About us
Marché du Film: a great script!
Each year Cannes is transformed into an international business centre. A place to meet industry professionals, make deals, share views and see your projects forge ahead. The Marché du Film is the film industry’s biggest annual fet-together and a forum for over 12,500 professionals, including 1687 buyers for a total of 5518 companies.
Marché du Film © Alexandra Fleurantin
A tent on a roof
The very first Marché du Film took place in 1959, in a tiny canvas screening room perched on the roof of the old Palais Croisette. Held during the 13th edition of the Cannes Film Festival – it was the very first international cultural event to launch in the post war period and was soon the must-attend event for film industry professionals. In that canvas screening room, a few dozen Festival attendees, realizing the growing influence of the Festival, decided to get organized so as to help Festival-goers meet and do business in the buzzing atmosphere of the Festival. The Marché du Film was born.
Ahead of its time
At its launch, the Marché du Film was an entirely new step for the film industry, it created an inspirational environment that encouraged professionals to up their game. The conditions for working, screening films and meeting other professionals were in the same mould as the Festival itself: flexible and easy-going. People swapped business cards and projects took flight. Forming two sides of a single coin, the Marché du Film and the Cannes Film Festival became over the years the key global event for every film genre out there.
The Marché du Film today
Today, over 12,000 film industry professionals head to Cannes each year to present and discover almost 4,000 films and projects in development at 33 screening venues.
Fuelled by this success, the Marché has expanded since the turn of the century with the opening of the Riviera and Lérins exhibition halls, forming a hub around the world-famous Palais des Festivals and the Village International, the number one venue for promoting films from all over the world.
2019, breaking every record in the book
With 12,527 participants, the 2019 Marché du Film was the biggest ever. Topping the list were attendees from the USA (2,264 participants), France (1,943 participants) and United Kingdom (1,145 participants). The Marché du Film welcomed 121 countries (compared to 114 countries in 2018), most of the new countries coming from Africa (Cameroon, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania).
2019 key figures :
● 857 films
● 1464 screenings
● 693 premieres
The Marché du Film :
● 2,768 films on sale including 332 documentaries
Cannes XR :
● 52 films VR shown
● 4,741 viewings
Match&Meet app :
● 1623 participants registered
● 500 meetings
What's next ?
As a leading global film industry organization, the Marché du Film takes a rigorous approach in adapting to the expectations of industry professionals worldwide and to emerging economic, technological and creative film trends.
Its overall aim remains unchanged since its early days: to help guarantee the flourishing growth of film.
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