Cannes: The Marché du Film, held from 17 to 26 May within the framework of the Cannes Festival's 60th-anniversary celebrations, was a great success. A large turnout and an offer of thousands of films kept the market bustling and business booming for all of the participants.

This year, credentials were provided to 10,491 professionals. They came from 92 countries. Emerging film markets were noted in Africa and Asia. This number represents an overall rise of 4 per cent over last year.

Latin American participation also continues to grow (+28%). Chile, in particular, brought a delegation of 33 professionals, as compared to 14 in 2006. Likewise, the Asian market continued to thrive this year, in particular with China and its 114 professionals (as compared to 82 in 2006). The United States and United Kingdom both increased their participation by 7 per cent, i.e. 3 percentage points over the average.

4,082 companies registered with the Film Market, an increase over the figure of 3,797 for 2006. Production, distribution, and international sales are the principal businesses represented. 5,157 titles were offered (against 4,569 in 2006), 2,250 of which are in development or in production. This confirms a trend towards presenting projects still in preparation, well upstream of completion, at the Film Market. These films came chiefly from Europe (45%), the US (30%), Asia (12%), and Latin America (6%).

1,565 screenings of 889 films took place in Market screening rooms: 551 of them were world premieres. The ongoing growth of the Market over the past several years has made it necessary to set aside additional space for it, and it now covers a total area of about 150,000 square feet.