France’s Film and TV Market, Unifrance Rendez-Vous, Expands Its Paris Showcase With Over 80 Screenings and 500 International Buyers
On the heels of a solid 2024 box office, the French film and TV promotion org Unifrance is expanding its Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.
On the heels of a 2024 box office which saw French movies clinching a near record market share, the Gallic film and TV promotion org Unifrance is expanding its Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, a mini-market gathering local sales agents and 500 international buyers from roughly 40 countries.
The 27th edition of the Paris Rendez-Vous, which is dedicated to French films and TV content, is taking place this year in a new location, at the Pullman Paris Montparnasse, boasting panoramic views of the city of lights. The new space will allow French film and TV companies to be set up in a single location and spark dealmaking activity.
“Three years after our merger with TV France International, it’s great to see everyone under the same banner and in a unique location. It creates a vibrant atmosphere,” says Unifrance’s managing director Daniela Elstner, who previously led the Paris-based sales company Doc & Film International before joining the org.
The showcase was first created to help sales agents to secure meetings with top distributors ahead of the European Film Market. It was later broadened with press junkets with French talent promoting their work, and was further expanded two years ago with French TV screenings and a day-long confab dedicated to export. The Rendez-vous is bound to become even more crucial for French sales agents at a time when bigger, traditional markets are being challenged. The AFM, for instance, has lost some of its appeal after relocating to Las Vegas, and MipTV in Cannes has been axed and is relocating to London this year.
Popular on Variety“More and more buyers are coming to the Unifrance Rendez-Vous, and sales companies are hosting gatherings at their offices, and we’re even seeing producers having meetings and events alongside our market — being in Paris has a lot of advantages!” says Elstner, who also notes that the impact of MipTV’s disappearance will be felt in about six months.
The junket activity has also turned into one of the major components of the Paris Rendez-Vous with French talent increasingly committed to meeting with international journalists.
“We’re organizing about 1000 interviews this year during the Rendez-Vous. It’s now part of everyone’s agenda. Not just for sales agents and distributors, but also for artists, agents and producers who understand how important it is to discuss their films and TV series with journalists from around the world,” Elstner continues.
In recent years, Unifrance created the 10 to Watch franchise aimed at promoting up-and-coming French talent, and it has also launched the French Cinema Award which honors actors, filmmakers and producers who have contributed to making French cinema shine abroad. This year, the award will be given to Rebecca Zlotowski, the critically laureled filmmaker of “Other People’s Children” who’s just wrapped filming of “Vie Privée” starring Jodie Foster in Paris.
The Rendez-Vous is kicking off on Jan. 13 with some panels highlighting French film and TV exports, and continues with a gala premiere of “The Musicians,” Gregory Magne (“Perfumes”)’s heartwarming film starring Valérie Donzelli (“Declaration of War”) and Frédéric Pierrot (“Polisse”), followed by a cocktail gathering 800 professionals on Jan. 13.
France boasted Europe’s healthiest theatrical market in 2024 with €1.36 billion ($1.41 billion) grossed from 181.3 million admissions sold. While other countries Europe saw ticket sales dip last year, France showed the biggest signs of post-COVID recovery and broke a 15-year record with a 44.4% market share for local movies, including the top two films of 2024, “A Little Something Extra,” helmed by and starring comedian Artus alongside a cast of non-professional actors with disabilities; and “The Count of Monte-Cristo,” an adventure film adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ classic, directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière (“The Three Musketeers”).
“In 2024, French cinema showed its capacity to lure audiences in theaters, even young people, who went to see movies like ‘A Little Something Extra,’ ‘The Count of Monte-Cristo’ and ‘Beating Hearts’ (‘L’Amour Ouf’) over and over, and some of them even went to see arthouse films (produced in France) like ‘The Story of Souleymane’ and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” says Elstner. “This success, combined with the originality of the Olympic Games ceremonies, underscores the place of culture in France and contributes to making France an attractive place for creators, artists and distributors in a beginning of a year that feels otherwise a bit morose,” she says.
During the Unifrance Rendez-Vous, as many as 83 movies will screen for buyers, including 52 films (including “The Musicians”) that will play as market world premieres.
Unifrance’s co-managing director Gilles Renouard says the vast lineup of market screenings reflects the breadth of French film production in 2024 which “saw a resurgence in diversity and volume, reaching pre-Covid levels.”
“We’re seeing a shift away from pure comedies towards more dramatic comedies revolving around the theme of acceptance and inclusiveness like ‘A Little Something Extra’ are taking center stage,” says Renouard, citing movies such as Lola Doillon’s “Different,” Élise Otzenberger’s “Call of Water” and Judith Davis’s “Hello Madness” which are screening at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous.
“The theme of inclusiveness was so prevalent that it unintentionally became a central aspect of the Rendez-Vous screenings,” Renouard says.
Like Elstner, Renouard says the success of French movies domestically has contributed to optimism within the local film market, benefiting both production and distribution companies. Although a few companies have disappeared in the aftermath of the pandemic, the executive notes the resilience of the French sales sector with new players entering the scene.
While French films have not experienced the same level of success overseas in 2024, Renouard says he hopes this downward trend will reverse in 2025 with international theatrical markets taking longer to fully recover from the pandemic.
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