On 14 May, UNIC met with the European Commission (DG CONNECT) during a stakeholders meeting. In the evening UNIC was invited to a dinner hosted by Cineville.
On Friday 15 May Cineville was also hosting a panel showcasing the successful rollout of Cineville in Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Austria. Commissioner Henna Virkunnen held a press conference on AgoraEU and the Audiovisual Media and Services Directive and Copyright. The afternoon of 15 May was rich of insightful sessions, from the presentation of a study on the future of creative industries by La French Touch, drafting emerging common trends from the rise IPs to AI; to a panel on advertising in cinemas with representatives from SAWA, OMD and Peugeot, and finally the European Audiovisual Observatory’s presentation of the “Focus 2026: Key Trends in the Film Sector", illustrating cinema-going results in 2025 across Europe, Japan (country of honour of this year’s festival) and globally. The day closed with a cocktail reception hosted by CICAE, attended by a wide range of cinema exhibitors and industry professionals.
On Saturday 16 May, UNIC attended European Audiovisual Observatory conference “Fiscal Incentives and Cash Rebates - a game changer for public funding?”, exploring public funding tools for European productions. At the same time the UNIC team was present on the CNC pavilion where Commissioner Henna Virkunnen delivered a speech on AgoraEU, the Audiovisual Media and Services Directive and Copyright, followed by a keynote of the French Minister of Culture Catherine Pégard. In the afternoon another insightful panel at the Cinemas Club took place, this time focusing on event cinema, with input from Crunchyroll, Kinepolis and A Piece of Magic. Afterwards, the LUX Award and the European Parliament hosted the conference “Invest in What Matters: Supporting Europe’s Film Sector in the Next EU Long-Term Budget” with contributions from industry professionals and MEPs Sabine Verheyen (EPP, DE) and Emma Rafowicz (S&D, FR). In the evening UNIC organised a get-together with current and past mentees and mentors of the Women Cinema Leadership Programme.
On 17 May UNIC attended a conference on the CNC pavilion to present and discuss the findings of a comprehensive new study “Cinema Exhibition: Key global trends”, commissioned by CNC with contributions from Omdia, Cine Group and Hexacom. UNIC CEO Laura Houlgatte intervened in a panel to discuss the key trends highlighted in the study, together with other representatives from exhibition, distribution, production and independent cinema. In the afternoon the Europa Cinemas Network Meeting took place. After an overview of the 2025 results across Europe by the European Audiovisual Observatory, the Europa Cinemas team presented the 2025 performance of the Network. The meeting also included some presentations on the Training Bootcamps for exhibitors, Collaborate to Innovate call for project and Next/Change, the exchange programme for cinema exhibitors. To conclude the day, UNIC joined a couple of networking cocktails and then hosted a dinner for its members.
On Monday 18, 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, a panel at the Cinemas Club inspired from the CNC report "What are movie theaters like around the world, and what can they teach us?", with insights from UNIC President Phil Clapp and Europa Cinemas CEO Fatima Djoumer.
On Tuesday 19 UNIC attended the panel “What Does The Future Hold for Arthouse Cinemas” at the Cinemas Club, with representatives from CICAE, Arthouse Convergence and Festival do Rio sharing their views on arthouse cinemas across different regions.
Throughout the festival UNIC held meetings with its members, partners, MEPs, and representatives of Creative Europe MEDIA and DG Connect as well as other institutional colleagues.
We look forward to enjoying the Cannes Palme D’Or and all awarded films on the Big Screen!