Daniela Elstner: "We will present more than 1000 French programs covering all genres"

The Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Biarritz is around the corner. The market, dedicated to French audiovisual programs and organized by Unifrance, will take place from September 4 through 8 in the French city and expects more than 240 buyers from 47 countries. "It's the first edition of our new entity, Unifrance, that encompasses the audiovisual and TV content with cinema, it's very exciting for us", revealed Daniela Elstner, Executive Director at Unifrance to Señal News.

During the Rendez-Vous in Biarritz, the international buyers will be able to discover more than 1,000 TV contents covering all genres (fiction, animation, documentary, live shows, and entertainment) presented by 62 French exhibiting companies. "An efficient formula is that buyers can come to the market and watch the content, and then they can have lunch and dinner together, exchange and talk about the series, films, documentaries, they've just seen", asserted Elstner.

One of the new addition at the market is the screening of "The King’s Favorite", the new historical series directed by Josée Dayan and sold by France tv distribution. "We have invited the cast, that's really something new", said Unifrance director. Actors Isabelle Adjani, Hugo Becker, and Virginie Ledoyen, director and producer Josée Dayan, as well as the associate producer Gaspard de Chavagnac (Passion Films) have confirmed their participation.

FRENCH PROGRAMS FOR EXPORT
On September 5, Unifrance and the CNC will present the 2021 export figures for French audiovisual programs. "We're working on the presence of French programs in all the TV stations, especially in the most important countries, which usually are Germany Italy, Spain and the US", she explained.

Last year, French animation sector had an outstanding performance, but Elstner adverted that the industry has to be careful at the moment to talk about trends. "I don't think we can really on the last two years get any tendencies because they were just totally different from anything we have known", she affirmed. The pandemic didn't affect the same way the cinema and the audiovisual sector. "We have to really talk and explain every single figure because it's so specific", she added.

NEW PLATFORM
Unifrance has inaugurated its new viewing platform for the Rendez-Vous. More flexible, modern, and adapted to the specific needs of the markets, it is accessible to buyers participating in the event. "We had really to rethink also in the light of our merger because it's complicated to combine both of the worlds (audiovisual and cinema) but on the other hand, in the future, we might also need a capable system where we can build up a small market or a small festival, and it's really something we want to work on," she concluded.