Supporting World Cinema: Opportunities for Filmmakers in France

PART 1: FRANCE AND CINEMA
© Raymond Cauchetier - 1968
Shooting of Baisers volés, François
Truffaut

 12 February 1892: The original cinématographe was patented by Léon
Guillaume Bouly
 13 February 1895: Auguste and Louis Lumière patented their
own advanced version of cinématographe
 19 March 1895: First footage ever to be recorded with it: Workers
Leaving the Lumière Factory
 22 March 1895: First public screening ever in Paris, in front of an audience
of 200 people
1.1 The birthplace of cinématographe

 “Cultural Exception” (L’Exception Culturelle):
• A political concept introduced by France in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
negotiations in 1993
• Special status of culture: the unique character and role of the sector means that it cannot be
equated to other purely commercial goods or services
• In other words, its purpose is to consider cultural goods and services as exceptions in international
treaties and agreements especially with the World Trade Organization (WTO)
• Its goals are to point out that States are sovereign as far as limitation of culture free trade is
concerned in order to protect and promote their artists and other elements of their culture
 Nowadays, the concept of “Cultural Diversity” has taken over:
• International recognition of the importance of culture within society and the special protection that
it merits was enshrined in the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions
1.2 From cultural exception to cultural diversity

 301 French feature films produced (3rd producer in the world)
 116 of them are international coproductions
 396 French feature films theatrically released
 74,6 million admissions for French films
 6114 screens in France
 2nd film exporter in the world
1.3 French film industry: statistics (2019)
Market share in France:
European films
French films
American films
Other films

PART 2: INITIATIVES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
SEAFIC – Scriptwriting lab in Thailand +
Coproduction workshop with Produire au Sud

 SEAFIC aims to strengthen the quality of feature-length films from
Southeast Asian filmmakers by helping to advance their scripts and
develop their projects
• Screenwriting Lab: Each year, SEAFIC shall select five 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-
time filmmakers with work-in-progress scripts to work with a veteran
script consultant for 8 months to develop and refine their screenplays.
Participants shall attend three sessions in Thailand
• During the final session (SEAFIC OPEN HOUSE), the participants shall give
a 7-minute pitch of their project to the 3-person award jury who will
then award one project the SEAFIC Award
 The five projects selected for SEAFIC shall automatically be enrolled in
SEAFIC x PAS, Produire au Sud's Southeast Asia workshop. The five
producers shall participate in the first session in Chiang Mai, Thailand,
where they will be instructed by Produire au Sud mentors. The five
producers shall attend the last session to coincide with SEAFIC's final
pitching session in Bangkok.
2.1 Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC)

 Filmmakers from Southeast Asia developing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd feature-film projects only
 Nationals of the following countries are eligible for SEAFIC participation: Cambodia, East
Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore,
Thailand, and Vietnam
 Passports must be from Southeast Asia (cannot be the resident only)
 All project submissions must have a director and a producer attached along with a
realistic budget and a financing plan
 All projects must clearly declare who the main writer of the script will be
 All projects must have at minimum a first draft script available for evaluation
 Participants must agree to attend all three sessions within the lab year. Moreover, each
project's director and producer must be available to attend the first and final session
 Applicants can only submit one project per year
 There are no costs to apply to SEAFIC
 Projects must not be in pre-production or production during the course of the SEAFIC
Lab
2.1 SEAFIC: Eligibility

 MIFA is the International Animation Film Market of the Annecy International
Animation Film Festival, the biggest in the world
 Focus on Southeast Asia: offering young talents from Southeast Asia the
opportunity to acquire funding, co-production deals or work collaborations for
their animated projects, while also giving the creators the chance to take part in
an international event they would normally not have access to:
• 5 projects per year from 5 countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam
• Animated shorts films, feature films, TV series and specials
• 2D or 3D animation
 Calendar:
• April: 5 days development workshop with 3 French mentors (in Malaysia or online)
• April – June: Follow-up by mentors
• June: Pitching at MIFA, Annecy
2.2 Focus on Southeast Asia @MIFA Annecy

 A Creative Documentary Storytelling Workshop organized by Docmonde
(Lussas, France) and Forum Film Dokumenter (Yogyakarta, Indonesia) for
Southeast Asian documentary filmmakers:
• 12 documentary film projects per year
• 2 weeks workhop in Yogyakarta under the tutorship of 2 experienced
international film directors : 1 from France/Europe and 1 from Asia
• 10 countries eligible: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam
 In June 2020, 7 films were made thanks to the Asiadoc workshops and
forums and 12 films are currently in production
 In 2021, a new partnership is made with In-Docs in the framework of Doc
by the Sea (Bali, Indonesia)
• August: “Docs by the sea Accelerator” : pitching forum + Asiadoc lab
• October: Asiadoc workshop in Yogyakarta
2.3 Asiadoc
Organized by

PART 3: CAPACITY BUILDING IN FRANCE
Produire au Sud, Nantes (France), 2019

 La Selection:
• Showcases (about 20) short films produced by film students from around
the workd during Cannes Film festival
• Fiction and Animation only, no documentaries
• 3 cash prizes + guarantee for winner to have his/her 1st feature at Cannes
 La Résidence:
• 4½ half month residence in Paris to write a 1st or 2nd feature
• 2 sessions a year for a total of about 12 filmmakers
• Scolarship of 800 EUR per month + free access to a selction of movies
theaters and festivals
 L’Atelier:
• About 15 directors of feature film projects invited to Cannes Film Festival
• The Cinefondation: Publishes a Project Book; Organize meetings with
producers, distributors and grant managers; Associate the filmmakers
with the daily life of the festival
3.1 La Cinéfondation

 A training workshop for young/emerging producers and filmmakers from
Africa/Asia/Latin America that focuses on the development and packaging
of film projects suitable for co-production.
• 6 fiction feature film projects represented by a duo producer/director who
currently develop a fiction feature film project
• Mentors: international professionals such as producers, legal experts,
distributors, sales managers, scriptwriters, pitch experts, etc.
 7 days in Nantes during Festival des 3 Continents (November):
• Master class production workshops with European professionals
• Marketing workshop covering pitch training and a public presentation of
projects to potential producers
• Scriptwriting and production consultations with two days of individual
analysis and feedback by professional familiar with coproductions
 After each workshop, the young producers are proposed a follow-up for
their project
3.2 Produire au Sud

3.3 Others (non-exhaustive)
 Fiction feature film - coproduction projects:
 Documentary film projects:
 Animation projects:

PART 4: FILM FESTIVALS AND MARKETS IN FRANCE
Clermont-ferrand International Short Film festival
Picture taken by Vietnamese filmmaker Pham Ngoc Lan
(Special prize of the jury for « Blessed Land », International
competition 2020)

4.1 International film festivals

4.2 Submission: Online platforms
 DOCFILMDEPOT
• Documentaries
• 21+ festivals
• 1 stamp (€3,50) for
each submission
 FILMFEST PLATFORM
• Short films
• 65+ festivals
• Use of online credits
(€1,5)
 SHORTFILMDEPOT
• Short films
• 100+ festivals
• 1 stamp (€1,50 to €3) for each
submission
• Include film festivals from all
over the world

4.3 International content markets

PART 5: AIDE AUX CINEMAS DU MONDE
© AFP - 2010
Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul
receiving Palme d’or in Cannes for Uncle
Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

5.1 Presentation
 “Aide aux Cinémas du Monde” is a selective fund granted to foreign
feature-length film projects that are seeking support from French co-
producers
 Created in 2012, it is co-managed by CNC and Institut français
 The aid is a production (pre-filming) subsidy of up to 250,000 €
awarded to the French production company to cover production and
post-production costs
 Projects that are not selected to receive pre-filming subsidies can also
be represented after editing, to request a maximum of 50,000 € in
post-production (finishing) aid

5.2 Goals
 Facilitate international co-production (France has 58 co-
production agreements in 2019; in 2018, 118 films were
coproduced with 43 countries)
 Support directors from all over the world, especially in areas
where it remains difficult to make films
 Promote young directors by dedicating a specific board for 1st
and 2nd feature films
 Overall, encourage the creation of works that help promote
cultural diversity

5.3 Key figures
 Since 2012:
• 358 films selected
• Representing 89 countries
• Among them 48 films from Asia-Pacific
• Close to a 100 films supported by the ACM where selected in one of the three most
prestigious international festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Venise)
• 17 films were presented in the different selections of the Festival de Cannes in 2019

5.4 Main features
Fund dedicated to
international co-productions
Selective fund for
production
Selective fund for
post-production
40-50 projects supported /
year
4 selection rounds / year
All countries are eligibles
Pre-filming
Finishing
(N.B.: only for rejected projects)
Abour 10 projects / session
March / June / August / November (2020)

5.5 Eligibility conditions
Only feature films
All countries
Shooting location:
totally or mainly outside
of France
Foreign language
Fiction, documentary, animation
Co-production with a production company based
in France*
*Low-income countries, including Myanmar, can submit a project without
having an agreement yet with a French co-producer at the time of the
application
Application submitted before the shooting
Official or common used language(s):
 Of the director’s country
 Of the territory where the film is shot
shot

5.6 Selection process
Commitee of 13
international professionals
1 president
2 vice presidents
3 stages:
- reading committee (pre-selection)
- plenary committee (final choice)
- assessment committee (sets the
amount)
2 colleges
Members are cinema professionals from France
and abroad: directors, producers, scriptwriters,
distributors, sales agent and film critics
President 2020: Charles Tesson
 Reading Committee: 2 readers, 1 member, 1
President and 1 Vice president
 Plenary Committee: 5 members, 1 President, 1
Vice president
2 sub-committees:
 1st college: first or second film of a director
 2nd college: projects by experienced directors
(3 films and over)hot

5.7 Production fund (pre-filming)
Funding
Total amount of
French public funding
(including ACM)
granted for a single film
Payment
 Maximum amont: 250,000 €
 Average amount: about 120,000 €
(60 000 € for documentaries)
 Cannot exceed 50% of funding for the French part of the
project
 This rate can be raised to 80% for films:
• Eligible for the first board (1st and 2nd feature films),
• Made in co-production with low-income countries (including
Myanmar)
• Whose final budget is less than 1,250,000 €
Subsidy granted to the French co-producer:
 30% (1st tranche) paid when funding agreement signed
 40% (2nd tranche) on presentation of an end of first
week’s filming certificate signed jointly by the producers
and director
 30% (balance) after shooting when spending obligation
are fulfilled and justified

5.8 Post-production fund (finishing)
Funding
Total amount of
French public funding
(including ACM)
granted for a single film
Payment
 Maximum amont: 50,000 €
 Average amount: about 30,000 €
(60 000 € for documentaries)
 Cannot exceed 50% of funding for the French part of the
project
 This rate can be raised to 80% for films:
• Eligible for the first board (1st and 2nd feature films),
• Made in co-production with low income countries (including
Myanmar)
• Whose final budget is less than 1,250,000 €
Subsidy granted to the French co-producer:
 60% (1st tranche) paid when funding agreement
signed
 40% (balance) after shooting when spending
obligation are fulfilled and justified (pay slips,
certified invoices)

5.9 Expenditure obligations
At least 50% of the grant
must be spent in France
Low-income countries
(or least developed)
If budget > 2,500,000 € « CNC approval required »: necessity of
a significant French input
25% minimum of the funding must be
spent in the country
Eligible expenses:
 Production
 Post-production

5.10 Production fund application
 The form completed on-line, printed and signed by the French producer or, only for listed countries and if there is no French producer at the
application submission stage, by the foreign producer; in that event, the director’s signature is mandatory: https://form.cnc.fr
 A copy of each attached document downloaded on-line:
• Script for the project in French
• Script in original version (optional)
• Synopsis (max. 2,000 characters)
• Director’s note
• Producer’s note (optional)
• Director’s CV
• All producers’ CVs
• Co-production contract(s) with all partners (or, at this stage, any preparatory document attesting to the contractor’s intention with the foreign
production company or companies
• Provisional estimate (giving a breakdown of anticipated France/foreign expenditure)
• Financing plan for the project (mentioning funding already acquired and the amount from the Aide aux Cinémas du monde scheme requested from
the CNC)
• Transfer or option contracts covering literary and artistic property rights or copyright of the author(s), including, where applicable, those of the
author(s) of the original work
• Visual elements (max total 5Mb per document) can be attached to the on-line application (optional)
 10 DVD copies of one previous film by the director, where applicable. It is also possible to give an internet link and password in the special
“Filmography” area on the form
 More information: https://www.cnc.fr/web/en/funds/aide-aux-cinemas-du-monde_190870

5.11 Post-production fund application
 Projects are submitted on-line via the CNC web site (www.cnc.fr) in the Funding and commissions section
(cinema or international sub-sections)
Applications for funding are looked at on the basis of a DVD of the final edit of the film or otherwise, a pre-edit
approaching the length planned for the film. If the film is not in French, it must be subtitled in French.
The finishing funding application comprises:
• Production’s note detailing progress on the project, etc.
• Accurate costed list of anticipated expenditure for finishing
• Finance plan for the project (mentioning funding already acquired and the amount of ACM requested from the
CNC)
• Estimate for the film
• Co-production agreement
• Transfer contracts covering literary and artistic property rights or copyright of the author(s), including, where
applicable, those of the author(s) of the original work
• Registration with the RPCA (where applicable)
• 8 copies of the current edit DVD, subtitled (state the current length of the film)

5.12 Recent Southeast Asian recipients
College F= Fiction
D = Doc
P = Production
F = Finishing
Title Director Country French Producer Amount (€)
1st F P Arnold is a Model Student Sorayos Prapapan Thailand Dibona Films 120,000
1st F P Morisson Phuttiphong Aroonpheng Thailand CG Cinema 150,000
2nd F P Yuni Kamila Andini Indonesia Manny Films 100,000
1st F P Cu Li Never Cries Lân Pham Ngoc Vietnam Acrobates Films 120,000
2nd F P Glorious Ashes Bui Thac Chuyen Vietnam MAT Productions 120,000
2nd F F The Science of Fictions Yosep Anggi Noen Indonesia Andolfi 30,000
College F= Fiction
D = Doc
P = Production
F = Finishing
Title Director Country French Producer Amount (€)
2nd F P When the Waves are Gone Lav Diaz Philippines Films Boutique 100,000
2nd F P Memoria Apichatpong
Weerasethakul
Thailand Anna Sanders Films 140,000
1st F P Whether the Wheather is Fine Carlo Francisco Manatad Philippines House on Fire 130,000
1st F P White building Kavich Neang Cambodia Apsara Films 110,000
1st D P Aswang Alyx Arumpac Philippines Les Films de l'œil
sauvage
80,000
1st F P Taste Le Bao Vietnam Deuxième Ligne Films 110,000
2020
2019

6.1 Presentation
 La Fabrique Cinéma de l’Institut français is a tailored program for talented young directors from emerging countries organized
every year during Cannes Film Festival
 Since 2009, this program, has been developed by the Institut français, in partnership with France Médias Monde – RFI, France 24,
Monte Carlo Doualiya –, the Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music (Sacem), the International Organisation of la
Fancophonie, and with the support of Orange Studio
 10 directors are invited to work on their 1st or 2nd feature films to attend the Festival de Cannes along with their producers in
order to increase their international exposure
 La Fabrique is a workshop as well as a co-production platform that takes place on the cinémas du monde pavilion in the
International Village of the Cannes Film Market: intensive 10 days-program with the mentorship of a renowned international
director

6.2 Goal and program
 This ten days program is made to facilitate and accelerate the financing of the selected projects, to act like a booster for the
projects
 In 2019, the participants of La Fabrique took part in:
• 2 pitching and production workshops
• 1 pitching session, 1 masterclass and one-to-one meetings with 2019 patron and director Mira Nair
• 1 masterclass and meetings with famous international music composer Marc Marder
• More than 30 group meetings with key members of the film industry (heads of international funds, forums and labs, and
festivals, heads of The Directors' Fortnight, The Critics Week, la Cinéfondation, ACID, etc.)
• More than 200 personal meetings with French, European and international potential co-producers, distributors, sales agents, etc.
© Catherine Vinay / Institut français - 2019

6.3 Mentors
2009: Juliette Binoche & Abderrahmane Sissako
2010: Sandrine Bonnaire & Rithy Pahn
2011: Elsa Zilberstein & Pablo Trapero
2012: Marias de Medeiros & Elia Souleiman,
2013: Raoul Peck
2014: Walter Salles
2015: Claire Denis
2016: Jia Zang-ke
2017: Brillante Mendoza
2018: Cristian Mungiu
2019: Mira Nair
2020: Rachid Bouchareb

6.5 Southeast Asian alumni (non-exhaustive)
Midi Z
Myanmar
Nguyen Hoang Diep
Vietnam
Matti Do
Laos
Guillaume P. Suon
Cambodge
Zay Yar Aung We Ra
Myanmar
Tumpal Tampubolon
Indonesia
Sivaroj Kongsakul
Thailand
Chris Chong Chan Fui
Malaysia
Carlo F. Manatad
Philippines
Xaisongkham
Induangchanthy
Laos
Sompot
Chidgasornpongse
Thailand
Ash Mayfair
Vietnam
Joanna Arong
Philippines

6.6 Schedule
 CALL FOR ENTRIES:
• September to end of October on www.lescinemasdumonde.com (limited to 120 applications maximum)
• Rules and regulations available on Les Cinémas du Monde's website but main criterias are:
1. The project must concern a cinematographic work in development (fiction, documentary or animation). It may not be a project or a film for television
2. The project must be the director’s first or second feature-length film (fiction, documentary or animation)
3. The director must come from one of the eligible countries (DAC list of the OECD)
4. The project must have a local producer or a producer from one of the eligible countries who has produced a short or feature-length film in the last five
years
5. The film’s budget must be less than 3,000,000 €
6. Each director or production company may only submit one film project
7. If the project has a co-producer, the co-producer must be identified in the online registration form but it is not necessary to apply with a co-producer
8. A synopsis, a treatment, a 1st draft of the script (except for a documentary), a director's note of intention, a financing plan, the director and producer's
bios are required as well as links to former works of the director
 SELECTION:
• Between November and end of February the projects are read by readers and a selection committee
• The selection is announced to the selected participants by the beginning of March
 COACHING:
• The directors and producers of the 10 selected projects are coached by phone or Skype to prepare Cannes and organize the best tailor-made program
depending on the stage of development of each project
 INVITATION TO CANNES:
• The director and local producer of the selected project are invited in Cannes for 10 days: flight, accommodation, accreditation, per diem and the all
program is paid by Institut français with sometimes the support cultural services of the French Embassy

−
Frédéric ALLIOD
Regional Attaché for Film, TV, Radio and New Media
(Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam)
aar.bcltv@ifv.vn
THANK YOU

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