The independent industry’s global connections are clearly the way forward right now.
On the Western front, Americans are learning that independent films can find their first major international platform abroad before connecting with audiences and acclaim far beyond the US.
Anora headed to Cannes in May 2024 and won the Palme d’Or, then went on to win Best Picture at the 2025 Oscars. In between, it traveled to Telluride, Toronto, San Sebastián, New York, Busan, BFI and Rome Film Fest. After that, the list of US independent filmmakers, productions and distribution companies, choosing European festivals to introduce new work to an international audience got longer. The pattern continued in 2026. James Gray’s Paper Tiger, a US-Brazil-Italy co-production (AK Productions, RT Features, Leone Film Group) that premiered in the Cannes Competition and is now heading to NY and São Paulo, and Ira Sachs’ The Man I Love entered the Cannes Competition. Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma opened Un Certain Regard, where Jordan Firstman’s debut feature Club Kid also screened. At Directors’ Fortnight, Reed Van Dyk’s American independent drama Atonement (shot between Dallas, TX and Jordan), had its world premiere. Later in the year, Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime and Casey Affleck’s Canada–US production Company premiered in Venice Competition. Together, these films show how European festivals remain a launchpad for American independent work seeking an international audience. The connections extend into production itself: Wild Horse Nine brought together the UK, US and Chile, while Ink joined partners from the UK, France and US; both launched at Venice in 2026. Meanwhile, US festivals such as Tribeca and Sundance are bringing carefully selected international films to American audiences.
The cultural distance between the Old World and the New World is narrowing as generations raised in a globally connected world come of age. A24’s Backrooms works as a perfect example: a story born from internet horror culture became a theatrical film with an audience already familiar with its unsettling world across borders. For these viewers, the cultural reference came first; the country where the film was made matters less.
Shared references may help a film cross borders, but reaching audiences still takes a network of people who can finance it, sell it and secure its release in each territory. That is where the festival circuit leads into markets like AFM or Marché du Film, and companies come together to work out what travels next—and how.
AFM’s current participant tracking highlights 225 exhibiting companies already confirmed as of the end of September and more joining daily. The expected exhibitors’ presence in Los Angeles from November 10 to 15 is particularly interesting for an analysis of who is betting on the independent industry right now. Europe will once again have a significant presence alongside major US sales, production and finance companies. Participating companies include STUDIOCANAL, Gaumont, Charades, Pathé Films, mk2 Films, All Rights Entertainment and Playtime from France, with Unifrance promoting the whole industry; Beta Cinema, K5 International and Picture Tree International from Germany; Altitude, HanWay Films, Embankment Films, Protagonist Pictures and WestEnd Films from the UK; Film Factory Entertainment, Filmax and Latido Films from Spain; TrustNordisk from Denmark; and Anton from Luxembourg. Italian participants are led by Cinecittà and followed by companies like Minerva Pictures, FilmExport Group, IUVIT Media Sales, EDI Effetti Digitali Italiani, and Movimenti Production.
The buying community is similarly global with 55 countries represented at the market and buyers already registered from across Europe, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East and beyond. European participation is particularly strong from Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Italy, alongside buyers from the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and many other territories.
Seen from this perspective, the tighter collaboration between the AFM and Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes is a logical combination. The Innovation Hub, featuring emerging technologies, platforms, demonstrations and discussions, is brought to LA in collaboration with Cannes Next. Making its North American debut at AFM will be Cinemas Club, co-created by the Marché du Film and France’s Cine Group, bringing exhibitors, distributors, producers and other leaders together to explore the future of theatrical cinema and the moviegoing experience.
Film commissions and location offices are also represented among AFM’s exhibitors. The US contingent includes Film Arizona, Film Santa Monica, Louisville Film Office, Orange County New York Film, West Kentucky Film Commission and West Virginia Film Office. They are joined by Film Commission Genova Liguria from Italy; Japan Film Commission and Tokyo Film Commission; Costa Rica Film Commission; Egypt Film Commission; and Thailand Film Office. Through LocationEXPO®, these destinations become part of the conversation about where a project can be made and how producers can navigate local crews, services, incentives and regional funding.
As locations increasingly shape production decisions from the outset, film commissions should seek a more structured presence at markets like AFM, with opportunities to meet producers early and explain how their locations, incentives and services fit into a project’s financing plan. This is particularly valuable for European film commissions seeking to attract American productions.
Without a structured national public film funding and incentive system in the US, many independent producers struggle to close their budgets at home.
European locations and their associated incentives can therefore become part of the financing strategy from the outset. The bridge between the Old World and the New is no longer built at festivals alone, but at the tables where the next films are made.
More at www.americanfilmmarket.com
Read more: Cinema & Video International Issue #209
