Sales companies from the UK and Europe say the trip to Hong Kong’s Filmart is “more important than ever”, as the 2026 edition (March 17-20) gets underway.
“Filmart attendance is essential in maintaining existing relationships and establishing new ones, with many local buyers opting not to travel to markets outside of Asia,” said Oliver Brunskill, international sales manager at the UK’s Altitude. “Now more than ever there is need to make that effort to see buyers, with the sales benefits of attendance bearing fruit over the course of the year.”
Protagonist Pictures will be back at the market for the first time since the pandemic, with director of sales Isabel Ivars hosting a market screening of horror comedy Spider Island as well as representing the company’s library, Film4 collection, and Protagonist Picks label. “Filmart remains a highly valued market for both first- and second-run titles,” said Janina Vilsmaier, SVP of sales and distribution at Protagonist.
Film Export UK has organised the UK Film Pavilion, featuring nine UK sales companies. “It is more important than ever to have a presence at this important Asian market, given how it crucially straddles the East/West screen communities,” said Grace Carley, Film Export UK chief executive. “It gives us a chance to have an impact in territories that are now more difficult to penetrate because of the strength of their home-grown product.”
The British Film Institute is also bringing a delegation of five UK producers to the market. Alexander Gordon, Camille Gatin, Johnny Schumann, Lee Thomas and Sophie Vickers will participate in the Producers Connect programme at Filmart, with access to tailored matchmaking sessions, co-production conference panels, and industry workshops.
“It’s the perfect place to meet new buyers, who don’t always travel to European or North American markets and festivals,” said Marine Dorville, international sales executive at France’s Pyramide. “For some territories, it’s the only time of the year we get to meet in person. Face-to-face meetings are still very important in this part of the world: to build a relationship and get access to the market.”
“In addition to 40 scheduled meetings, every year we have approximately 40 drop-ins, and many of these unscheduled meetings turned into long-term partnerships,” said Juraj Barabas, managing director at Hungary’s Luminescence, who has been attending the market for 15 years. “It has always been very effective in terms of sales and creation of relationships with new players in the region.”
“For us, it remains the most efficient film market in the Asian region,” said Moritz Hemminger, head of acquisitions and sales at Germany’s Beta Cinema, which is handling titles including Morgan Matthews’ 500 Miles with Bill Nighy. Stella Wejchert, festival and acquisitions managers at Germany’s Picture Tree International, described the market as “a valuable opportunity for us to meet both existing clients and new ones who were not at EFM, while also preparing our upcoming titles for Cannes”.
Both Beta and Picture Tree are among 14 European sales companies showcasing titles to Asian buyers under European Film Promotion’s Europe! Hub, with EFP providing more than €34,000 in film sales support for 12 attending companies. Korbinian Hautle, film sales support at EFP, highlights the eight German companies attending this year. “The trip and effort continue to be worthwhile,” said Hautle, noting events organised by promotional bodies German Films and Unifrance, “making the journey even more attractive and commercially relevant.”
Hiu Man Chan, senior lecturer in creative industries at the UK’s De Montfort University, is a Filmart regular, and returns this year wearing two hats: as artistic director of the UK’s Odyssey film festival for Chinese cinema; and as executive producer of a UK remake of Hong Kong rom-com My Indian Boyfriend, for which Chan is seeking sales and distribution partners.
“Unlike other industry markets that can be pricy, Filmart is relatively economical,” said Chan, noting the access it provides to exhibitors from mainland China. “When it comes to large-scale expos like Filmart, Hong Kong is very professional,” said Chan.
“Filmart remains essential,” said Clara Flageollet Schmit, head of international sales at France’s SND Films. “It’s a key moment to meet Asian buyers who don’t always travel to Europe – especially with Chinese New Year coinciding with EFM. Keeping these conversations alive is crucial, both to maintaining openness toward foreign acquisitions and to ensure Asian films continue reaching European audiences.”
“We see Filmart as an important moment to strengthen relationships with Asian partners and to introduce films that already have strong international momentum,” said Nevena Milasinovic, sales and acquisitions executive at France’s Lightdox, citing titles including Igor Bezinovic’s European Film Awards winner Fiume o morte!
Challenges
Several buyers identified challenges of working with Asian territories, including a slow post-pandemic recovery and unstable political environments.
Geremia Biagiotti has attended Filmart since joining Italy’s Intramovies in 2018 as international sales, marketing and acquisitions manager. “The market’s importance has declined since the pandemic, largely due to China’s increasingly protectionist stance and the pressures imposed on Hong Kong,” said Biagiotti.
“Reinforced censorship across Chinese territories has significantly complicated sales. More broadly, the growth of VOD platforms and the expansion of multi-territorial deals have had a strong impact on the revenues we generate from Filmart.”
However, Biagiotti did say it remains a “well-organised and efficient event”, and that markets “with expanding middle classes, such as India, Indonesia and across ASEAN, represent increasingly vibrant opportunities.”
“It’s impossible not to consider the recent global economic effects of the Asian currency devaluations, which has been reflected both in the participation at other major film markets, and in the more cautious approach to business from Asian buyers,” said Bianca Giacalone, sales executive at Italy’s Minerva Pictures, who said that devaluation made “meeting face to face with new and old players…for sustainable and long-lasting co-operation” all the more important.
“Asian territories are more challenging than in previous years, with budgets shrinking, said Martin Glew, marketing, sales and acquisitions executive at the UK’s Screenbound. “There are less risks being taken on foreign imports.”
“Business in Asia has declined,” acknowledged Hemminger. “That said, market conditions can change quickly – particularly in countries such as China, where political or market shifts can suddenly create new opportunities for European films.”
TrustNordisk sales director Nicolai Korsgaard has been attending Filmart for “almost 20 years”. He recognises that “business is so-so, not like five or six years ago”.
“Ever since the pandemic it never came back in full, but we have to be hopeful,” said Korsgaard.
“The huge drop in license fees from Korea and China over the past years has not been compensated by any other territory since,” said Johannes Busse, head of sales at Germany’s Sola Media, who said business is “stable but on a smaller scale than five years ago.”
“Distributors tend to focus more on commercial English-language titles, and less on arthouse films – unless they’re part of the main competition at a key festival,” said marketing and sales manager Mathilde Colle, who has attended Filmart annually since joining France’s The Party Film Sales in 2022. “In the last year, the market has been challenging for everyone, especially in South Korea and Taiwan where we saw the most radical decline.” Colle recommended Filmart “to catch up on the films we presented at Unifrance RDVs and EFM, and to start creating interest for potential Cannes titles.”
“China is not buying much anymore. Korea has also slowed down, as have Taiwan and Japan,” said Georg Gruber, CEO at Germany’s MagnetFilm. “Australia and New Zealand remain somewhat stable. Smaller territories such as Vietnam or Thailand usually only work as part of multi-territory deals with platforms such as iWonder from Singapore.”
“In Southeast Asia, Turkish content is already popular for an existing audience,” said Pelin Koray, senior sales, acquisition and strategy manager at Turkey’s InterMedya. “On the other hand, it is more challenging to enter Japan, Korea, Thailand and China, as the market is dominated by Korean and Chinese content.”
What’s working?
Most sellers said genre is the safest bet for sellers at the start of 2026. “High-concept dramedies and elevated genre films perform best,” said Nico Toffoli, CEO at Italian production and sales firm Ramon Pictures, who also noted “a sweet spot for Italian cinema in Asia – audiences appreciate out aesthetic and emotional sincerity.”
“Horror, and especially niche types like body-horror and slashers, are the most attractive for buyers,” said Paul-Yves Uguen, sales and production executive at France’s WTFilms, who said his firm “are mainly working with genre-oriented companies”, with the main territories remaining India, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Julian Richards, CEO at genre specialists Jinga Films, said: “Appetite for horror films in Asia has moved away from Japan and Korea and now lies in Southeast Asia, more specifically Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam,” with Federico Zampaglione’s The Well having played in “hundreds” of cinemas in the latter territory.
As such, Richards has refocused his efforts for Japan and Korea towards their appetite for action. He also acknowledged the complications in China and Hong Kong because of quotas and censorship, “whilst Taiwan buyers are more focused on bigger theatrical titles”.
“Distributors today tend to acquire fewer titles but focus more carefully on projects with clear value,” said Eric Bernstein, head of library sales at Goldcrest Films, which is finding new sales through remastering its library of around 100 films in 4K.
“The level of business is more cautious than before the pandemic, but Asia remains a very important region for international sales,” said Pamela Leu, head of sales at France’s Be For Films, for whom “genre and horror titles, thrillers, animation and strong festival-driven films tend to perform best.”
On the series front, “there is a strong appetite for lighter crime and costume dramas from Europe,” according to Qi Wang, vice president of international sales and acquisitions at Beta Film, which sold well in Asia on series including Babylon Berlin, Hudson & Rex and coming-of-age drama Sisi.
“Asian buyers are being highly selective,” said Brunskill. “What’s working is local content serving an audience thirst for local stories, with films, including animation titles, being consistently produced as a consequence of improved local production infrastructures across the region.”
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