The Unifrance Rendez-Vous is about to get underway, with the French distributors presenting their wares to international buyers.

The focus is squarely on French programming and buyers are getting a look at the best Gallic fare ahead of the trip to MIPCOM a month later.

Despite being a sizable market, the Rendez-Vous is a fairly intimate affair, as acquisition and sales execs mingle on the main floor, but also at receptions, screenings and drinks.

Here’s a run-down of the big screenings and big-ticket shows coming to the Rendez-Vous.

The first of a trio of official screenings at the Rendez-Vous is Beasts of the Colosseum, with Balanga across international sales. The one-off doc uses AI to tell the story of how Rome hosted wild spectacles for its citizens, featuring a range of exotic and dangerous wild animals.

Next up in the screenings roster is Swapped, a six-part period drama from France TV Distribution. Set in Paris in 1899, it tells the story of Rose, who goes into service for a wealthy family and has to take extreme measures to keep her child.

Completing the official screenings is another period piece, The Red and the Black, which is being distributed by Wild Bunch. An adaptation of the Stendhal novel, it follows Julien Sorel, a brilliant young man, torn between his fierce ambition and true love.

The Unifrance Rendez-Vous is a market for all types of show and as such spans everything from docs to animation to drama.

With France established as a producer and distributor of cozy crime – a genre much in vogue with buyers, who appreciate its wide appeal and flexibility in schedules – there are several new shows to look out for.

About Premium Content has Country Spy, a light crime series about Marie-Line Maupain, a spy for the French secret service who is abruptly frozen out by her superiors and sent back to her home town.

In terms of straight drama, Gaumont is in town with its Series Mania winner The Deal, which goes inside high-level nuclear weapons talks. In somewhat similar waters, SND will be selling R91, its drama series about a murder on a nuclear aircraft carrier.

Studio TF1 shows up at Le Havre with Season 2 of its crime drama Carpe Diem.

There is always a strong line up of documentaries at the Rendez-Vous, with sellers turning up at the waterfront location with new factual shows.

Andana Films heads to Le Havre with Gaza, a People’s History, which explores the history of Gaza with historians, experts, residents and witnesses of various conflicts that have beset the territory.

Arte Distribution has Origins, A Tale of Light, a science doc that uses images created by artist Roman Hill, about the origins of the Universe.

Blending animation and factual, Java Films is shopping A Night in the Channel, an animated film that reconstructs the harrowing moments when a dinghy carrying would-be immigrants sinks in the Channel.

France has a rich history of animation and kids programming. At the Unifrance Rendez-Vous, Mediawan Kids & Family will have Witch Detectives, about three best friends who are also trainee witches.

Millimages will be in town with Calypso. Its heroine, Calypso, wakes up each day to find her dreams – or nightmares – become part of her real life.

Oggy and the Cockroaches outfit Xilam, meanwhile, has Submarine Jim, about a naive young dolphin who takes charge of a submarine that has charted a course for Las Vegas.

The Unifrance Rendez-Vous runs from September 7 to 10 in Le Havre. Check out our preview, here.

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