Overview:#
The Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has tapped communication agency A.D.R for another edition to support its partnership with Marché du Film (Film Market), the business counterpart of the Cannes Film Festival. The Cannes, Paris, and Singapore-based agency, which specializes in experiences related to the luxury, beauty, and film industries, will guide the speak-outs of the organizers of SIFF and co-host Marché du Film’s opening night.
At the same time, Marché du Film will resume its role as the main partner of the SIFF Young program, an initiative started in 2021 to identify and cultivate five emerging Chinese directors. This multi-year collaboration is “not only to celebrate SIFF Young’s new wave of formidable filmmakers but to also help embolden their cinematic voices and connect them with the European film market,” reads a statement.
What it is:#
Taking place on May 17-25, Marché du Film is the largest international get-together for over 12,500 professionals in the film industry. With more than 70 percent of the world’s film transactions conducted at this market, producers, distributors, sales agents, financiers, and other participants can find business partners through over 200 events.
Meanwhile, SIFF is the only competitive international film festival in China approved by the International Association of the Federation of Film Producers (FIAPF). Last year’s competition saw a record-high 4,443 submissions from 113 countries, with 99 films premiering in China, signaling the festival’s — and the country’s — growing influence in entertainment.
Why it matters:#
According to Antoine Dray, the director of A.D.R, the cooperation between these two major film festivals could not be more complementary: “That the largest film market should bridge the gap with one of the leaders in Asian entertainment is like combining the two sides of a single coin.”
The advantages go both ways. For SIFF, partnering with Marché du Film allows it to leverage the credibility of the Cannes event to bolster its own popularity and elevate Shanghai as a film capital. Additionally, Marché du Film’s support of the SIFF Young program helps to provide the necessary resources to guide young Chinese directors (under the age of 45 with no more than three full-length features under their belt) through the entire film creation process, from script approval and location scouting to post-production.
For Marché du Film, the collaboration with SIFF fosters a deeper understanding of China’s film market, which surpassed the US during the pandemic to become the world’s biggest box office. With China also being the biggest export market for European films, understanding consumer preferences and the inner workings of its entertainment industry has become crucial.
The bigger picture:#
Backed by A.D.R, which also hosts a China Day conference at Marché du Film, SIFF amplifies Chinese talent, values, and aesthetics abroad, ultimately increasing China’s cultural soft power. And this “C-wave” has broader implications for the luxury industry: for example, in the way that South Korea’s entertainment boom (or “Hallyu Wave”) boosted sales of K-beauty internationally, the spread of Chinese films abroad could similarly stimulate growth in other sectors like C-beauty and fashion.
“China has always been present at the Cannes Film Festival, but now it is asserting itself on the creative territory, where previously it was less expected,” Dray told Jing Daily. “The quality of Chinese directors is in deep evolution; we see it in particular in the luxury sector where the quality of the contents realized is always more surprising. This is a talent pool to watch closely.”
Therefore, as Cannes prepares to roll out the red carpet in May, film aficionados shouldn’t be the only ones watching — brands should be taking notes, too.