Berlin, Venice, Cannes… These major international festivals are unmissable events for the film industry. They are also witnesses to its transformation, as streaming platforms shake up the codes of a sector that has long remained conservative. 

This May 16, the world of cinema will hold its breath and live to the rhythm of the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival and its parallel sections (La Quinzaine des cinéastes, La Semaine de la critique). Although it is not the only prestigious event of the year for the sector, this international meeting is quite simply considered "the must" within the industry, explains François Yon, CEO and co-founder of the Playtime group. , international distributor and producer. This year again, one of his films, dry herbs, by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, is in competition. “We all want the Palme d'Or,” he jokes… halfway. More than a consecration for the team behind the winning film, the Holy Grail of the 7^e art is also synonymous with a real spotlight on the work, for future spectators as well as for distributors.

Is La Palme synonymous with success in theaters?

« This is a very strong selling point with distributors who would not have been convinced by the script or the “promo reel”, confirms François Yon. An award multiplies the attention given to a feature film. » Typical example: P, by Bong Joon-ho, unanimously awarded by the jury in 2019 at Cannes, released in 179 theaters in France and whose success was immediate and continuous, accumulating 376 admissions in one week and 842 in total. More recently, the movie Without Filter by Ruben Östlund, Palme d'Or 2022, also benefited from this springboard. " It didn't necessarily do well in France, but it outperformed in the rest of Europe, particularly in Germany, Spain and the Scandinavian countries. »

La Palme is certainly no stranger to this situation, but another important fact comes into play in the reception that the public reserves for these films once on the big screen. " Both were ultimately very commercial and mainstream, explains the CEO of Playtime. If we take Titanium by Julia Ducournau, the Palme has certainly attracted the attention of the media but less the spectators because it is a genre film, which is not as unifying. Despite the visibility, the feature film actually only recorded 303 admissions after 610 weeks.

Streaming platforms, new players in an industry in full upheaval

The awards of the major European festivals are therefore not always sufficient catalysts to create phenomena, although their role weighs in the fate that the works will experience when they are released. " And conversely, the films which do not benefit from this exposure, undeniably suffer from it. “, adds François Yon.

The film industry and its major events are also undergoing profound change. Strongly affected by COVID, both in terms of production and box office, the sector must also deal today with the rise of streaming platforms. The latter have radically changed the modes of consumption, but also the audiovisual codes, through the new formats of narration that their original productions offer. If the Cannes Film Festival now refuses to present, in competition or not, films produced by these platforms, the Venice Film Festival is largely open to it. In 2022, it hosted no less than four films in competition after having been awarded the Golden Lion Roma by Alfonso Cuaron in 2018 or the Grand Jury Prize Paolo Sorrentino for God's hand in 2021, two Netflix feature films.

Unfortunate competition or, on the contrary, a boon for a sector destined to evolve? According to François Yon, the cohabitation that is gradually being imposed is certainly an upheaval, but it is healthy, even advantageous for so-called "traditional" cinema: " The success of the platforms and their productions have brought a lot of money to the system, to the benefit of creation. Referring to the “porosity” of these newcomers, he explains that the big budget films of Netflix & Co notably involve technicians, comfortably paid, who can then afford to work on more specialized works. And it is clear that despite their share of highly formatted films, streaming platforms are also capable of presenting films that have nothing to envy to productions intended for dark rooms. Enough to imagine that, in the near future, the number of views generated will join the number of entries as the official measurement tool for the 7^e art ?