Optimism, Market Calendar, Russia, Prizes

International film biz pros may be gearing up for the Berlinale and its European Film Market in February, but most of Europe’s top buyers were already back on the circuit last week for the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris showcasing French movies, series and talent.

The market component of the 27th edition, running January 14 to 17, swapped its recent location of the swanky Champs-Elysées Avenue eighth arrondissement for the grittier but storied Left Bank neighborhood of Montparnasse.

More than 80 French film and TV sales companies set up residence in the hangar-like Espace Pullman in the shadow of the Montparnasse Tower, to showcase their new French-language wares to 500 buyers from roughly 40 mainly European territories.

After years of being crammed into separate rooms, it was the first time France’s film and TV sales sectors were together in same space and there was a different kind of energy.

“There’s a real market feel this year,” commented Unifrance Managing Director Daniela Elstner.

“I think buyers are also pleased to be discovering another part of Paris. It’s a very, very lively Paris neighborhood, with plenty of cafes and good quality restaurants,” she added, noting the venue is just a stone’s throw from the iconic La Coupole brasserie once frequented by the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Edith Piaf and Ernest Hemmingway.

The vibe is a far cry from the Champs-Elysées which is now home mainly to international clothing brands and chain restaurants.

That neighborhood also lost its last big cinema last year when the UGC Normandie shut its doors over the summer, another reason for the move to Montparnasse, where buyers film and TV attended screenings in the 12-theatre, state-of-the-art Pathé Parnasse cinema.

“From the seats to the quality of the sound and image, you’d be hard pushed to find a better screening experience, and I think the buyers are appreciative of this,” says Elstner.

Around 80 films were screened, with sales agents showcasing a mixture of 2024 summer and fall festival titles such as Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma’s Their Children After Them (Charades) and Thierry Fremaux’s Lumière! The Adventure Continues (Goodfellas); current local hits such as Jean-Paul Rouve’s God Save the Tuche (Pathé) and Franck Dubosc’s How To Make A Killing (Gaumont) and upcoming releases such as Manele Labidi’s Queen Mom (Totem),  Charlène Favier’s Oxana (Goodfellas) and Robert Guédiguian’s Stealing Angel (Playtime).

However, as ever, the main draw was the under-the-radar discussions about upcoming projects as well as first looks at films due to launch in 2025, with Studiocanal, for example, inviting buyers to a private event premiering promos for Vincent Maël Cardona’s tense behind-closed-doors thriller No One Will Know, Cédric Klapisch’s Colours of Time and Roxine Helberg’s high-octane, female-driven, drugs mule thriller Coka Chica.

The Rendez-Vous also hosted the TV-focus Paris Screenings for the third time, showcasing eight shows, with this edition seen as a test for whether the event will partly fill the void left by MIPTV’s move from Cannes to London.

Out of market hours, the social program ramped up this year with film sales agent body Adef inviting buyers to a dinner-cruise on the River Seine: Federation’s Ginger & Fed hosting a party the boutique Drawing House hotel, and Newen laying on drinks at the high-rise Skybar of the Pullman Hotel, which accommodated many of the attendees.

Other highlights included award-winning director Rebecca Zlotowski receiving the French Cinema Award at a champagne reception at the Ministry of Culture, with Elstner praising both her work and support of the wider French cinema ecosystem at home and internationally, which has seen her support Unifrance events around the world from Yokohama to New York.

“She has also been very supportive of her female director colleagues and has talked a lot of about that, and supportive of the collective cinema scene in general. She is also someone with a broad career, who has tackled series as well as films,” said Elstner.

Zlotowski, whose credits include Grand Central, The Summoning, Easy Girl and Other People’s Children, is currently working on post-production on Vie Privée starring Jodie Foster, which was also one of hot upcoming projects in the market.

The Rendez-Vous also launched the inaugural Unifrance Distribution Prize celebrating an international distributor that has run a strong campaign for a French film over the previous year.

The first edition was won by South Korean distribution company Green Narae, represented in Paris by its Head of Acquisition Chris Yu, for its campaign for Trần Anh Hùng’s The Taste of Things, sold by Gaumont.

Other contenders were German company Neue Visionen for the release of Léa Todorov’s Maria Montessori, and that of Japanese company Gaga for the release of Anne Fontaine’s Bolero.

B.O.-Sparked Dynamism

Beyond the fresh energy injected by the change in location, wider market currents were also at play, topped by the performance of French films at the local box office in 2024, which has continued into 2025.

“We’re surfing on the good dynamics of 2024 which ended with 180 million admissions at the French box office, making us one of the rare countries, if not the only country where there is progress compared to 2023,” said Unifrance President Gilles Pélisson.

“French films accounted for 44% of this, which is a sign of the strength of local cinema. As ambassadors of French creativity in the cinema and audiovisual sectors, this gives us wings in 2025.”

It was the second time at the Rendez-Vous for former TF1 Group CEO and chairman Pélisson, who took up the role of Unifrance president in 2023.

Figures released at Unifrance’s fifth Export Day on the eve of the Rendez-Vous showing an 11% drop in the international box office for French cinema in 2024 but this did not dampen spirits.

Pélisson pointed to the fact that drop had taken place within the context of a 9% drop in the global box office in which markets are often dominated by U.S. fare, over local and non-English cinema.

He also noted that France’s top 2024 movie export The Count Of Monte Cristo is gearing up for a big release in Germany this month, while a number of high profile titles are in the middle of international campaigns or on the verge to launching.

These include awards season frontrunner Emilia Pérez, which is set for a wide theatrical release in most of the world outside of the UK and U.S., as well as late 2024 local hits The Marching Band, Beating Hearts and Holy Cow.

Studiocanal execs voiced similar optimism at their buyers showcase.

Celebrating the successful 2024 international career of their title Autumn and the Black Jaguar, which drew 30M spectators worldwide, and the ongoing run for Michel Hazanavicius’s animated feature The Most Precious of Cargoes, they said hopes were now high for Gilles Lellouche’s Beating Hearts, which has drawn five million spectators at home.

Talking Points

A talking point out of the Unifrance International box office report was the fact that Russia was French cinema’s second biggest market after Germany for a second year running, at time France when is at odds with the country over its ongoing military action against Ukraine.

One indie sales agent told Deadline that it was a thorny issue and source of debate withing the French films sales community.

“Cultural products are not included in sanctions,” they told Deadline. “We leave it to individual directors to decide whether they want their work to show in Russia or not, but it’s not ideal and leads to a lot of soul-searching and angst.”

Elstner acknowledged it is a complex issue.

“Some companies have decided not to export there but it’s really up to individual directors and producers,” she said.

“Historically there has always been a strong appetite for French culture in Russia and the numbers of are a reflection of that.”

In terms of hosting Russia buyers at the Rendez-Vous, she noted Unifrance did not directly invite them or offer them the complimentary accommodation given to other buyers but allowed those coming under their own stream to accredit.

“Many of the Russian distributors are no longer living in Russia and are running their companies rather out of the U.S., or maybe Scandinavia. The Russian distributors who buy European cinema don’t tend to be fans of the regime, and are often living in exile,” she added.

“We also remain very close to distributors in Ukraine. We work a lot with them.  It’s a constant dialogue because we also talk about all this complexity as we deal with it. And it’s going rather very well, with The Count of Monto Cristo generating good figures there.”

Another talking points at the meeting among sales agents and buyers was whether January is the right time of the year for the Rendez-Vous.

Some French film sales agents suggest it would make more sense for the event to run in late-October, early November as a platform to sell movies launched over the summer and in the fall festivals, with neither Venice or Toronto seen as offering that right now.

In addition, many smaller French sales firms have long since stopped attending the AFM in November due to the cost, while those who attended the 2024 edition were generally damning of the Las Vegas iteration, saying they were unlikely to go back again.

In the backdrop, some sales agents feel Rome’s MIA market in November has not lived up to its promise to become a key fall date for film sales in Europe.

Elstner said it was unlikely the Rendez-Vous in Paris would be shifting its dates, noting that on the TV side, sellers would prefer it to take place in April.

“It’s good to start the year on a positive note, looking ahead with a focus on what we’re launching at Berlin, and Cannes, whereas in November that would not be the case – it’s too early for either Berlin or Cannes,” she said.

She suggests that Toronto could eventually fill the gap if its plans launch an official market 2026 work out, and the offering appeals to European sellers.

“There is strong desire to develop on the Toronto side, let’s see how it evolves,” she said, adding that regardless of shifts in the international film sales circuit, the Unifrance Rendez-Vous would never fill a void for the wider market.

“We’re here for French cinema, for launching French projects. We’re in no way going to become a global market, or even one for all European sellers and for European films.”

The Rendez-Vous continues until Tuesday with the press junket component consisting of one-on-ones and roundtables for 120 journalists from some 30 countries with 120 artists involved in films and dramas due to launch Europe and further afield in the coming months.

After that, the next stop for many film industry pros and journalists alike will be Berlin.