For its 2016 edition, the Marché du Film, the market arm of the Festival de Cannes, is welcoming an extensive raft of new territories to the Riviera.

Front and center are the half-dozen new pavilions in the Village International where the world’s filmmakers meet in Cannes.

New, this year, are pavilions from as far afield as Catalonia and Cairo, while China has two tents in the Village to call home. It is the first time that China has had a presence in the Village.

The first pavilion is an initiative of the China Film Foundation and its division, the Wutianming Film Fund, which is dedicated to supporting and training next gen Chinese talent, through a series of programs and partnerships with film festivals.

Launched in honor of the late filmmaker of the same name, the Fund is also sending five Chinese producers to join the Producers Network program, this year, as well as hosting the pavilion.

The second Chinese pavilion, China Eden is backed by Eden Investment Management (CEI), an investment management company, launched in September 2015, with RMB100m in funding.

Based in Shanghai’s Free Zone, Eden is active in private equity investment, secondary market equity investment, film and entertainment investment and asset management. A series of investment related panels are planned for the pavilion, as well as sessions on creating the future film industry in China.

Other new pavilions include one from Israel’s Ministry of Culture and Sport.  The Israeli pavilion will present Israeli cinema, with a special focus on contemporary cinema, virtual reality and next gen filmmakers.

Egypt and Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have both taken pavilions through their tourism offices, while entities as diverse as the Cairo International Film Festival and the European cinema support fund, Eurimages, have also found a home here for the first time. This year, there are ten films backed by Eurimages at the Festival, including four in competition.

Cairo International Film Festival will take place from November 15-24, 2016 under the direction of critic Youssef Cherif Rizkallah.

Other newcomers to the Village for 2016, include Catalan Film & TV, which is dedicated to the promotion of the audiovisual industries from the Catalan region, and France’s Ministry of the Interior.

“The International Village acts as a home from home in Cannes for thousands of filmmakers and film organizations from all over the world, who travel here from afar, and add a great deal of international flair to the Marché du Film,” says the Marché du Film’s Executive Director, Jerome Paillard.

“The Village gives our participants a one-stop-shop to discover film initiatives, new partners and projects from far and wide, and we are proud to welcome our new tenants.”

Elsewhere, the Marché is welcoming filmmakers from a range of added territories. This includes emerging filmmakers from an expanded eight regions, being presented through the Goes to Cannes Initiative.  New partners include the Los Cabos Film Festival and the IFFP Panama, which will present filmmakers from as far afield as the Caribbean and Central America. Arab World films-in-progress will be shown in partnership with the Dubai International Film Festival and market, as part of this program.

Meanwhile, the popular Spotlight series, which is an established part of the Producers Network, has been expanded.  This year, it will showcase producers from five countries, including South Africa, The Netherlands, Mexico, Canada, and Poland, and, new for 2016, film projects from Brazil and Palestine.

“The Marché has always been a global affair, but this year it feels more international than ever,” says Julie Bergeron, Head of Industry Programming. “We are happy to welcome entire contingents of filmmakers through our new pavilion partners, as well as individual filmmakers, both large and small, through our series of initiatives and platforms, like Cannes Goes and the Spotlights. Bon voyage.”

For more information, contact Marie-Emmanuelle Oliver: meoliver@festival-cannes.fr