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Jérôme Paillard • Director General of the Cannes Film Market

The Market sees la vie en rose and soon in green

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Cineuropa: What do you have to say about the success of this year’s Film Market?
Jerôme Paillard: We can confirm the presence this year of 10,481 participants from the world over and an overall increase of around 4%. There have been more US participants than usual, with 6% more compared to about 2% in previous years. However, Latin American participants saw a significant increase (+25%) due to improved economic factors in Brazil and Argentina, and a better supported film funding policy in Chile and Colombia.

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What are the trends regarding European countries?
The former Eastern block countries are making more and more films, especially Estonia, Lithuania and Macedonia. This increase is due in most part to the putting into place of support mechanisms that stimulate local production.

Are you happy with this year’s Producers’ Network edition?
We wanted to limit the number of participants to 560 to keep a size that made it more convivial. However, we observed increased satisfaction among participants, especially among producers.

Along with the breakfasts and Happy Hours we added other opportunities to make contacts: speed dating, quick meetings between industry professionals from different continents, at which 80 producers took part. We organised meetings for French-speaking and international producers, but next year will also be aiming at Spanish-speaking professionals.

This year you held screenings from the first Wednesday afternoon. How successful was that?
We already have had screenings on Wednesday afternoon, but we received a lot of requests for the whole day on Wednesday because buyers often come on Monday or Tuesday and Wednesday is often much calmer without any screenings of films in competition (except in the evening). It was very successful, as all the market screenings were full and the buyers were delighted.

Did the celebration of the festival’s 60th anniversary disrupt the market?
We were worried about the transport arrangements, but the traffic was very fluid and at the end of the day, everyone was able to enjoy the pleasant atmosphere at what was an exceptional festival in wonderful weather. It was just perfect.

What other changes do you hope to make in 2008?
We’ll all be meeting on Tuesday May 29 and we’ll look at what changes and improvements can be made then. In particular, we’re thinking of launching a campaign for the withdrawal of paper. As services for professionals are concerned, the Internet database Cinando will continue to grow and we’re soon going to announce some improvements.

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