugal: "It's been years of been looking for a film that will make us forget Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ».
➡️ Read the article online