The Deauville Congress, which is the biggest annual convention for French cinema operators, took place from 21 to 24 September in Normandy. Representatives from the French film sector took part in a week of internal and public discussions on trends and challenges and on the future of cinema. In addition to exhibitors of all sizes and locations, the event also gathered French distributors, producers, manufacturers, service providers as well as representatives from the CNC (the French Cinema Centre).
UNIC attended the industry session on Wednesday 23 September which focused on professional relations across the value chain, introduced by the FNCF President Richard Patry. Cécile Lacoue, Head of Studies at CNC, set the scene with an overview on the current exhibition and distribution landscape and trends in France. Afterwards, a panel with eight representatives of French exhibition and distribution took place, reflecting the needs and challenges of both independent and major players in the industry. The French cinema Ombudsman also joined the discussion, bringing some recent case studies of conciliation between exhibitors and distributors.
In the afternoon the traditional institutional debate took place, where executives at CNC presented the new “Consultation Committee” launched by CNC and involving the cinema Ombudsman, together with 7 French exhibitors and 7 distributors of all sizes. The purpose of this Committee is to create more constructive relations and synergies between these players by issuing recommendations on distribution, release strategies and programming. Afterwards the CNC executives replied to questions and comments from the audience.
In the evening the UNIC team organised a get together with French mentees and mentors of the current and past editions of the UNIC Women UNIC Women’s Cinema Leadership programme who were attending the Deauville Congress.
The conference was capped by a beautiful homage to the successful French actress Isabelle Huppert.
The final day of the Congress, the traditional distributors’ day organised by FNEF, invited French cinema operators to watch over 300 film trailers from around 40 distribution companies.
Congratulations again to FNCF colleagues for this successful convention!