The 2012 Market Is All Booked Up!

26 December 2011
Market
By Anaelle Meunier

     

     

    The international economic downturn has had its effects on the preparations of the Market 2012, just like in 2011, with budgets stretched to their breaking point and financing decisions moving in slow motion, and sometimes only arriving at the eleventh hour.

     

    Let’s not forget the shock of the disappearance of the British stand in 2011 when the UK Film Council was brutally eliminated, and all of the activities it had performed up to that point had to be redistributed among other organizations. It was unrealistic to think of British institutions returning as soon as this year, but they will be here in 2013, guaranteed. Moreover, Candella Films will be on hand to promote the British film catalogue, along with Freak Agency, a Spanish distributor that is intending to enlarge its catalogue with British films supported by Candella.

     

    Spain is in fact trying at all costs to stay at the Market. Last year, the country decided to abandon a single national umbrella stand in favor of a return to regional representation: five Spanish regions joined the Market in 2011, and this year we are welcoming Catalonia, the Basque region and the Madrid region.

     

    We got a nasty surprise from SODEC – the organization for the development of cultural undertakings in Quebec –, which supported short films and represented them in Clermont. Who knows whether it was a change of direction or orientation, but Quebec has had a rough time. But thanks to his boundless energy, Danny Lennon managed, in only one week, to organize, coordinate and gather together a few producers and distributors who were determined not to miss the appointment with Clermont-Ferrand. So Quebec will be here, sharing its stand – as it always has – with Wallonie Bruxelles Images, which has one program among our screenings as well as another in the Market’s video library.

     

    So, despite the shake-ups and the air of crisis, the Market moves ahead once again, booked solid. Let’s give a shout out to Greece, which is still manning its stand in spite of the country’s well-known plight. The Latin American contingent of Mexico, Chile and Brazil has been strengthened by the addition of Colombia’s Proimagenes, an organization that supports and promotes Colombian cinema on both the domestic and international fronts. The Croatian Audiovisual Centre, ACORCH (the Chilean association of short film directors) and Kodak, which had all joined the marketplace for the first time in 2011, are renewing their determination to contribute to the international production of short films, and are participating once again.

     

    Among the new participants is Tunisia’s National Chamber of Film Producers. This was an extraordinary year for the country, and we are now able to discover its most recent works as well as new talents that are emerging in all their artistic diversity. Guadeloupe is also joining the Market through APCAG, the organization for the development of film in Guadeloupe. The organization was created by movie theater directors and the group Ciné woulé (a travelling, open-air theater) to address the needs of a fragmented territory: to diversify film offerings in Guadeloupe, granting support to independent producers and distributors; to promote domestic filmmakers in their home country and abroad; and to valorize local and Caribbean film and audiovisual endeavors at festivals. In 2010, APCAG made a pre-inventory of its audiovisual stock, and in 2011 it produced its first DVD of short films under the aegis of France’s initiative 2011: The Overseas Year.

     

    Of course, we can also count on our regulars at the Market, key players on the French and international scenes: MEDIA, the CNC, Unifrance, Fémis, L’Agence du court métrage (France), Normandy, Wallonie Bruxelles Images, Portugal, Thailand, Scandinavia, Romania, The Czech Republic, Poland, Iran, Italy, the Netherlands, Israel, Switzerland, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland and, last but not least, South Korea.

     

    Therefore, in spite of the financial crisis that has hit culture – and especially short films – so hard, the 2012 Market is one full of promises, aiming to develop European and international initiatives for production and distribution.