Dubai Rendez-vous reveals promising sales results

A great number of professionnals from the region gathered to the event, 85 of them attended the Dubai Rendez-Vous, representing channels, distributors, producers, inflight companies (airplane entertainment providers) etc. coming from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, India, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and Syria.

The two days of meetings confirmed the regional broadcasters' interest in different genres of French programming. Current affairs documentaries are still in big demand, notably by channels such as Al Jazeera or MBC/Al Arabiya, as the strong interest proved for Hillary & Bill - America Belongs to Us (distributed by 2001 Audiovisuel), Pakistan Zindabad and Cuba, an African Odyssey (Arte), To Die in Jerusalem (Marathon), Exposed Portraits of Key World Leaders (FTD) and also The World According to Gazprom recently acquired by Al Jazeera from Capa.

Climate changes also deeply preoccupy broadcasters in this zone; A World Without Ice (Terranoa) and Changing Climates (France Télévisions Distribution) were particularly noticed.

A new occurrence: docudramas also provoked acquisition executives' interest. MBC showed great interest in The Ben BarkaAffair (Carrere Group). The French distributor also noted enthusiasm for The Predators - The Elf Affair, and Opération Turquoise.

Also to be mentioned are exploration and discovery documentaries (around 40 hours sold by Zed to Future TV, Zoom or Big Trip from Ampersand), wildlife (Funny Animals and The Nature of Mothers for which Saint-Thomas is in negotiation with Huda TV) and magazines (About Home, Carrere Group or Motherly Yours, 2001 Audiovisuel, of which Future TV should be acquiring the fourth season).

The Syrian public channel, ORTAS, traditional French fiction client, should soon announce new acquisitions, whereas short, funny programs are making a breakthrough in the region (Pop Corn TV by Novavision, Camera Cafe, Calt) or The Line (10 Francs), an animated short.

Animation is still prized, as proves the recent sale of Monster Buster Club (Marathon) to MBC3, that of Missy Mila, Twisted Tales (France Télévisions Distribution) to Al Jazeera or the current broadcast of Adibou (Télé Images) on the e-junior channel.

20 French companies participated in the Dubai Rendez-Vous: 10 Francs - 2001 Audiovisuel - Ampersand - Arte France - Calt International - Carrere Group - CNDP/Sceren - Doc en Stock/Film en Stock - Europe Images International/M5 - France Télévisions Distribution - Futurikon - Marathon International - Night and Day Production Audiovisuelle - Novavision Promotion Internationale - Saint Thomas Productions - Sciences TV - System TV - Terranoa - Upside TV - ZED.