France and China, two of the world's biggest film powers and markets, look to be moving closer, however halting and complex the entente may be.
On Wednesday, Beijing's Envision and France's Kaprod inked what is only the second official France-China co-production, Philippe Muyl's "Nightingale," after the countries signed a co-production treaty in April 2010.
Also Wednesday, Cannes saw the second Franco-Chinese Film Meetings, organized by Film France with France's Centre National du Cinema (CNC), export org Unifrance and China's State Adminstration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). The meetings form part of France's six-city Chinese Film Festival.
French companies attending included Arsam, Cargo Films, Neon, French Connection, Futurikon, Clandestine and Elzevir.
Among Chinese firms were media giant Hunan TV, Mongolia Studio and Ray.
Chinese and French producers presented 16 projects.
"Nightingale," which was also written by Muyl ("Butterfly, "Magic"), is a Beijing family tale, set in the context of China's rampant modernization, about the distance now separating generations.
Rolling early September in China, with one week's shoot in France, "Nightingale" will be in Mandarin, feature Chinese actors and is set between Beijing and the southern Gunxi province, Muyl said at Cannes. He added that 90% of the crew is Chinese.
UGC will distribute in France, Stellar in China.
For Muyl, the challenges of a France-China co-production are twofold: "Finding a good story for both French and Chinese audiences" and "the long time it takes to develop relationships," he said.
But such productions look set to grow.
Chinese TV series already shoot frequently in France, Film France's Patrick Lamassoure pointed out.
Franck Priot of Film France said, "There are hundreds of independent production companies in China, and they look towards France as a hub of director-driven filmmaking."
Official co-productions sidestep Chinese distribution quotas.
"World cinema has a large and increasing public," said French producer Jean de Tregomain of Orient Studio Prods., which presented Zhu Xiaoling's "Circus Wu" at the meetings.
Another project, "Salsa Beijing," from Jing Wang, who shot "Perfect Baby" in Paris last year, also sparked interest from French producers.