Global launch of MyFrenchFilmFestival 2023, the flagship of French cinema online

RFI : In 2020, MyFrenchFilmFestival recorded twelve million views in 200 territories. After almost three years of the Covid epidemic and a withdrawal of the public on the platforms, how many viewings do you expect for this 2023 edition? ?

Jules Marco : Since 2019, MyFrenchFilmFestival has exceeded ten million film views every year. In 2021, we even reached 13 million, but there had to be a “pandemic” effect. For us, a successful year is an edition with more than ten million views.

You offer Internet users 29 films, including We by Alice Diop, director recently crowned with the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, but also between the waves by the young director Anaïs Volpé, Magnetics by Vincent Maël Cardona, selected for the Quinzaine du Festival de Cannes, The world after us by Louda Ben Salah-Cazanas, selected at the Berlinale. Beyond the fact that there is a majority of female directors for the first time, is success in cinemas a selection criterion for the MyFrenchFilmFestival online competition? ?

Jules Marco : No, the selection criteria are really availability criteria, because we call for films every year. We are submitted a lot of films. We have artistic criteria, but also criteria for the representation of rights holders and availability criteria in the most territories. For example, a film that has already been sold in around thirty territories, if it is selected, this means that, during the festival, it will not be available in these territories. But public and critical success are also criteria. We are looking for a large audience, but we also want films with an obvious artistic quality.

The subtitling of films in many languages ​​is one of the strengths of your Festival. This year, you have added Arabic, Ukrainian and above all Mandarin, the official language in China, to the existing languages. What are your expectations regarding this Mandarin language offer which concerns almost a billion people ?

Jules Marco : The festival is not available in China. Film distribution in China is governed by protectionism and there are very few foreign films entering China. We translated the festival films into Mandarin, because we have three partner platforms in Taiwan. This is something quite recent and works very well.

Is the choice of subtitling in Ukrainian for this 2023 edition a political choice? ?

Jules Marco : Obviously. As Serge Toubiana and Daniela Elstner, the president and general manager of Unifrance, said in their editorial: “ For the first time Ukrainian – in support of the sorely tried people of Ukraine “. Yes, it is a political choice.

Short films are offered everywhere for free, feature films at 1.99 euros, with notable exceptions in several regions of the world. For example, the festival is completely free in Latin America, Southeast Asia, Russia, and also in Africa. In which African countries are usually the most spectators of your festival ?

Jules Marco : The festival works very well in Algeria. In 2022, the country was in the lead with 510,000 views. Then there was Morocco with 170,000 views, Libya with 140,000 views, Egypt with 120,000 views, Ethiopia with 110,000 and Somalia also with 110,000 views, not forgetting Tunisia and the Côte d’Azur. ‘Ivory with 100,000 views. Africa and the Middle East represent 2.2 million views.

MyFrenchFilmFestival also sets up public screenings. On the African continent, there are screenings planned in South Africa, Burundi, Kenya and Morocco. Is it a kind of mini-festivals on the big screen organized in theaters ? Unique outdoor screenings ?

Jules Marco : It depends on the French Institute or the French Alliance in these countries. There are countries in which there are one or two screenings, other countries program practically the entire festival between January and February. The Institut français network has all rights of use during the festival.

According to figures published by the CNC, French cinema is resisting better than other cinemas in Europe or even in the world. Is this also the case for the digital distribution of French cinema films ?

Leo Tisseau : Yes, indeed, French films are very present on the platforms. We published last October a study which demonstrates that French cinema is the leading European cinematography available on platforms. It is also the first non-English cinematography. In terms of presence, French cinema is very strong, including on video-on-demand platforms. In terms of consumption, it is more complicated to say since the platforms do not share their viewing data, unlike cinemas which communicate admissions. One of the means of knowing the performance of French films could be, for example, the figures published by Netflix. The platform publishes a top 10 of the most watched films on Netflix every week. Our latest study, carried out in the second half of 2021, shows that French films were the most consumed first non-English language films on Netflix.

What would be the biggest success of the 2023 edition of MyFrenchFilmFestival for you? ?

Jules Marco : The greatest success would be for the public to take hold of this programming, talk about it, share it on social networks. The festival is really made for the public. We regularly receive messages from teachers who create educational files around MyFrenchFilmFestival. They show us what they do with their students. This is the basis of work with their students who often come into contact with French cinema for the first time in their lives. For us, that’s the greatest success: rejuvenating the audiences of Francophile moviegoers and maintaining the link between the public and French cinema.

► MyFrenchFilmFestival, from January 13 to February 13, 2023, worldwide. The international jury of the competition is composed of five members : Emily Atef (France/Iran), Chie Hayakawa (Japan), Juho Kuosmanen (Finland), Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine), Albert Serra (Spain).