The word in the trade papers suggests that the Cannes market is just about busy enough. 2011, with a bumper crop of deals, was seen as the year that cinema buyers regained their confidence. This year, activity is not quite so furious.

Alison Thompson, international president of Focus Features, said: “We’ve more or less done the business we expected to do here, but it has definitely been a bit more fraught. Distributors felt very stretched.”