The ongoing war in the Middle East has prevented companies from the region from attending Filmart, with several citing flight restrictions as the reason.
“I was originally planning to attend but decided to adjust my plans given the current situation in the region and uncertainty around air traffic over the past days,” said Sebastien Chesneau, partner, acquisitions & sales at Cercamon, based in Dubai, UAE. The city is one of several in the Gulf region to have been hit by Iranian drone and missile strikes, in retaliation to the US-Israel military action launched against Iran on February 28.
Chesneau is one of several executives from the area to switch his Filmart participation to online-only. Hadar Porubanova, managing director at Israeli sales firm Ruth Films, did likewise.
“We were invited to attend, and of course being there in person is always the best option,” Porubanova told Screen. “We hope this will be possible again next year.”
“Not being physically there means missing some of the spontaneous meetings and informal exchanges that are always valuable at markets like Filmart and HAF [Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum],” said Chesneau. “That said, we are continuing our discussions online and business is moving forward.”
Other executives who have changed their Filmart plans include Daniel Melamed of Israeli distributor New Cinema, who did not attend due to cancelled flights from the region; and Uri Aviv, director of Israel’s Utopia Festival, who has been stuck in Berlin since EFM “in somewhat of a limbo”.
A limited number of companies based in the region have made it to Hong Kong, including animation production and distribution firm Animotion Media, and distribution firm Narativ Media, both of which are based in Dubai.
Chesneau says the war is currently not affecting Cercamon’s plans for Cannes and the rest of the year; while Porubanova says Ruth Films’ physical presence on the Croisette is “undecided – we will see how the situation develops.”
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