Heidelberg hosts Franco-German Film Meetings
The 8th Franco-German Film Meetings kick off today in Heidelberg. Organised by Unifrance and German Films, the three-day event aims to promote co-productions and film circulation between the two countries.
The trend is looking positive for 19 French/German co-productions were accredited in 2009 (eight majority French, 11 majority German), which is the highest total for the last 15 years. Added to these are seven tripartite co-productions where neither France nor Germany was majority producer. However, while they offer a real opportunity in terms of financing, French/German co-productions don’t seem to guarantee theatrical distribution in the minority country.
Set to be opened by Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre (Mact Productions and president of Unifrance), Alfred Hürmer (Integral Film and president of German Films) and Jobst Plog (president of Eurimages), the 2010 Film Meetings will kick off this Thursday with an "Overview of French/German co-productions" via a debate led by Yves Marmion (UGC YM) and Peter Sehr (P’Artisan Filmproduktion).
This will be followed by two case studies on the distribution of Soul Kitchen [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Mammuth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustave Kervern, Benoî…
film profile] (with representatives from Pyramide, Pandora, Ad Vitam and X-Verleih) and the co-production of the documentary The Wildlife of Domestic Animals (Looks Films and Les Films d'Ici). The day will close with a co-production market.
On Friday morning, the subject under discussion will be "Technology and creation in 3D" with the participation of Wim Wenders looking at his film Pina, Alain Benguigui (Behind the Walls for Sombrero Film) and Jan Vasak (The Wings of Johnny May for Kien Productions).
In the afternoon, there will be a debate led by Philippe Carcassonne (Cine@) and Philipp Kreuzer (Bavaria Film) on "Tax credits and co-production", a close-up on documentary funding in France and Germany, as well as a roundtable on new production and distribution methods in Europe, in particular through transmedia.
(Translated from French)
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
