19th Rendez-vous franco-allemands in Bonn

• German-French Film Meeting on 17 and 18 November in the Bundeskunsthalle
• This year’s topics include 20 years of the Mini-Traité, gender and diversity, the current situation of independent filmmakers, public funding in transition and streamers on the rise
• Cultural exchange and launch pad for new film projects

After the German-French Film Meeting (Rendez-vous franco-allemands) was held digitally last year, European filmmakers will now be coming together in person on 17 and 18 November at the Bundeskunsthalle in compliance with the VR (Vaccination and Recovered) regulation. The Rendez-vous, which was initiated by the German-French Film Academy in 2003, has since developed into one of the most important European industry events for the exchange of ideas and experiences by European professionals working in the film sector.

Apart from promoting cultural exchange, the "Co-Production Market" held during the Film Meeting has become an important starting point for European co-productions. The German-French Film Academy organises the event in turn with German Films and UniFrance Films in different cities each year.

The two-day industry event will be opened by Peter Dinges, Chairman of the FFA, and Olivier Henrard, CNC, as well as Petra Müller, CEO of Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. Erwin Schmidt, managing director of the German Film Producers Association, was involved in the preparations for this year’s event as a consultant and will serve as host for the two days of the conference. On Wednesday, the first day of the conference, the Cologne-based  producer Viola Fügen (Match Factory Production) and the French producer Jean-Christophe Reymond (Kasak Production, Producer on the Move 2021) will speak about the situation of independent producers. Statements on diversity will be made on Thursday by Helge Albers, CEO of MOIN Filmförderung, and the producer Julie Billy (June Films), who, among other things, is the co-founder of Collectif 50/50 which campaigns for gender equality and diversity in the film industry. On Thursday, Alexandra Lebret, managing director of the European Producers Club, and Andreas Bareiss, Gaumont, will speak about working with the streaming services. The complete programme can be found at https://www.das-rendez-vous.org/filmtreffen/

This is now the second time that the Rendez-vous franco-allemands is being held in NRW after coming to Cologne in 2005. There is a close cinematic collaboration between France and NRW due to its geographical proximity and an active production landscape. For example, "Amélie from Montmartre" by Jean-Pierre Jeunet was in part realised in NRW and this is also the case with the current production of "Joan Verra" (working title) by Laurent Larivière with Isabelle Huppert in the lead as well as "Proxima" by Alice Winocour with Eva Green and the musical "Annette" by Leos Carax with Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver, which opened this year’s Festival de Cannes and won the prize for Best Director there.