Focus on Francophone films
There has been an interesting and constructive debate about the Francophone world of cinema held at Namur. After the success of last year’s meeting, which was led by Daniel Toscan, discussing the theme "Circulation of Francophone Films", the International Festival of Francophone Films in Namur decided to repeat the initiative again this year. Representatives from institutions gathered together with professionals from the sector at the event, held yesterday, to analyse the ”spread, promotion and distribution of Francophone films: the reality and prospects”. The debate was organised with the support of the French Community in Belgium, the CNC –National Film School (France), SODEC (Québec), the Francophone Intergovernmental Agency, as well as with the collaboration of the Film Office at the Francophone Space.
The meeting was chaired by Henry Ingberg (CFB) and Roger Dehaybe, (AIF). The contributions to the debate reaffirmed the need for promotion and distribution strategies to be considered as an integral part of the production of a film. Those who spoke at the debate included Diana Elbaum (producer from Belgium), François Yon (French distributor), Tiziana Soudani (Swiss Producer) and Christian Larouche (producer from Quebec). They made some concrete suggestions of measures to be put in place on a regional or national level, for example the important of creating networks and systems for parallel releases, or to strengthen the links between television and cinema. But the participants also looked at other measures on an international scale, such as organising plans for a support mechanism for distribution.
(Translated from French)
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