For the first time, uniFrance Films joined forces with the French Embassy in Singapore at the Asia Television Forum (ATF), a television market for South-East Asia held December 7-9, 2011.
As part of the 1st Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Singapore, uniFrance Films and the French Embassy in Singapore teamed up at the ATF in order to bring a delegation of French sales companies to Singapore for the event. 11 French sales companies were present at the uniFrance Films booth (Wild Bunch, MK2, Films Distribution, Futurikon, Les Films du Losange, Doc&Film, Gaumont, Le Pacte, Memento, TF1 International, and Le Petit Bureau), while two other companies were represented at the TVFI booth (SND and Wide Management).
Thanks to a partnership with the ATF, uniFrance Films was able to invite a group of around thirty regional film buyers from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, and South Korea to attend the event alongside buyers from Singapore. French sales agents expressed their satisfaction with the organization of this new market, which specializes in a region that still remains a small contributor to French film sales in a global context but which shows great potential for the future. Sales agents were able to meet with almost all of the buyers attending the event, in an atmosphere that was notably calmer than at other markets, such as Cannes. A number of French films were sold during the ATF.
The visibility of French films at the ATF was also boosted by the organization of an opening ceremony at the Rendez-vous with French Cinema held on the same day as the opening of the film market, with all ATF participants invited to the ceremony. A large number of guests attended the screening of The Artist and a reception held after the screening.
A French Film Festival was held during the ATF market. A French delegation led by Carole Bouquet was in attendance, composed of Catherine Deneuve, Pio Marmai, Stéphane Rybojad, Rémi Bezançon, Fred Cavayé, Catherine Dussart, Rithy Panh, Ismael Ferroukhi, Mathieu Demy, and Gilles Paquet Brenner. 16 films were showcased at the festival, with 7 titles presented by Singaporean and South-East Asian distributors. The success of this first festival has spurred us on to repeat this initiative held in conjunction with the ATF.
