SAINT-TRPOEZ: With foreign attendance on the rise, business was brisk at TV France International's ninth edition of Le Rendez-Vous, the French TV Screenings held in Saint-Tropez, from 9-11 September.
164 buyers from 45 countries attended the event, up by 10 per cent compared to the previous year. The number of screenings increased by 15 per cent over 2001 and
totalled 3,316 during the three-day event.
For a majority of exhibitors, sales done at Le Rendez-Vous 2003 increased significantly compared to last year and all the participants deemed the market to be satisfactory. Le Rendez-Vous heralded a business recovery after sagging sales of French programs abroad in 2002.
Various documentaries were among the most successful productions presented in Saint-Tropez: The Junction (Point du Jour) was the most widely screened program, while they filmed the War in colour (2001 Audiovisual) and Wings of nature (France Télévisions Distribution), sold to many territories, along with CIA Secret Wars (Capa) and Death squadrons the French school (Idéale Audience).
Likewise, fiction generated strong interest with Danderous liaisons (AB/TF1 International), sold to Australia and Scandinavia in particular, Franck Riva France Televisions Distribution), as well as the first excerpts of Colette (Europe Images International).
Animation is still the leading genre in terms of international sales and Alice, through the looking glass (Dargaud Marina) came on top of the screenings in that genre.