EFAD, Europa Distribution, AFAN and CAACI gather film agenices and distributors at the Marché du Film in Cannes to discuss distribution
During the Cannes Film Festival, EFAD, jointly with Europa Distribution, the Asian Film Alliance Network (AFAN) and the Conference of Ibero-American Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities (CAACI), in cooperation with the Marché du Film of the Festival de Cannes, hosted a workshop gathering film agencies and distributors from Europe, Asia, Canada, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand to exchange on distribution, audience development and support schemes for national and non-national audiovisual works.
Through practical discussions, participants exchanged national experiences and challenges and identified several common priorities for the future of international film circulation and audience development. They highlighted the importance of reinforcing existing European support schemes, while also developing stronger national and regional support mechanisms for distribution. Participants stressed the need to strengthen support both for local distribution and for the international circulation and release of non-national films, while reaffirming the importance of theatrical distribution and cinemas for the circulation of European works and as a key pillar of the future AgoraEU programme.
The workshop also underlined the importance of integrating audience development and distribution strategies at an early stage of the project development process, improving the clarity of support criteria and strengthening the role of distributors from the beginning.
Participants further discussed the need to encourage younger audiences to discover European and international independent films in cinemas, including through initiatives supporting cinema attendance. Cinema and moving image education were identified as important priorities to strengthen awareness of film heritage, cultural diversity and curiosity for European and international cinema.
In addition, participants highlighted the importance of improving access to market data and strengthening information-sharing between distributors, film agencies and public institutions.
Film agencies and distributors also expressed a strong interest in continuing these practical exchanges and further exploring concrete cooperation on distribution and audience development initiatives. EFAD looks forward to continuing these discussions and contributing to future initiatives together with our international partners.