Unifrance's fourth Paris screenings (Rendez-Vous Europeen du Film Francais) to be held January 11-15, will kick off in an upbeat mood as the French-language cinema foreign box-office has more than doubled up in 2001.

According to Unifrance's latest report, French-language films attracted more than 18.9 million admissions abroad last year (compared to 6.7 million in 2001), passing non-French-language films with French co-production (12.2 million tickets sold, a 4% slide compared to 2000), which usually lead the pack on the international market.

The upward trend in French exports applies to all of the seven territories covered by the report, Germany leading with a 273% hike, followed by the US (164%), Spain (132%), Quebec (102%), the UK (59%), Switzerland (47%) and Italy (39%).

Unlike 1999, which was also a good year for French cinema abroad due to the success of Asterix And Obelix Take On Caesar, 2001's improved results came from a variety of French-language titles such as: Amelie, The Closet, Crimson Rivers and Brotherhood Of The Wolf, and even auteurish flicks such as Claude Chabrol's Merci Pour Le Chocolat and Francois Ozon's Sous Sable.

The 220 distributors and television buyers (compared to 160 in 2001) representing 22 European countries (plus Quebec) which will attend the Paris Screenings will have a taste of 2002's French offerings. These will include the highly-anticipated sequel to Asterix And Obelix (Asterix And Obelix Mission Cleopatra) as well as Francois Ozon's hot ticket Eight Women, both of which will have their world premieres at the event.