2009 Film and Audiovisual Centre Report, Part I: Distribution
On Tuesday, March 23, the Film and Audiovisual Centre of the Belgian French Community presented its annual report. Like last year, proceedings were led by Fadila Laanan (Culture and Audiovisual Minister), Frédéric Delcor (Secretary General of the Belgian French Community and Director of the Film and Audiovisual Centre), and Dan Cukier (President of the Film Selection Committee).
Attention was focused on the past in order to make sure that the projects set in motion last year were progressing. As announced in 2009, distribution in all its forms has been a central priority for some months. Promotion and distribution funding has been combined, in order to give producers the opportunity to launch their communication strategy in advance. A study on conventional and alternative screening locations has been carried out.
On the whole, the plan for the next five years is to work on the “re-appropriation” of domestic cinema by Belgian citizens. This observation, based on the often disappointing results garnered by Belgian Francophone films domestically, was the subject of a qualitative opinion poll, published several months ago.
Minister Laanan deduced from it that the Belgian origin of a film was only a decisive choice factor for 1% of the Belgian cinema-going population. She said: “We can bemoan the situation, but not resign ourselves to it”. The emphasis is on promoting Belgian talents, and an announcement is expected soon of a prestigious project in this area.
However, it will be recalled that 2009 saw an upturn in theatrical admissions for Francophone productions and co-productions, thanks to the success of Little Nicholas [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (200,000 viewers) and The Barons [+see also:
film review
trailer
Interview with director and actress of…
interview: Nabil Ben Yadir
film profile] (135,000). In total, Belgian Francophone productions and co-productions attracted over 800,000 viewers, compared to 350,000 in 2009.
Click here for the rest of this report, focusing on the production sector in 2009.
(Translated from French)
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