On 16 May, UNIC attended the Boxoffice Tour to visit the newly opened Ōma Cinema within CineWest complex “Les Balcons de Mougins”. This is the first Ōma Cinema in the world, offering a premium experience complete with sound, image and with suspended pods that can host up to 8 guests. On the same day, UNIC also met with members and with colleagues from the film and audiovisual industry.
On 17 May UNIC took part in the panel titled “What is the future of cinemas and creation in the current disruptive digital world?” at the Boxoffice Forum. Gaumont President Nicolas Seydoux shared some insights from his recently published book “Cinema, 50 years of passion”, then UNIC CEO Laura Houlgatte presented current cinema results and trends in some key European territories and the other panellists Tim Richards from Vue, Niels Swinkels from Universal and Richard Patry from FNCF, contributed to the discussion bringing input from distribution and exhibition in the territories they operate. A second session focused on creation and authors’ rights. The two panels are accessible in replay here.Afterwards UNIC attended industry events organised by Cannes Film Market, the European Audiovisual Observatoryand CICAE.
On Saturday 18 several industry events took place at the Film Market. The day started with UNIC attending European Audiovisual Observatory conference, with the contribution of UNIC member Christof Papousek, CFO of Cineplexx. UNIC also attended CNC events, first with a panel on how ensure that films meet their audiences at local level, focusing on young audience and exhibitors’ curation efforts to promote films in their community, followed by an address by the French Minister of Culture. This was followed by a session organised by the European Parliament and Lux Audience Award, which stressed the importance of the upcoming European elections to protect culture and democracy. In the afternoon UNIC organised a get-together with current and past mentees and mentors of the Women Cinema Leadership Programme.
On 19 May UNIC attended the Cannes Streamers Forum, with insights from Warner Bros’ Max, rolling out in some key European territories in July 2024, and from MUBI, who emphasised their strong support to cinemas and to exclusive theatrical release. In the afternoon UNIC joined the Europa Cinemas Network Meeting. The conference started with the announcement of a joint report by UNIC, Europa Cinemas and CICAE “Box Office and Beyond: the cultural, social and economic impact of cinema”, introduced by Laura Houlgatte from UNIC and Sebastian Naumann from CICAE and presented by David Hancock from Omdia, author of the study. The report, which will be published online immediately after the European elections, intends to bring light on the role of cinemas in their communities from an economic, cultural and social perspective. After an overview of the 2023 results across Europe by the European Audiovisual Observatory, the Europa Cinemas team then presented the 2023 performance of the Network. Contributions from some beneficiaries of the Collaborate to Innovate scheme concluded the event. UNIC members then met for dinner.
On Monday 20, UNIC attended the presentation of the Nostradamus report by analyst and author Johanna Koljonen, followed by a panel discussion with industry professionals. Other industry conferences followed at the Film Market, namely on overproduction and on Crescine report about film circulation in small European film markets.
On 21 May UNIC also met with policy and industry stakeholders and partners.
UNIC congratulates the Palme D'Or winner Sean Baker for his film Anora and for his support to the Big Screen experience!