Emmanuel Benbihy

Emmanuel Benbihy (born 6 November 1969, Paris) is a feature-length film producer who created and launched the Cities of Love franchise starting with Paris, je t'aime and more recently New York, I Love You. He is currently involved in the development of the next episodes in Shanghai, Rio, and Jerusalem. He lives between Shanghai and Paris.

A graduate of Reims Management School, Emmanuel Benbihy demonstrates an early interest in art and international trade. During his studies, he displays a passion for contemporary painting and philosophy (art, law, nature), studies abroad and, while still in his teens, participates in the creation of a Parisian restaurant dedicated to classical music, the Opus Café. Several internships in the US and England give him a grounding in international marketing. This leads him to two years as main buyer for a Los Angeles import-export company specializing in fine foods. This period also gives him the opportunity to work with an independent film producer on the financial set-up of a feature film.

In France in 1994, Benbihy spent over a year working on the co-development of European and Asian cinemas, while studying Japanese at the Langues'O. He also attended many foreign markets. His research was sent to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Centre National de la Cinématographie, and became his central theme of research at La Sorbonne University (Strategic Analysis in Cinema). This period of reflexion on the industry of film was decisive: cinema needed to serve diversity and peace. He chose his profession: producing world films. Benbihy participated in a panel about the Future of Asian Cinema at the Busan International Film Festival in 1997 during which he claimed that the future of cinema would be in Asia, and more specifically in China. The same year, he joined an independent production company whose first project was an international collection of 12 feature films inspired by parables from the New Testament. For this non-denominational project, he represented the company in international markets and festivals, managing relations with the filmmakers, supervising script development, preparing international production and distribution agreements, and built a strong network of contacts and private investors. He raised a development fund, and took his first steps in the industry, collaborating with directors such as Peter Del Monte, Ermanno Olmi, Djibril Diop Mambety, Mira Nair, Liv Ullmann, Fernando Spiner, Im Kwon-taek ou Mikheil Kobakhidze.

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