On Feb. 4, producers and broadcasters from France will descend on Toronto for a two-day conference with their Canadian confrères. Organized by the French consulate and the Sunny Side of the Doc festival of Marseille, the invitation-only rendezvous aims to improve documentary efforts between the two countries and will feature 170-plus professionals from Canal+, France2, CBC, CTV, Telefilm Canada and others.

Sunny Side staged a similar event in New York City last year, and looked to Toronto after some fruitful discussions at the Hot Docs festival last May.

Docmakers will pitch their projects and will learn how to target their projects for French markets, based on the selection criteria used by French broadcasters and financing organizations. The delegation from France will give a talk about the possibilities offered by France/Canada coproductions.

Annaelle Bourguegnon, an organizer at the French consulate, says Montreal was discussed as a location, but ‘they decided on Toronto, because the industry is growing fast and there are a lot of projects going on.’ The Ontario Media Development Corporation, SODEC, the National Film Board and Télé-Québec are supporting the event.