Journée de l'Export

The 5th Export Day will bring together distributors, broadcasters, producers, exporters, artists, communication experts and institutions at the CNC, on Monday, January 13 in the afternoon. These personalities will come together to analyze and compare their points of view on the challenges facing French cinema and audiovisual exports in the years ahead, and the challenges of international co-production. The Export Day will also be an opportunity to reveal the figures and trends for the international French film and audiovisual industry in 2024.

Opening night

On the evening of Tuesday, January 14, the screening of the opening film of the Rendez-Vous, The Musicians by Grégory Magne (produced by Les Films Velvet and Baxter Films and sold by Pyramide International), will take place at the Pathé Palace cinema, in the presence of the film team. It will be followed by a cocktail reception attended by exporters and buyers (cinema and audiovisual), producers, artists, and institutional representatives.

The Musicians

Cinema and audiovisual market

The cinema and audiovisual market will take place from January 14 (1 pm) to 17 inclusive, in the Espace C2 of the Pullman Paris Montparnasse Hotel.

On the cinema front, nearly 400 international buyers from 40 countries are already expected  and, from France, 45 sales companies and nine short film companies.

On the audiovisual front, 100 buyers from 30 countries will meet 50 French audiovisual distribution companies.

Paris Screenings

The Paris Screenings (cinema & audiovisual market screenings) will take place at the Pathé Parnasse cinema, starting on Tuesday, January 14 in the afternoon. The cinema screenings will run until late morning on Friday, January 17, and the audiovisual screenings will run until late morning on Thursday, January 16.

International buyers will be able to attend screenings of:

• 85 films, including 41 market premieres
• Eight audiovisual programs
   

Unifrance Distribution Prize

The first Unifrance Distribution Prize, created with the support of the CNC to reward a foreign distribution company whose promotion and release campaign for a French film has been judged particularly ambitious and innovative, will be presented by Charles Tesson, Chairman of the Commission for Selective Distribution Assistance, on Wednesday 15 January 2025.

Introducing the 10 to Watch 2025

Emerging filmmakers, actors, and actresses: they made a splash at major international festivals in 2024 and will be on screens the world over in 2025. They are the new faces of French cinema.

Selected by international journalists Rebecca Leffler (Screen International), Fabien Lemercier (Cineuropa), Elsa Keslassy (Variety), Jordan Mintzer (The Hollywood Reporter), and Christine Masson (France Inter), the 10 to Watch 2025 embody the resurgence of our cinema through the freedom and singularity of their artistic choices, their ambition, their audacity, their openness to the world...

Unifrance is proud to honor this new generation, which contributes fully to the effervescence of French cinematographic – and sometimes audiovisual – creation, and to encourage the distribution of their works beyond France's borders.

The list of these ten artists will be revealed, in partnership with Screen International, on January 16 at 1pm.

French Cinema Award

On Thursday, January 16, a French Cinema Award will be presented by Unifrance to Rebecca Zlotowski at the French Ministry of Culture.

Created in 2016 by Unifrance, the French Cinema Award is intended to celebrate an international film industry personality who has worked to promote French cinema around the world, in particular alongside Unifrance.
Since 2016, the recipients have been: producers Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam, Italian distributor Andrea Occhipinti (Lucky Red), Chinese distributor La Peikang (China Film Group), German distributor Torsten Frehse (Neue Visionen Filmverleih), Spanish distributor Adolfo Blanco Lucas (A Contracorriente Films), actresses Isabelle Huppert, Juliette Binoche, and Virginie Efira, actor Melvil Poupaud, Chinese Cinémathèque director Sun Xianghui, Lumière Pavilions president and founder Jane Shao, and film directors Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache, and Olivier Assayas.

Launch of MyFrenchFilmFestival

The 15th MyFrenchFilmFestival will be launched worldwide on January 17. The members of the International Jury will be present the day before at the Ministry of Culture for the French Cinema Award presented to Rebecca Zlotowski. They will then meet to award the Grand Prix to a feature film in competition, which will be announced on February 14, as well as the International Press Award for a feature film and the Content Creators' Award for a short film. The Audience Award will be announced on February 19.

From January 17 to February 17, festivalgoers from all over the world will be able to discover a selection of 20 French-language films that have made their mark at major international film festivals: 10 features (including nine in competition) and 10 shorts (including nine in competition), all subtitled in eight languages: German, English, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, and Portuguese.

MyFrenchFilmFestival - 2025

International press junket

The press junket, dedicated to French films and audiovisual programs scheduled for release or broadcast abroad in 2025, will take place from January 18 to 21 at the Sofitel Paris Arc de Triomphe, with nearly 120 French artists (directors, actors, actresses, showrunners, etc.) in attendance to meet over 100 international journalists from some 30 countries.

The event will feature 79 films and 14 audiovisual programs.

The photo studio will be run by photographer Marie Rouge.

For the first time, the press junket will also feature a special focus on XR. On Sunday 19 and Monday 20 January, the 2 specialist French distribution companies, Astrea and Unframed Collection, will be on hand to present their award-winning films to the journalists in attendance.

Last but not least, taking advantage of the presence of many international journalists at the Rendez-Vous, Unifrance will also partner the Lumiere Awards, to be held on January 20 at the Forum des Images. This ceremony will be followed by a closing cocktail reception at the Hôtel de Ville de Paris (by invitation only).

LThe 27th Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris enjoys the invaluable support of: République française, CNC, Institut français, PROCIREP, TitraFilm, Wallonie Bruxelles Images, Cinando, Davines, Pullman Paris Montparnasse, Le film français, and Variety.
Official supplier: Estandon (Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health, consume in moderation.)
Unifrance also thanks: Vranken-Pommery Monopole, Patron of the Unifrance Endowment Fund.
The 10 to Watch program is supported by Screen International.

 

Many French cinema talents will be accompanying their films at this year's edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which will see Ivan Salatic's Wondrous Is the Silence of My Master (a minority-French co-production handled by Bocalupo Films) participate in the Tiger Awards Competition, and a dozen films in the Limelight section, including Emmanuel Finkiel's La Chambre de Mariana, which will receive its world premiere.

The artistic delegation will be composed of Costa Gavras, Michèle Ray Gavras, Matthieu Delaporte, Julie Gayet, Fabrice Du Welz,  Uberto Pasolini, Jaime Rosales, Patrick Mille, Adèle Simphal. Payal Kapadia, Camille Perton, Juan Carlos Medina, Alireza Khatami, Mohammad Rasoulof, Amel Guellaty, with other talents expected to join them (TBC), among whom Emmanuel Mouret or Alain Guiraudie.

Unifrance will be organizing its traditional dinner on February 1, invitation only.

The organization has once again partnered the Rotterdam Lab program, sending a delegation of two French producers: Laura Jumel for Salaud Morisset and Manon Lavaud for Muja Films. They will be taking part in workshops about innovation in the film industry, international co-production and post-production, sales, financing, and project development.

Unifrance will also team with the Luxembourg Film Fund, Ambassade de France in the Netherlands, and Ambassade de France in Belgium for an IFFR networking session for FR-BL-LX immersive professionals, on February 4, from 3.00pm until 4.30pm.
Venue: De Doelen, Studio 8. This session will be followed by a cocktail reception.
 

All the French films at the 54th IFFR

Tiger Awards Competition

• Wondrous Is the Silence of My Master by Ivan Salatic (minority-French co-production)

Bright Future

• Arenas by Camille Perton
• Summer Camp by Mateo Ybarra (French co-production shares not specified)

Limelight

• La Chambre de Mariana by Emmanuel Finkiel
• All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia
• Beating Hearts by Gilles Lellouche
• Misericordia by Alain Guiraudie
• Three Friends by Emmanuel Mouret
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre De La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte
• Maldoror by Fabrice Du Welz (minority-French co-production)
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Mohammad Rasoulof (minority-French co-production)
• Prima la vita by Francesca Comencini (minority-French co-production)
• I'm Still Here by Walter Salles (minority-French co-production)
• The Return by Uberto Pasolini (minority-French co-production)
• Vermiglio by Maura Delpero (minority-French co-production)

Big Screen Competition

• Back to the Family by Sharunas Bartas (French co-production shares not specified)

Harbour

• Last Breath by Costa Gavras
• The Second Act by Quentin Dupieux
• Ghost Trail by Jonathan Millet
• Morlaix by Jaime Rosales
• The Chase by Juan Carlos Medina
• Youth (Spring) by Wang Bing

• Youth (Homecoming) by Wang Bing (French co-production shares not specified)
• Youth (Hard Times) by Wang Bing (French co-production shares not specified)
• Kouté vwa (Listen to the Voices) by Maxime Jean-Baptiste (French co-production shares not specified)
• Afternoons of Solitude by Albert Serra (minority-French co-production)
• The Things You Kill by Alireza Khatami
• Where the Wind Comes From by Amel Guellaty (minority-French co-production)
• Ndar, Saga Waalo by Ousmane William Mbaye (French co-production shares not specified)
• Grand Tour by Miguel Gomes (minority-French co-production)
• Happy Holidays by Scandar Copti (minority-French co-production)
   

Education

• Power Alley by Lillah Halla (minority-French co-production)

Focus: Hold Video in Your Hands

• Be Kind Rewind by Michel Gondry
• The Shrouds by David Cronenberg
   

Short film - Tiger Awards Competition

• I Wan’na Be Like You by Margit Lukács and Persijn Broersen

Short film - Short and mid-length films

• Vultosos cumes by Diogo Salgado
• Barking in the Dark by Marie Losier
• Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites by Chheangkea
• My Brother, My Brother by Abdelrahman Dnewar and Saad Dnewar
• Father and Daughter by Quentin Papapietro
• Tragédia by Bernardo Zanotta

Short film - Special Programs

• The Night Tunnel by Annechien Strouven
• Yuck! by Loïc Espuche

Unifrance: How did this documentary project come about? Why did you decide to distribute it internationally?

Gini LorinGini Lorin: Marc Azema, author and director, discovered the existence of the Met Cloisters – the medieval wing of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art – over 35 years ago, when he was an art history student. This museum, in the shape of a Pyrenean abbey, is entirely structured around four cloisters that traveled from the south of France, more precisely from the Occitania-Pyrénées-Mediterranean region! A few years later, having become a filmmaker specializing in the heritage sector, the idea of making a documentary recounting the odyssey of these cloisters developed during several trips to New York. These successive scouting trips enabled Azema to refine his project and meet the curators on site. 2025 will mark the culmination of these 30 years of reflection and maturation, with delivery of the film scheduled for June this year.

I'm originally from Toulouse. So the subject is particularly close to my heart.
It was Toulouse producer and director Francis Fourcou who put me in touch with Marc Azéma. That's how I got involved in the project. I'm also the distributor of the documentary Wibaux Wanted, which I sold across the Atlantic to three PBS channels between 2023 and 2024. Two new channels are part of my 2025 objectives. In this way, I've been able to establish a connection with American broadcasters and enter this hard-to-access market.

The Cloisters Odyssey is of interest to the international market due to its scientific approach, using cutting-edge 3D reconstruction techniques. The digitization work carried out over many years by the experts at the CNRS MAP laboratory (who worked on the reconstruction of Notre-Dame) served as the basis for the film team's reconstruction of the Occitania cloisters: a first in the field!

What's more, art is universal. Telling the story of a museum located in a city that attracts visitors from all over the world is particularly exciting, especially as it is linked to the Metropolitan Museum, one of the world's largest and most prestigious museums. When I present the project to buyers, “fascinating” is the word that comes up most frequently.

The film can also be an educational tool, as it is based on historical research collected by the film's three partners: Passé Simple, the MAP laboratory, and the Met Cloisters. Azéma has called on a wide range of specialists: a specialist in the story of George Grey Barnard, who initiated the Cloisters journey, art historians specializing in medieval art, the curators of the Occitania cloisters, the Bonnefont-en-Comminges tour guide/lecturer, scientists, the DRAC Occitanie, restorers and, of course, the Met Cloisters curators. All these contributions will provide a comprehensive overview of the history of this museum.

Can you sum up this ambitious film, set between France and the USA, in a few lines?

GL: The film recounts the extraordinary adventure of the cloisters of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (Hérault), Saint-Michel de Cuxa (Pyrénées-Orientales), Bonnefont-en-Comminges (Haute-Garonne), and Trie-sur-Baïse (Hautes-Pyrénées), from their journey from France to their reconstruction on the other side of the Atlantic, in New York.

It's a journey through time that introduces us to “antique hunter” George Grey Barnard, an American sculptor with a passion for medieval art who became an art dealer. In the form of animated sequences, we accompany him at the very beginning of the 20th century as he collects fragments from cloisters left abandoned and plundered for centuries. It was this collection that led to the construction of today's Met Cloisters, inaugurated on May 10, 1938. In the last part of the film, thanks to 3D computer-generated images, we return to France and witness the virtual reconstruction of the cloisters of the abbeys of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert and Saint-Michel de Cuxa, as they were in the Middle Ages and as Barnard must have dreamed them.
 

The story is told through the eyes of George Grey Barnard…

GL: It was indeed the wish of this eminent American sculptor that the fragments of these cloisters were collected and preserved between 1906 and 1913. Based in Paris, Barnard specialized in researching medieval art objects. This was all the easier at a time when Europeans somewhat neglected this heritage, partly ruined by the Wars of Religion. At the time, the French state did not yet have the resources it does today to protect this heritage.

Barnard built up a fine personal collection, which he hoped would one day interest New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. 120 crates containing 700 pieces of medieval art arrived in New York in early January 1914. Barnard stored them in Fort Tyron Park, north of Manhattan. Near his studio, he had a temporary museum built to display his collection, Barnard's Cloisters. It opened its doors on Christmas 1914 and became the first museum of medieval art in America, enjoying immediate success. No longer in existence, Barnard's Cloisters will be reconstructed in 3D computer-generated images in the film, thanks to archive documents and the work of Passé Simple's computer graphics team.

2025 has a very special significance, because one hundred years ago, in 1925, John D. Rockefeller Jr. made a decisive contribution by purchasing Barnard's art collection. He then bequeathed it to The Met, and this gift enabled the construction of the current Met Cloisters, which will commemorate this centenary in June 2025. The film will connect with this event in a number of ways, including a virtual tour of the vanished museum, Barnard's Cloisters, the main subject of the exhibition associated with the event.

The film is a hybrid documentary, combining archives, reconstructions, 3D, animation…

GL: The animated sequences bring to life Barnard, of whom only a few archive photos remain, as well as other key players in the film. This reconstruction was carried out using a combination of AI-developed 2D and 3D animation techniques (to show him moving about in the various sites). Most of Barnard's journeys in the past are presented from a subjective viewpoint. His quest is narrated in voice-over, and is based on an adaptation of the writings and letters collected by historians.

As for the settings, they are shown in a variety of ways: old photographs treated via camera mapping (to restore their depth), video shots of current sites treated with matte painting, recreation of the four cloisters in 3D to show them as they were at the time when Barnard explored them, but also in the Middle Ages.

Alongside this narrative arc, the film is enriched by sequences featuring contributions from specialists (archaeologists, art historians, French curators, and Met Cloisters curators), who provide information both about Barnard's career and its context (the art market at the beginning of the 20th century, protection of Historic Monuments, negotiations with John D. Rockefeller, Met Cloisters construction projects, the problems of reassembling the cloisters in the United States, etc.).

Recent events complete the story of the cloisters: the discovery of lost capitals at Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert, the mysterious donation of fragments at Cuxa, and the restoration of a cloister in Tarbes, rebuilt in part like the New York clones of Trie and Bonnefont.

How did you convince the project's partners, in particular UNESCO?

GL: When I read the project brief, and after several discussions with Marc Azéma, I thought that this film would help to promote a priceless heritage, so I contacted UNESCO.

I'd already had a first encounter with UNESCO, which devoted an evening to the film Collision in September 2023, a film that I sold to Arte.tv and which highlights the intensity of international maritime traffic and its dangers for whales. I am honored to have enabled the film to receive the patronage of the French National Commission for UNESCO. This support is particularly valuable at an international level.

The DRAC Occitanie, Région Occitanie, several départements and town communities, as well as the owners of the associated cloisters and abbeys, also supported the project. VIA Occitanie and Histoire TV will be the film's first broadcasters. Foreign buyers who viewed the first images of the Barnard's Cloisters restoration were impressed by the quality of the works.

Thanks to MAP's work, Occitania's cloisters will be showcased through their reconstruction. Passé Simple will recreate Barnard's Cloisters, which no longer exist. Yet it was this place that housed all the relics and attracted Rockefeller's attention! It is therefore of exceptional value. The film will finally immortalize it and enable all audiences to discover the history of the Met Cloisters

Are you targeting a specific audience?

GL: We're aiming for a broad audience, curious about works devoted to art, architecture, culture, art history, and heritage. People who have already visited the Met Cloisters and who want to know more about its history. The film will inspire those who discover it to visit the Cloisters one day. Barnard's fascinating and endearing character opens up the story and makes it accessible to a wide range of people.

Was the project conceived with the international market in mind from the outset?

GL: The project was indeed conceived with a view to an international audience from the start. In fact we filmed the Met Cloisters curators' contributions directly in English on location. These parts in English will be dubbed for French-speaking broadcasters. The same applies to the French participants in the international version. Voice-overs will also be recorded in French and English.
I am in discussion with international broadcasters for pre-acquisitions, and of course remain available to present the project to new buyers.

In what way can the documentary arouse the interest of international audiences ?

GL: We've noted the passion generated by the preservation of Notre-Dame in Paris. The fire revealed the strong ties we have with the heritage bequeathed to us by our builder ancestors. Numerous documentaries on the construction and reconstruction work show the interest of international broadcasters in this heritage. The Cloisters Odyssey is exactly in line with this approach to preserving and promoting the priceless heritage of the Middle Ages.
The Met Cloisters is located in New York, a very international city that attracts many tourists from all over the world. So there's a definite international potential. This tale also underlines the universal aspect of art, with a fine international collaboration, and the very strong ties that unite France and the United States, which delight me in every one of my exchanges with our American partners.

In a small residence populated by animals, a grieving deer tries to drown his sorrows in alcohol, while a party is in full swing in the basement. A human couple is in charge of building maintenance and meals. It's not easy to maintain harmony in this strange community.

On the occasion of the latest Sundance Film Festival, which opens on January 23, we invite you to discover the animated short S_hit Happens, which was selected for International Competition at the 2020 edition of the American festival, and has been shown and awarded worldwide.

To see the film, click on the image below

 The presentation of results traditionally presented at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris this year embraces all formats: French feature films, but also audiovisual programs, short films and immersive works that marked 2024. A section on television joins the three others devoted to movie theaters, festivals and SVOD platforms.

You'll find the key figures and information for each section below, and can download the full brochure (in French and/or English) at the bottom of the page.

French works in MOVIE THEATERS (provisional data)

• 38.1 million estimated admissions
• 250.2 million euros in estimated revenues
• 250 estimated new films released
• 7 films recorded more than 1 million admissions each
• Drama and comedy accounted for almost half of total admission
• European markets accounted for two-thirds of total admissions
• Germany, Russia, and Mexico were the territories where most tickets were sold

French works in FESTIVALS

• 22.8% of recent feature films selected by the 10 major international festivals were French
• France is the 1st nationality most represented in the 10 major international festival

French works on SVOD platforms (provisional data)

• 3.8% of new foreign releases on international SVOD platforms were French
• France was the 5th most represented nationality on international SVOD platforms among new releases of foreign works
• Poland was the leading foreign country for new French releases, both in terms of number (735) and share (7.4%)
• Global SVOD platforms accounted for two-thirds of new French releases
  
   

French works on TELEVISION (provisional data)

• 73% of first-runs of foreign works on international TV channels were French
• France was the 3rd most-represented nationality among first-runs of foreign works on international TV channels
• The top foreign countries for French first-runs were Spain (by number, 3,087) and the Czech Republic (by share, 9.0%).
• Free-to-air and pay-TV channels shared the volume of French first-runs almost equally

The brochure can be downloaded below (in English or French).

The Count of Monte Cristo maintained its top position as the French film the most seen in movie theaters abroad in November. The Professional and Beating Hearts took second and third place respectively.

Box office results for French films abroad remained sturdy

French films registered 2.6 million admissions and generated €17.8 million in ticket sales in foreign theaters in November. It's curious to note that, while admissions were in line with October, the number of titles on offer increased. After the previous month's annual low (125), the number of new releases jumped by 38%, and the number of films by 21%, topping the 300-unit mark – similar to the period between February and May 2024. Admissions to French films outside France in November reached its fifth highest monthly level of 2024. While majority-French and French-language productions generated the most tickets sold, minority-French productions (+37%) and foreign-language productions (+105%) attracted more moviegoers than in October. Among minority-French films, Panda Bear in Africa (104,000 admissions) remained in the lead, well ahead of two other animated titles: Flow (79,000) and Robot Dreams (51,000).

Focusing on majority-French productions, the top three comprised The Count of Monte Cristo, The Professional, and Beating Hearts. The Count of Monte Cristo maintained its stranglehold on the chart for the fifth consecutive month, with 473,000 tickets sold in 17 markets outside France. In addition to crossing the symbolic threshold of one million tickets sold in Russia (Atmosfera, 1.2 million admissions and €5.8 million in total revenues), the adventure film continued to perform well in other territories, notably Mexico (Zima, 269,000 and €1.1 million), Colombia (Cine Colombia, 67,000 and €0.2 million), and Belgium & Luxembourg (Alternative, 383,000 and €3.9 million).

The presence of a heritage film, The Professional, in the monthly top three provided another surprise. This was due to its first release on the big screen in China, where 440,000 moviegoers (China Film, €2.2 million) discovered it in a restored version. What's even more surprising is to find a second heritage title by the same director in November's top 10. Thanks to a two-day event re-release in a thousand cinemas in the USA & English-speaking Canada, The Fifth Element attracted 80,000 new spectators (Fathom Events, $0.84 million). Cannes' Beating Hearts made its first appearance in the monthly top three of most-viewed French films internationally. Released in neighboring French-speaking markets, the drama neared 100,000 admissions in Belgium & Luxembourg (Cinéart, €1.0 million) and 50,000 in French-speaking Switzerland (Filmcoopi, €0.7 million) – trajectories that will put it on the podium of the most popular French titles in these two territories in 2024. The rest of the top 10 includes another film that sold more than 100,000 tickets, the animated title Into The Wonderwoods, a feat that was narrowly missed by the fifth-ranked Monsieur Aznavour. The multi-award-winning Emilia Pérez appeared in the chart for the first time, as did Animal Tales of Christmas Magic, while All We Imagine as Light remained anchored in ninth place and Survive dropped to eighth.
In all, five French films attracted more than 100,000 foreign viewers each in November, five were exhibited in more than 10 markets, and a further 21 in between five and nine.

Russia, China, and Belgium: the top three territories in November

60% of monthly viewers were in Europe and 30% outside Europe. In North America, Asia, and Oceania, ticket sales were higher than in October, while they fell in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. Western Europe was once again the leading region in terms of ticket sales (35% of the total), ahead of Eastern Europe (25%) and Asia (20%). The Count of Monte Cristo (113,000 admissions) and The Professional (440,000) and The Fifth Element (80,000), our on re-release, were the most popular titles outside Europe. Russia remained the top territory for French cinema (465,000, 18%), just ahead of China (440,000, 17%), and Belgium & Luxembourg (258,000, 10%).
 

Five foreign territories (five in October, seven in September and August, four in July and June, and eight in May) generated over 100,000 admissions each for French productions in November, accounting for two-thirds of the monthly total.

Adventure, drama, and crime/thriller took center stage

In November, adventure accounted for 0.6 million international admissions (22% of the total), still buoyed by the success of The Count of Monte Cristo. Drama was a close second, and crime/thriller won out over animation, which was boosted by two titles each attracting over 100,000 spectators. Biopics posted a handsome increase in ticket sales (+55%), while drama (+38%) and animation (+21%) also boosted their totals. Finally, almost 0.8 million admissions went to arthouse films (29% of the monthly total), which doubled their number of spectators in one month! Into The Wonderwoods led the way, followed by Emilia Pérez and All We Imagine as Light, not forgetting the minority-French productions Flow and Paris, Texas (re-release).

French films at international film festivals in November 2024

A good November harvest for French films at festivals. At CINEMANIA, in Montreal, where French cinema naturally reigned supreme (over 100 films in selection!), Antoine Chevrollier's debut feature was a particular standout. Block Pass walked away with two awards: Coup de Coeur for Best Director and Best Actor for Sayyid El Alami, who made a special trip to collect the award. In south-west Europe, at the 21st Seville European Film Festival, fellow actor Paul Kircher was honored (once again!) with the Best Actor award for his role in And Their Children After Them. The Boukherma brothers' adaptation of the eponymous novel of the same name was also awarded the coveted Giraldillo d'Or for Best Film by a jury composed of David Puttnam, Mounia Meddour, Paola Malanga, Eva Rekettyei, and Jeremy Irons.

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

> This report is based on results recorded on January 3, 2025. 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

Deadline presented the teaser for Astérix & Obélix: The Big Fight, Alain Chabat's new series.
➡️ Read the article online
 

On World Screen, we learnt of the new sales worldwide for Find me in Paris.
➡️ Read the article online

TV Zone UK reported that ITV has commissioned a complete series of The Assembly.
➡️ Read the article online

In Italy, La Guida Piu announced the broadcast of a double episode of Tom & Lola on Giallo.
➡️ Read the article online

In the United Kingdom, Drama Quarterly profiled the producers of Cat's Eyes and their "dream of bringing the cult Japanese mangas to the screen."
➡️ Read the article online
 

And in Quebec, the daily La Presse announced the broadcast of the Rematch series on Télé Québec.
➡️ Read the article online
 

On the festivals and awards front

The New York Film Critics Circle chose Flow as the Best Animated Feature of the year, as Cartoon Brew reported.
➡️ Read the article online

The Beat Asia drew attention to the film Prodigies, selected at the Hong Kong French Film Festival.
➡️ Read the article online

Señal News reported about the opening film and full program of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris.
➡️ Read the article online

The Hollywood Reporter highlighted the Unifrance TV Export Award  given to Cat's Eyes.
➡️ Read the article online

And Variety threw the spotlight on the four awards garnered by Emilia Pérez at the European Film Awards.
➡️ Read the article online
 

And in foreign movie theaters…

"François Ozon gives a life lesson," El Debate stated on the occasion of the release of When Fall Is Coming in Spain.
➡️ Read the article online
 

All to Play For released in Argentina; Página 12 published an interview with Virginie Efira.
➡️ Read the article online

In The Netherlands, Cinemagazine called Monsieur Aznavour, "a genuine visual homage to Aznavour."
➡️ Read the article online

The Marching Band exceeded 80,000 admissions in Germany! Film Dienst published a glowing review of the film.
➡️ Read the article online

Cinemacafe.net published an interview with Élise Girard for the release of Sidonie in Japan... in Japan.
➡️ Read the article online

We bring this report to a close with a foretaste of the Oscars and the New York Times pondering whether Coralie Fargeat might score Best Director.
➡️ Read the article online