| Cinema of France | |
|---|---|
 A collage of notable French actors[a] | |
| No. ofscreens | 6,354 (2024)[1][2] |
| Main distributors | The Walt Disney Company (16.4%) Warner Bros. (11.5%) Universal (7.5%)[2] |
| Produced feature films (2024)[1] | |
| Total |
|
| Animated | 13 |
| Documentary | 105 |
| Number of admissions (2024)[1] | |
| Total | 181.5 million |
| National films | 79.5 million (44.8%) |
| Gross box office (2024)[b][1] | |
| Total | €1.32 billion |
| National films | €559.40 million (42.3%) |
Thecinema of France comprises thefilm industry and itsfilm productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe, with primary influence also on the creation of national cinemas in Asia.
TheLumière brothers launchedcinematography in 1895 with theirL'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat. By the early 1900s, French cinema led globally, with pioneers likeMéliès creating cinematic techniques and the first sci-fi film,A Trip to the Moon (1902). Studios likePathé andGaumont dominated, withAlice Guy-Blaché directing hundreds of films. Post-WWI, French cinema declined as U.S. films flooded Europe, leading to import quotas. Between the wars, directors likeJean Renoir,Jean Vigo andMarcel Carné shaped FrenchPoetic Realism. Renoir’sLa Règle du Jeu (1939) and Carné’sLes Enfants du Paradis (1945) remain iconic, showcasing innovation despite war challenges.
From the 1940s to the 1970s, French cinema flourished with the advent of theNew Wave, led by critics-turned-directors likeJean-Luc Godard andFrançois Truffaut, producing groundbreaking films such asBreathless (1960) andThe 400 Blows (1959). The movement, which inspired global filmmakers, faded by the late 1960s. Meanwhile, commercial French cinema gained popularity with comedies likeLa Grande Vadrouille (1966). Stars likeBrigitte Bardot,Alain Delon andCatherine Deneuve rose to international fame. Directors likeBertrand Tavernier explored political and artistic themes. By the late 1970s, films likeLa Cage aux Folles (1978) achieved significant global success.
France was able to produce several major box office successes into the 1990s such asCyrano de Bergerac (1990), while certain film likeLa Femme Nikita (1990) andThe Fifth Element (1997) reached an international audience.
In 2013, France was the second largest exporter of films in the world after the United States, and a 2014 study showed that French cinema was the most appreciated by global audiences after that of the US.[3] According to industry trackerThe Numbers, the fortunes of French film exports have since declined: in 2019, France had fallen to the position of 7th largest exporter by total box office revenue with a 2% share of the global market, and in 2023, 15th by the same metric with a 0.44% share.[4][5] Overall, France sits fourth on the tracker's all-time box office chart behind the US, UK, and China.[6]
Les frères Lumière released the first projection with theCinematograph, in Paris on 28 December 1895, with first public showing in theEden Theatre, La Ciotat.[7] The French film industry in the late19th century and early 20th century was the world's most important.Auguste and Louis Lumière invented thecinématographe and theirL'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat in Paris in 1895 is considered by many historians as the official birth of cinematography. French films during this period catered to a growing middle class and were mostly shown in cafés and traveling fairs.[8]
The early days of the industry, from 1896 to 1902, saw the dominance of four firms:Pathé Frères, theGaumont, theGeorges Méliès company, andthe Lumières.[9] Méliès invented many of the techniques of cinematic grammar, and among his fantastic, surreal short subjects is the firstscience fiction filmA Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune) in 1902.
In 1902,the Lumières abandoned everything but the production of film stock, leaving Méliès as the weakest player of the remaining three. (He would retire in 1914.) From 1904 to 1911, thePathé Frères company led the world in film production and distribution.[9]
At Gaumont, pioneerAlice Guy-Blaché (M. Gaumont's former secretary) was made head of production and oversaw about 400 films, from her first,La Fée aux Choux, in 1896, through 1906. She then continued her career in the United States, as didMaurice Tourneur andLéonce Perret afterWorld War I.
In 1907, Gaumont owned and operated the biggest movie studio in the world, and along with the boom in construction of "luxury cinemas" like theGaumont-Palace and the Pathé-Palace (both 1911), cinema became an economic challenger to theater by 1914.[9]
After World War I, the French film industry suffered because of a lack of capital, and film production decreased as it did in most other European countries. This allowed the United States film industry to enter the European cinema market, because American films could be sold more cheaply than European productions, since the studios already had recouped their costs in the home market. When film studios in Europe began to fail, many European countries began to set import barriers. France installed an import quota of 1:7, meaning for every seven foreign films imported to France, one French film was to be produced and shown in French cinemas.[10]
During the period between World War I and World War II,Jacques Feyder andJean Vigo became two of the founders ofpoetic realism in French cinema. They also dominatedFrench impressionist cinema, along withAbel Gance,Germaine Dulac andJean Epstein.
In 1931,Marcel Pagnol filmed the first of his great trilogyMarius,Fanny, andCésar. He followed this with other films includingThe Baker's Wife. Other notable films of the 1930s includedRené Clair'sUnder the Roofs of Paris (1930), Jean Vigo'sL'Atalante (1934), Jacques Feyder'sCarnival in Flanders (1935), andJulien Duvivier'sLa belle equipe (1936). In 1935, renowned playwright and actorSacha Guitry directed his first film and went on to make more than 30 films that were precursors to theNew Wave era. In 1937,Jean Renoir, the son of painterPierre-Auguste Renoir, directedLa Grande Illusion (The Grand Illusion). In 1939, Renoir directedLa Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game). Several critics have cited this film as one of thegreatest of all-time, particularly for its innovative camerawork, cinematography and sound editing.
Marcel Carné'sLes Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) was filmed during World War II and released in 1945. The three-hour film was extremely difficult to make due to theNazi occupation. Set in Paris in 1828, it was voted Best French Film of the Century in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in the late 1990s.
After World War II, the French actressLeslie Caron and the French actorLouis Jourdan enjoyed success in the United States with severalmusical romantic comedies, notablyAn American in Paris (1951) andGigi (1958), based on the 1944 novella of the same name byColette.
In the magazineCahiers du cinéma, founded byAndré Bazin and two other writers in 1951, film critics raised the level of discussion of the cinema, providing a platform for the birth of modernfilm theory. Several of theCahiers critics, includingJean-Luc Godard,François Truffaut,Claude Chabrol,Jacques Rivette andÉric Rohmer, went on to make films themselves, creating what was to become known as theFrench New Wave. Some of the first films of this new movement were Godard'sBreathless (À bout de souffle, 1960), starringJean-Paul Belmondo, Rivette'sParis Belongs to Us (Paris nous appartient, 1958 – distributed in 1961), starringJean-Claude Brialy and Truffaut'sThe 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cent Coups, 1959) starringJean-Pierre Léaud. Later works areContempt (1963) by Godard starringBrigitte Bardot andMichel Piccoli andStolen Kisses starring Léaud andClaude Jade. Because Truffaut followed the hero of his screen debut,Antoine Doinel, for twenty years, the last post-New-Wave-film isLove on the Run in which his heroes Antoine (Léaud) and Christine (Jade) get divorced.
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Many contemporaries of Godard and Truffaut followed suit, or achieved international critical acclaim with styles of their own, such as theminimalist films ofRobert Bresson andJean-Pierre Melville, the Hitchcockian-like thrillers ofHenri-Georges Clouzot, and other New Wave films byAgnès Varda andAlain Resnais. The movement, while an inspiration to other national cinemas and unmistakably a direct influence on the futureNew Hollywood directors, slowly faded by the end of the 1960s.
During this period, French commercial film also made a name for itself. Immensely popular French comedies withLouis de Funès topped the French box office. The war comedyLa Grande Vadrouille (1966), fromGérard Oury withBourvil, de Funès andTerry-Thomas, was the most successful film in French theaters for more than 30 years. Another example wasLa Folie des grandeurs withYves Montand. French cinema also was the birthplace for many subgenres of thecrime film, most notably the moderncaper film, starting with 1955'sRififi by American-born directorJules Dassin and followed by a large number of serious, noirish heist dramas as well as playful caper comedies throughout the sixties, and the "polar," a typical French blend offilm noir anddetective fiction.
In addition, French movie stars began to claim fame abroad as well as at home. Popular actors of the period includedBrigitte Bardot,Alain Delon,Romy Schneider,Catherine Deneuve,Jeanne Moreau,Simone Signoret,Yves Montand,Jean-Paul Belmondo and stillJean Gabin.
Since the Sixties and the early Seventies they are completed and followed byMichel Piccoli andPhilippe Noiret as character actors,Annie Girardot,Jean-Louis Trintignant,Jean-Pierre Léaud,Claude Jade,Isabelle Huppert,Anny Duperey,Gérard Depardieu,Patrick Dewaere,Jean-Pierre Cassel,Miou-Miou,Brigitte Fossey,Stéphane Audran andIsabelle Adjani. During the Eightees they are added by a new generation includingSophie Marceau,Emmanuelle Béart,Jean-Hugues Anglade,Sabine Azema,Juliette Binoche andDaniel Auteuil.
In 1968, the May riots shook France.François Truffaut had already organised demonstrations in February againstHenri Langlois's removal as head of theCinémathèque française and dedicated his filmStolen Kisses, which was being made, to Langlois. The Cannes Film Festival is cancelled – on the initiative of Truffaut, Godard and Louis Malle. Jean-Luc Godard no longer works in the commercial film business for years. Political films such asCosta-Gavras'Z celebrate success. Chabrol continues his vivisection of the bourgeoisie (The Unfaithful Wife) and Truffaut explores the possibility of bourgeois marital happiness (Bed and Board).While Godard disappears from cinema after the Nouvelle Vague except for a few essays, Truffaut and Chabrol remain the leading directors whose artistic aspects remain commercially successful. Other directors of the 1970s in this effect areBertrand Tavernier,Claude Sautet,Eric Rohmer,Claude Lelouch,Georges Lautner,Jean-Paul Rappeneau,Michel DevilleYves Boisset,Maurice Pialat,Bertrand Blier,Coline Serreau andAndré Téchiné in purely entertainment films, it isGérard Oury andÉdouard Molinaro.
The 1979 filmLa Cage aux Folles ran for well over a year at theParis Theatre, anarthouse cinema in New York City, and was a commercial success at theaters throughout the country, in both urban and rural areas. It won theGolden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and for years it remained the most successful foreign film to be released in the United States.[11]
Jean-Jacques Beineix'sDiva (1981) sparked the beginning of the 1980s wave of French cinema. Movies which followed in its wake includedBetty Blue (37°2 le matin, 1986) by Beineix,The Big Blue (Le Grand bleu, 1988) byLuc Besson, andThe Lovers on the Bridge (Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, 1991) byLéos Carax. Made with a slick commercial style and emphasizing the alienation of their main characters, these films are representative of the style known asCinema du look.
Camille Claudel, directed by newcomerBruno Nuytten and starringIsabelle Adjani andGérard Depardieu, was a major commercial success in 1988, earning Adjani, who was also the film's co-producer, aCésar Award for best actress. Thehistorical drama filmJean de Florette (1986) and its sequelManon des Sources (1986) were among the highest grossing French films in history and brought Daniel Auteuil international recognition.
According toRaphaël Bassan, in his article «The Angel: Un météore dans le ciel de l'animation,»La Revue du cinéma, n° 393, avril 1984.(in French),Patrick Bokanowski'sThe Angel, shown in1982 at theCannes Film Festival, can be considered the beginnings of contemporary animation. The masks erase all human personality in the characters.Patrick Bokanowski would thus have total control over the "matter" of the image and its optical composition. This is especially noticeable throughout the film, with images taken through distorted objectives or a plastic work on the sets and costumes, for example in the scene of the designer.Patrick Bokanowski creates his own universe and obeys his own aesthetic logic. It takes us through a series of distorted areas, obscure visions, metamorphoses and synthetic objects. Indeed, in the film, the human may be viewed as a fetish object (for example, the doll hanging by a thread), with reference toKafkaesque andFreudian theories onautomata and the fear of man faced with something as complex as him. The ascent of the stairs would be the liberation of the ideas of death, culture, and sex that makes us reach the emblematic figure of the angel.
Jean-Paul Rappeneau'sCyrano de Bergerac was a major box-office success in 1990, earning severalCésar Awards, including best actor forGérard Depardieu, as well as anAcademy Award nomination for best foreign picture.
Luc Besson madeLa Femme Nikita in 1990, a movie that inspired remakes in both United States and in Hong Kong. In 1994, he also madeLéon (starringJean Reno and a youngNatalie Portman), and in 1997The Fifth Element, which became a cult favorite and launched the career ofMilla Jovovich.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet madeDelicatessen andThe City of Lost Children (La Cité des enfants perdus), both of which featured a distinctly fantastical style.
In 1992,Claude Sautet co-wrote (with Jacques Fieschi) and directedUn Coeur en Hiver, considered by many to be a masterpiece.Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 filmHate (La Haine) received critical praise and madeVincent Cassel a star, and in 1997,Juliette Binoche won theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role inThe English Patient.
The success ofMichel Ocelot'sKirikou and the Sorceress in 1998 rejuvenated the production of original feature-length animated films by such filmmakers asJean-François Laguionie andSylvain Chomet.
In 2000, Philippe Binant realized the firstdigital cinema projection inEurope, with the DLP CINEMA technology developed byTexas Instruments, in Paris.[12][13][14]
In 2001, after a brief stint in Hollywood,Jean-Pierre Jeunet returned to France withAmélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain) starringAudrey Tautou. It became the highest-grossing French-language film ever released in the United States. The following year,Brotherhood of the Wolf became the sixth-highest-grossing French-language film of all time in the United States and went on to gross more than $70 million worldwide.
In 2008,Marion Cotillard won theAcademy Award for Best Actress and theBAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of legendary French singerÉdith Piaf inLa Vie en Rose, the first French-language performance to be so honored. The film won two Oscars and fourBAFTAs and became the third-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States since 1980. Cotillard was the first female and second person to win both an Academy Award andCésar Award for the same performance.
At the 2008Cannes Film Festival,Entre les murs (The Class) won thePalme d'Or, the 6th French victory at the festival. The 2000s also saw an increase in the number of individual competitive awards won by French artists at the Cannes Festival, fordirection (Tony Gatlif,Exils, 2004),screenplay (Agnès Jaoui andJean-Pierre Bacri,Look at Me, 2004),female acting (Isabelle Huppert,The Piano Teacher, 2001;Charlotte Gainsbourg,Antichrist, 2009) and male acting (Jamel Debbouze,Samy Naceri,Roschdy Zem,Sami Bouajila andBernard Blancan,Days of Glory, 2006).
The 2008 rural comedyBienvenue chez les Ch'tis drew an audience of more than 20 million, the first French film to do so. Its $193 million gross in France puts it just behindTitanic as the most successful film of all time in French theaters.
In the 2000s, several French directors made international productions, often in the action genre. These includeGérard Pirès (Riders, 2002),Pitof (Catwoman, 2004),Jean-François Richet (Assault on Precinct 13, 2005),Florent Emilio Siri (Hostage, 2005),Christophe Gans (Silent Hill, 2006),Mathieu Kassovitz (Babylon A.D., 2008),Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, 2002;Transporter 2, 2005;Olivier Megaton directedTransporter 3, 2008),Alexandre Aja (Mirrors, 2008), andPierre Morel (Taken, 2009).
Surveying the entire range of French filmmaking today, Tim Palmer calls contemporary cinema in France a kind of eco-system, in which commercial cinema co-exists with artistic radicalism, first-time directors (who make up about 40% of all France's directors each year) mingle with veterans, and there even occasionally emerges a fascinating pop-art hybridity, in which the features of intellectual and mass cinemas are interrelated (as in filmmakers like Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Olivier Assayas, Maïwenn, Sophie Fillières, Serge Bozon, and others).[15]
One of the most noticed and best reviewed films of 2010 was the dramaOf Gods and Men (Des hommes et des dieux), about theassassination of seven monks in Tibhirine, Algeria. 2011 saw the release ofThe Artist, a silent film shot in black and white byMichel Hazanavicius that reflected on the end of Hollywood'ssilent era.
French cinema continued its upward trend of earning awards at the Cannes Festival, including the prestigiousGrand Prix forOf Gods and Men (2010) and theJury Prize forPoliss (2011); theBest Director Award forMathieu Amalric (On Tour, 2010); theBest Actress Award forJuliette Binoche (Certified Copy, 2010); and theBest Actor Award forJean Dujardin (The Artist, 2011).
In 2011, the filmThe Intouchables became the most watched film in France (including the foreign films). After ten weeks nearly 17.5 million people had seen the film in France,[16] the film was the second most-seen French movie of all time in France, and the third including foreign movies.
In 2012, with 226 million admissions (US$1,900 million) in the world for French films (582 films released in 84 countries), including 82[17] million admissions in France (US$700 million), 2012 was the fourth best year since 1985. With 144 million admissions outside France (US$1,200 million),[18] 2012 was the best year since at least 1994 (sinceUnifrance collects data),[19] and the French cinema reached a market share of 2.95% of worldwide admissions and of 4.86% of worldwide sales.[20][21] Three films particularly contributed to this record year:Taken 2,The Intouchables andThe Artist.[22] In 2012, films shot in French ranked 4th in admissions (145 million) behind films shot in English (more than a billion admissions in the US alone), Hindi (?: no accurate data but estimated at 3 billion for the whole India/Indian languages) and Chinese (275 million in China plus a few million abroad), but above films shot in Korean (115 million admissions in South Korea plus a few millions abroad) and Japanese (102 million admissions in Japan plus a few million abroad,[23][24] a record since 1973 et its 104 million admissions). French-language movies ranked 2nd in export (outside of French-speaking countries) after films in English. 2012 was also the year French animation studioMac Guff was acquired by an American studio,Universal Pictures, through itsIllumination Entertainment subsidiary. Illumination Mac Guff became the animation studio for some of the top English-language animated movies of the 2010s, includingThe Lorax and theDespicable Me franchise.
In 2015 French cinema sold 106 million tickets and grossed €600 million outside of the country. The highest-grossing film wasTaken 3 (€261.7 million) and the largest territory in admissions was China (14.7 million).[25] In that year, France produced more films than any other European country, producing a record-breaking 300 feature-length films.[26] France is one of the few countries where non-American productions have the biggest share; American films only represented 44.9% of total admissions in 2014. This is largely due to the commercial strength of domestic productions.[27]
In 2013, France was the second largest exporter of films in the world after the United States, and a 2014 study showed that French cinema was the most appreciated by global audiences after that of the US.[3]
France has had a very strong film industry, due in part to protections afforded by theFrench Government.[28] The French government has implemented various measures aimed at supporting local film production and movie theaters.Canal+ has a broadcast license requiring it to support the production of movies. Some taxes are levied on movies and TV channels for use as subsidies for movie production.[citation needed][29]
The French national and regional governments also involve themselves in film production. For example, the award-winning documentaryIn the Land of the Deaf (Le Pays des sourds), created byNicolas Philibert in 1992, was co-produced by multinational partners, reducing the financial risks inherent in the project and ensuring enhanced distribution opportunities.[30][31][32][33]
On 2 February 2000 in Paris, Philippe Binant realized the firstdigital cinema projection inEurope, with the DLP Cinema technology developed byTexas Instruments.[12][13][14]
In 2011 Paris had the highest density of cinemas in the world, measured by the number ofmovie theaters per inhabitant,[34] In most downtown Paris movie theaters, foreign orarthouse films movies are shown alongside mainstream movies.
Paris also boasts theCité du cinéma, a major studio north of the city, and Disney Studio, a theme park devoted to the cinema.[35]
| Name | Est. | City | Type | Details | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amiens International Film Festival | 1982 | Amiens | Special interest | Annual festival focusing on the cinemas of Europe, Asia and Latin America. | http://www.filmfestamiens.org |
| Festival du Film Merveilleux | 2010 | Paris | International | Annual film festival celebrating the imaginary, the Wonder and magic from all over the world. | http://www.festival-film-merveilleux.com/ |
| Annecy International Animated Film Festival | 1960 | Annecy | Special interest | http://www.annecy.org | |
| Festival du Film Européen Beauvais-Oise | 1990 | Beauvais | Europe | http://www.beauvaisfilmfest.com | |
| Festival International du Film Ecologique de Bourges | 2005 | Bourges | Environmental | https://web.archive.org/web/20121109231709/http://www.festival-film-bourges.fr/english/ecological-film-festival.php | |
| Cabestany Short Film Festival | 1981 | Cabestany | International | Annual short film festival | http://www.courts-metrages.org |
| Cannes Film Festival | 1939 | Cannes | International | One of the world's oldest, most influential and prestigious festivals, it is held annually (usually in May) at thePalais des Festivals et des Congrès. | http://www.festival-cannes.com |
| CineHorizontes – Festival de cinéma espagnol de Marseille | 2001 | Marseille | Special interest | One of the best Spanish film festivals in France | http://www.cinehorizontes.com |
| Cinéma du réel – International Documentary Film Festival | 1978 | Paris | Special interest | http://www.cinereel.orgArchived 11 March 2010 at theWayback Machine | |
| Créteil International Women's Film Festival | 1978 | Créteil | Special interest | Showcase of films by female directors. | http://www.filmsdefemmes.com/ |
| Deauville American Film Festival | 1975 | Deauville | Special interest | Annual festival devoted toAmerican cinema. | http://www.festival-deauville.com/ |
| Deauville Asian Film Festival | 1999 | Deauville | Special interest | Annual festival devoted toAsian cinema. | http://www.deauvilleasia.com/ |
| ÉCU The European Independent Film festival | 2006 | Paris | Special Interest | Annual festival devoted toindependent cinema . | http://www.ecufilmfestival.com/Archived 2 September 2011 at theWayback Machine |
| Fantastique semaine du cinéma | 2010 | Nice | International | Annual festival devoted tohorror andfantastic cinema (Festival du Film Fantastique) cinema | http://www.cinenasty.com/Archived 12 June 2016 at theWayback Machine |
| Hallucinations Collectives | 2008 | Lyon | Special interest | Annual festival devoted to Horror, fantastic, strange and cult cinema. | http://www.hallucinations-collectives.com |
| Fantastic'Arts | 1994 | Gérardmer | Special interest | Annual festival devoted tohorror and fantastic cinema (Festival du Film Fantastique) cinema | http://www.gerardmer-fantasticart.com/Archived 2010-12-13 at theWayback Machine |
| Festival du Film Polonais Cat.Studios | 2007 | Perpignan | Special interest | Annual festival devoted toPolish cinema. | http://www.catstudios.netArchived 17 December 2014 at theWayback Machine |
| Festival du Film Web | Oloron-Sainte-Marie | Special interest | |||
| Fantasy film festival | 2017 | Menton | Special interest | Annual festival devoted toSci-FI and fantastic cinema (Festival international du Film Fantastique de Menton) cinema | https://www.festival-film-fantastique.com/ |
| Festival International du Film de Montagne | 1984 | Autrans | Mountain film | first week in December | http://www.festival-autrans.com |
| Festival Pocket Film | Paris | Special interest | Mobile phone film festival. | https://web.archive.org/web/20191112050323/http://www.festivalpocketfilms.fr/ | |
| Festival international du film des droits de l'homme de Paris | 2003 | Paris | International | Features and shorts documentaries on human rights issues. Once a year, in February or March. Also present in other cities in France. | http://www.festival-droitsdelhomme.org/paris/Archived 2016-06-08 at theWayback Machine |
| International Festival of Audiovisual Programs | Biarritz | Special interest | https://web.archive.org/web/20060701172343/http://www.fipa.tm.fr/ | ||
| International student short-film festival of Cergy-Pontoise | 1991 | Cergy-Pontoise | International | Student Festival | http://lefestivalducourt.org/ |
| Les Arcs Film Festival | 2009 | Bourg-Saint-Maurice | European | Held in December | https://lesarcs-filmfest.com/fr |
| Marseille Film Festival | 1989 | Marseille | International | Held in July | http://www.fidmarseille.org/ |
| NollywoodWeek Paris | 2013 | Paris | Special Interest | Annual festival in late May showcasing the top new films from Nigerian filmmakers and Nollywood | http://www.nollywoodweek.com/ |
| Festival du Cinéma européen de Lille [fr] | 1984 | Lille | Special interest | European short movies competition | https://eurofilmfest-lille.com/ |
| Paris Film Festival | 2003 | Paris | International | Annual festival held in between June and July. | http://www.pariscinema.org/ |
| Premiers Plans | Angers | Special interest | Showcase of European directorial debut films. | http://www.premiersplans.org/ | |
| Three Continents Festival | 1979 | Nantes | Special interest | Annual festival is devoted to the cinemas ofAsia,Africa andLatin America. | http://www.3continents.com |
| Tréguier International Film Festival | 2009 | Tréguier | International | Annual festival held in July. Open to all filmmakers. | http://www.treguierfilmfest.comArchived 2020-10-23 at theWayback Machine |
| Utopiales – Nantes International Science-Fiction Festival | 1998 | Nantes | Special interest | Annual sci-fi festival. | http://www.utopiales.org/ |
| European Student Film Festival | 2006 | Paris | International | Has competition, November 14 to 18, 2012 | http://www.esff.org/Archived 2016-01-10 at theWayback Machine |
| Toulouse Indian Film Festival | 2013 | Toulouse | India and Indian subcontinent | Has competition, Annual April 22 to 26, 2020 | http://www.ffif.fr/Archived 24 January 2020 at theWayback Machine |
Notable French film distribution and/or production companies include:
In February 2024, French actress and directorJudith Godrèche called for the French film industry to “face the truth” on sexual violence and physical abuse during an appearance she made during the live broadcast of the2024 Cesar Awards ceremony.[36] Shortly before this, Godrèche claimed that she was sexually abused by prominent French directorsBenoit Jacquot andJacques Doillon.[36][37] In May 2024, theFrench parliament launched a Commission to investigate reports of sex abuse in the French film industry.[37] In July 2024, in the wake of the investigation, and later rape charge, against Jacquot for separate sex abuse allegations, it was reported that several men in the French filmmaking industry were facing a flurry of sex abuse allegations.[38] It was also alleged that the industry provided a cover for abuse.[38]
