Successful 6th German-French Film Rendezvous in Hamburg

German Films and Unifrance organised the German-French Film Rendezvous for the sixth time from November 20 to 22, holding the event in Hamburg on this occasion. 300 participants coming from both countries discussed co-productions and current developments in VoD, heard about new trends in the field of financing and saw the presentations of young actors from Germany and France. There was enough time between the panels and events to discuss things in more detail with the one or other partner. A gala dinner in Hamburg's Rathaus on the invitation of the City of Hamburg or the invitation to the Mandarin Bar by Cocktail Coproduction & Networking e.V. provided the ideal setting.

The German-French Film Rendezvous was established within the framework of the German-French Academy which was launched by the then Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the French President François Mitterand. When the filmmakers, producers and distributors from both countries met together for the first time 6 years ago, there were only a few faces from the other country who were familiar for many of the participants. This no longer seemed to be much in evidence in Hamburg. People have got to know each other (better) over these six years and have developed closer relationships.

A concrete finding was that the number of German-French co-production s have more than quadrupled from 4 in 2001 to 17 in 2007, many of them now being German majority productions.

Two innovations were announced: the FFG revision, which comes into effect on January 1, envisages that, in future, co-productions can already apply for funding where there is a German share of only 10% - not 20% as previously required. There are plans within the framework of the mini-traité for a development fund. € 300,000 is to be made available annually, with a maximum of € 50,000 per project.

This year's Rendezvous started with a visit to Studio Hamburg and was rounded off with a tour through the harbour of Hamburg.

German Films and Unifrance would like to take this opportunity to thank the Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein most sincerely for the good collaboration. The Film Rendezvous will take place in France again in 2009.