The British Film Commission at Festival de Cannes 2023
The 76th edition of Festival the Cannes has drawn to a close, and representatives from the British Film Commission team were thrilled to attend and connect with our European and international partners. Once again, we had the pleasure of representing the UK’s thriving screen industries at the UK Pavilion, along with our national and regional We Are UK Film partners.
Festival de Cannes marks a key moment in the British Film Commission’s annual markets and events calendar, providing an opportunity to meet, establish and reinforce all-important relationships with our European screen industry colleagues while at the same time promoting the UK nations’ and regions’ production offer internationally.
This year, our European Partners dinner brought together representatives from several European film commissions for an evening of fruitful exchange and discussions. Moreover, we were delighted to co-host “Cappuccino with the Italians”, a networking event aimed at facilitating connections between Italian film producers, regional film commissions, and their counterparts from the UK. We were delighted to hold useful meetings with counterparts at Film France – CNC, Spain Film Commission, Norwegian Film Commission, Italian Film Commissions, and the Netherlands Film Commission, amongst others.
Another highlight of our presence was the thought-provoking round table discussion on environmental and social sustainability across the screen industries we hosted in partnership with Screen International. Joining us for this engaging and in-depth dialogue were representatives from a number of European film commissions, as well as those representing the production community, with the aim of sharing companies’, countries’ and commissions’ experiences and learnings in responding to these shared global challenges. The roundtable offered valuable insights into the policy measures and practical steps implemented within their respective countries. The roundtable panel included Meghan Beaton, CEO of the Norwegian Film Commission; Arie Bohrer, Film In Austria film commissioner; Joanna Gallardo, institutional relations manager at the Film Paris Region; Dietlind Rott, CEO of the Lower Austria Film Commission and Evergreen Prisma; sustainability consultant Louise Smith of Neptune Sustainability; Lyndsay Duthie, CEO of the Production Guild of Great Britain (PGGB); and Adrian Wootton, CEO of the British Film Commission (BFC), with the session chaired by Screen International Europe Editor, Tim Dams.
We look forward to building on the connections made at Festival de Cannes 2023 and to continuing our creative collaboration and exchange with our European colleagues.