France-Australia co-prod MoU, under-utilised

The cultural attaché at the French Consulate in Sydney, Jean –Jacques Garnier, believes the Memorandum of Understanding for co-production between France and Australia is currently not being used at 100 percent capacity.

The Consulate has also arranged meetings between visiting director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Australia’s George Miller and Adam Elliott, during the opening week of the French Film Festival.

“In my opinion, the MoU has not been fully utilised. Unfortunately, the distance can be an obstacle for the possibility of doing films together,” Garnier told Encore.

The MoU with France was signed in 1986 and, according to data from Screen Australia, in the last 23 years it has produced eight features, four mini-series, one telemovie, four series and eight documentaries, totalling a budget of $175.77m. A ninth feature, The Tree, is currently in post-production.