The new Venice Film Market was launched from Thursday 30th August to Monday 3rd September at the 69th Venice International Film Festival to give a new boost to the Industry Office by aiming for a new and effective Market structure, in order to meet the needs and expectations of producers, distributors, buyers, sellers, agents and film promotion agencies.

 

The Venice Film Market ran at the beginning of the Venice Film Festival, from Thursday 30th August to Monday 3rd September, and was located in designated areas of the Excelsior Hotel on the Venice Lido. The Venice Film Market joined forces with the Industry Office which, as in previous years, continues to perform its functions during the entire duration of the Venice Film Festival, by offering many services to professionals, in collaboration with Expo Venice.

 

Pascal Diot is the French Director of the Venice Film Market. He has extensive experience in co-productions, distribution and international sales, as well as in the management of film markets.

 

The first edition of the VFM clearly shows a very positive reaction of the professionals as, for the first time in several years, 193 key distributors (Hopscotch/Eone, Lumiere Publishing, Cineplex, Front Row, Angel Films, Diaphana, Wanda Vision, MK2,  Pyramide, )and 66 key sales agents (Focus Features, The Match Factory, Films Distribution, Trustnordisk, Wide Management) have returned to Venice. In addition to them, 1100 professionals including producers, film commissions and institutions, exhibitors, film festival etc, coming from 62 countries attended the Venice Film Market with a strong attendance from Italy (797), France (117), Germany (55), USA (40), UK (30) and Russia (21)...

 

Most importantly, several films shown in the different sections of the festival were sold during the first four days of the Venice Film Market. Those deals were done by the Taipei Film Commission, Rai, The Match factory, Gutek films, Wide Management, Films distribution etc.. 

 

New initiatives were announced at the VFM. Euromed announced the creation of a network of distributors from the Mediterranean and the partnership with the network Eye On Films.

 

The general feedback from the industry is that the set-up of the Market fits seamlessly with the programming of the festival and that Venice is once again becoming the first port of call in September.

 

As far as the DVL is concerned, 114 films were presented and 97 different distributors watched at least one film. Furthermore, 89 films were viewed: Sinapupunan (64 screenings), Superstar (55), Stories We Tell (52), Crawl (33)... and there were 704 screenings in total up to yesterday night. 

 

"I found it very useful" said Hengameh Panahi, topper of Paris-based Celluloid Dreams."They managed to bring distributors to Venice who had never come before, or not for a long time; and they set up great facilities for us to meet and work -- not bad at all for the first year."

 

"Since Mifed's demise, there's space for a serious market based in Europe. We'd love to see a revival of Venice." Nicolas Brigaud-Robert (Film Distribution) said. "It's a big jump between Cannes and the AFM." “As European buyers show few signs of belt-loosening, a local market eliminates costly trips to the Toronto fest, which doesn't have an official market, or Busan in South Korea” he added.

 

Daniela Elstner from the French company Doc & Film remarked: “For us it was important to have our meeting spaces, previously you had to do everything in a rush and meet separately, now even the mere possibility of being here for a coffee and in the meanwhile see dozens of people is invaluable. ”I think in an environment like the Festival, an essential factor is the atmosphere one feels thanks to the big screen and the collective vision. I noticed that in Venice almost everyone wants to see the movie in the projection rooms, compared to the few who prefer the digital video library, which is still very useful in retrieving titles one may have missed. This is quite different for television buyers, who almost invariably opt for the DVL instead.”

 

Mattia Oddone, Head of international sales at Rai said: "The Market has been an important event, with a good date that allows to intercept buyers and provide hundreds of movies. This is certainly a great starting point for the work that must be continued in Toronto and will only be concluded at the end of the year. All in all, I think the buyers are happy.”

 

Nawid Sarem, Head of distribution and sales at Wide Management Enterprise stated: "I think Spazio Incontri was very good and well organized. Maybe there aren’t so many buyers, but the most important companies are present. I think it is just great, even if only to begin our work in a more relaxed manner and then tie things up in Toronto. "