– CANNES 2022: The Rendez-Vous Industry begins with new initiative New Producers Room
A picture from a previous edition of the Short Film Corner (© Cannes Film Festival)
While the hoopla of the Cannes Film Festival is chiefly centred around feature films, there is still plenty of buzz to be found within the world of short films. This buzz reminds us that – even if it is comparatively small compared to its feature counterpart – the industry around short film still exists and remains a vital and important part of the film business.
Central to this has been the Cannes Short Film Corner which – over the past few years with the introduction of Rendez-Vous Industry – has become an increasingly important and respected meeting place for film industry professionals and filmmakers from across the globe. Not only keeping its fingers on the pulse of the current state of the short film world, it also shines a light on those filmmakers making their first tentative steps into the world of feature films. As such, while the event chiefly attracts those whose main focus are shorts, those who are scouting new talents emerging in the feature film world also find it an important event.
The 2022 edition of Rendez-Vous Industry at Short Film Corner will welcome more than 150 film professionals, who will gather both online and on-site to take part in a number of industry-focused activities, including first time event New Producers Room.
Speaking to Cineuropa about the new initiative, Head of Cannes Court Métrage Camille Hébert-Benazet said: “For a few years now we received some feedback from professionals – especially producers -mentioning that there were not so many events dedicated to rising producers who have a real appetite for co-production in the short film field. So we decided to set up a new initiative to go beyond simply highlighting producers and to activate their networks and boost their interactions in the production world. With that in mind, for this debut edition, we chose to focus on young up-and-coming European producers and collaborated with five different institutions: Baltic Shorts, Croatian Film Centre, Fédération des Jeunes Producteurs Indépendants, Scandinavian Films and Swiss Films. Every institution chose one to two producers to put in the spotlight whilst we also scouted two more from Greece and France. The producers must have produced at least two short films, and not more than ten. Once in Cannes, presentations in person with a targeted audience of producers and a dedicated matchmaking session will take place between these ten producers. They can connect, share their upcoming projects – both short and feature – and hopefully can meet potential partners for the future. In the future, we hope that we will expand this initiative outside of Europe and gather more producers with different interests, especially in animation”.
The New Producers Room will prove an enticing add-on for Short Film Corner industry attendees already catered for with three distinct creative programmes. In collaboration with six European Film Schools, Focus SCRIPT presents short films in development from recent graduates or students which are looking for (co-)production, funding and distribution. Focus WiP presents short film works in progress. Focus COPRO shines a light on the first feature film projects of filmmakers selected with a short in Cannes Competition, Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight or that have been scouted during the year.
Three sessions of Breakfast meetings allow international festival programmers, distributors & buyers to meet with filmmakers and there will also be an Industry Lunch with representatives of co-production markets, labs, residencies and sales agents & producers.
Panels this year will be centred on topics such as the value of watching shorts and festival strategy as well as a special masterclass with outgoing Marché du Film head Jérôme Paillard.
For more information on the Short Film Corner and Rendez-Vous Industry click here.
