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Home , Anatole Litvak, Cinema of France, Clotilde Hesme, Ma vie en rose, Otar Iosseliani, Prix Suzanne Bianchetti

2012

Jamia Millia Islamia

BY: MD. IBRAHIM BADAR

[A PROJECT ON FRECH ]

Submitted to Mrs. Abida Ahmad Introduction

The Cinema of comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.

France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle Vague, began in the country. It is noted for having a particularly strong film industry, due in part to protections afforded by the French government.

Apart from its strong indigenous film tradition, France has also been a gathering spot for artists from across and the world. For this reason, French cinema is sometimes intertwined with the cinema of foreign nations. Directors from nations such as (, Krzysztof Kieslowski, and Andrzej Żuławski), (Gaspar Noe and Edgardo Cozarinsky), (Alexandre Alexeieff, ) and (Gela Babluani, Otar Iosseliani) are prominent in the ranks of French cinema. Conversely, French directors have had prolific and influential careers in other countries, such as , , or in the . Another element supporting this fact is that has the highest density of cinemas in the world, measured by the number of movie theaters per inhabitant, and that in most "downtown Paris" movie theaters, foreign movies which would be secluded to "art houses" cinemas in other places are shown alongside "mainstream" works.

With 206.5 million tickets sold in 2010 and 215.6 million in 2011, France is the third biggest film market in the world both in terms of admissions (after the United States and India) and revenues (after the United States and Japan). It is the most successful film industry in Europe, with a record breaking 261 films produced in 2010. France is also one of the few countries where non-American productions have the biggest share: American films only represented 47.7% of total admissions in 2010. This is largely due to the commercial strength of domestic productions, which accounted for 40% of admissions in 2011 (35.7% in 2010; 45.4% in 2008). Also, the French film industry is closer to being entirely self-sufficient than any other country in Europe, recovering around 80–90% of costs from revenues generated in the domestic market alone.

History

France is considered the most important country in the development of the world film industry and the development of the movie poster. We will not delve into the early developments of Daguerre, Demeny, Edison, Marey, Muybridge, Niecpe, Reynaud, and many others. Instead they start history with the developments of the Lumiere Brothers and leave earlier developments for new section under development called Global Cinema.

On February 13, 1895, Louis and Auguste Lumiere patented their first projection machine. On March 28th, the first film Lunch Hour at the Lumiere Factory was shown before the Societe d'Encouragement de L'Industrie Nationale. Nine months later, the cinema in France and the world came into existence.

The first public or paying performance was given on December 28, 1895 at the Grand Cafe, Boulevard des Capucines, in a basement called the Salon Indien. The proprietor of the Grand Cafe, somewhat skeptical, had preferred to charge a rental of 30 francs a day in lieu of the customary 20% of the takings. Admission was one franc. For this sum, audiences saw 10 films, each 50 foot in length and each lasting less than one minute (250 feet of film lasts 4 minutes). The first day's takings were 35 francs. The organizers were rather discouraged. 3 weeks later, without a single line of advertising, the profits had risen to 2000 francs a day.

The films were simple and consisted of scenic views, scenes of people, moving vehicles and the like. As more entrepenieurs made otther presentations, all the big producers of the time began by filming pretty much the same subjects. So while Lumiere released Lunch Hour at the Lumiere Factory, Gaumont released Lunch Hour at the Panhard and Levassor Factories. Gaumont filmed the Fountains of Versailles so Melies filmed the Boulevard des Italiens. There were 10 different versions of Teasing the Gardener, 20 different of a Policeman's Patrol, etc, etc.

Instead of trying to license their equipment (as did Edison in the US), the Lumieres immediately started training cameramen and by the end of 1896, they had given presentations and taken footage in Argentina, Austria, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Yugoslavia. With this expansion, the way that the camera was used also began to expand. Besides factuals and newsreels, camera equipment moved into the science arena and the military for documentation and training films. Thanks to the Lumiere Brothers, the news and presentation of the cinema had been presented all around the world. However the public began to lose interest and within a couple of years the facination with scenes, newreels declined and the future of cinema looked dim. The Lumieres were soon to cease their presentations and others take up the gauntlet. In the US, films were moving from summer parks and vaudeville into theaters. The expansion was so rapid and so competitive that US film producers couldn't meet the demand (especially while also fighting Edison's lawsuits) and French production filled in the need. The quality and variety from the French producers, especially Gaumont, Melies and Pathe, were so much better that they became the dominant requested films. US producers started copying the French films and putting them out as their own. Melies' Trip to the Moon was considered the most pirated film ever, and pirating became so bad that in 1903, [put Melies ad] Melies sent his brother Gaston to open an office in New York to try to curtail the circulation of 'bad and fraudulent copies' of Star Films. Pathe, working through Kleine Optical who was their agent in the US, started putting their logo of the red rooster on the frames of film to show that they were Pathe films. They also started a massive advertising campaign. In an interview with Edwin Porter many years later, he stated that when he was first hired by Edison, his first job was copying French films where he learned some of the techniques that he used in his films.

By 1906, the French production companies dominated world film production, AND Pathe dominated Europe's market in motion picture cameras and projectors. It has been estimated that at that time, 60 percent of all films were shot with Pathe equipment.

For the next few years, the French film industry was flying high and when Pathe invented their newsreel in 1908 that was shown in theaters prior to the feature film, it looked like nothing could stop them. But, over the next few years, French market dominance decreased and with the threat of war, French companies started making made numerous changes and shifts in company offices to anchor themselves.

The French studios had been losing ground rapidly in the US market, but when the war was announced in August 1914, the French film industry came to an abrupt halt. Although Pathe, Gaumont, Eclair and Film d'Art all resumed production in early 1915, wartime restrictions on capital and material forced them to operate at bare minimums and to focus mainly on patriotic films and comedies to help the morale. This reduction in production gave way to new distributors with high quality American films such as the Keystone comedies brought in by Jacques Haik at Western Imports, who had become a distributor just before the war. Monat-Film brought in westerns and mysteries. To compete, Pathe brought in Pearl White serials and other films that its American branch of Pathe had produced. The smaller production companies gave way to the import distributors. Melies' Star Studio was taken by the French government and he never recovered. Gaumont moved their headquarters to London and Pathe moved their headquarters to the US.

After the war, the film industry in France was in shambles. During this time, the US film industry had made major advancements in equipment, organization and quality of film, while all of Europe struggles to rebuild old studios with old equipment, so the market became flooded with American films and with all the problems of reconstruction, audiences demanded quality films that a tattered French industry couldn't produce. The French public demanded .

The early 20s brought a new era of art films and formations of small independent production companies headed by cinema leaders such as Gance, Delluc, , and Rene Clair. Even though production increased to 130 feature films by 1922, they still only occupied a minority share of the French screens. By the end of the 20s, there were over 4200 theatres in France and an Aubert Palace in every major French city and demand continued to grow.

The arrival of American sound films at first created panic among the European countries that immediately began a resistance to the influx of US films. The language barrier put shackles on the distribution area and collapsed the European Film Union. The French public wouldn't accept films in other languages. The French film industry took the approach to procrastinate and maybe it would go away. The French government strengthened censorship and tariff laws and stopped 'talkies' from being shown in France for 2 years. At first this seems to promote a greater amount of French films being shown in France.

US studios were struggling from the depression in the US and the sudden decline in exported films due to language barriers. After 2 years of resistance, the pressure became too great to stop the foreign films from coming into France. French distributors scrambled to create adequate methods of subtitling, because so few theatres had sound equipment.

French directors struggled to make the adjustments to sound productions. By 1935, the French film industry practically disappeared. Controlled by Americans or crippled by the depression, Elair and Gaumont had become insignificant and Pathe-Natan was so riddled with financial scandals that they were ineffective. The few French films that had any relevancy came from the independents which basically carried the French film industry at that time. Since British and American films were banned, French films dominated the operating screens in France. The films during this period have been called 'Vichy' films because a lot of them focus on sacrificial motherhood and patriotism.

Upon the , the French cinema immediately responded with a Committee for the Liberation of French Cinema.

In 1946, the Centre National de la Cinematographie (CNC) was founded to extend the work of the COIC. This laid the foundation for a modern film industry establishing some state control, box-office levy, and help to non-commercial cinema.

Despite all of the new directions, soon problems reappeared. The Blum-Byrnes Trade Agreement of 1946 established a generous import quota to American films as part of a settlement to help with the French war debt to the US. However, by the early 50s, French film production had regained an average of 100-120 feature films a year which stablized the industry. French films continued to gain more dominance in the French market, reaching its peak in 1957 as television was introduced.

The late 50s saw a new era of de Gaulle's modern France and a greater stablization to the film industry. As audience numbers declined, French studios held their ground during the growth of television in the 60s due to this stabilization. A new pattern of international co-production became common that increased the marketability while dividing the expenses.

The 70s expanded co-productions into the standard with expanded marketing to export films to the European market as well as the middle east and Asian markets.

Currently France has a population of 59.3 million and has approximately 4900 theater screens. Government Support

As the advent of television threatened the success of cinema, countries were faced with the problem of reviving movie-going. The French cinema market, and more generally the French-speaking market, is smaller than the English-speaking market; one reason being that some major markets, including prominently the United States, are reluctant to generally accept foreign films, especially foreign-language and subtitled productions. As a consequence, French movies have to be amortized on a relatively small market and thus generally have budgets far lower than their American counterparts, ruling out expensive settings and special effects.

The French government has implemented various measures aimed at supporting local film production and movie theatres. The Canal+ TV channel 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. Some tax breaks are given for investment in movie productions, as is common elsewhere including in the United States. The sale of DVDs and videocassettes of movies shown in theatres is prohibited for six months after the showing in theatres, so as to ensure some revenue for movie theatres.

Co-producing with a French partner potentially opens up the wide array of state support systems available in France to British producers. These support measures are a mixture of direct subsidies and levies.

There are two main subsidies available in France:

L'avance sur recettes: this is effectively an advance paid to the producer against box office receipts in the domestic market, up to a maximum of around £250,000 per film. This is restricted to French speaking films.

L'aide directe: which is a small subsidy paid to non-French speaking directors from small markets (excluding any English speaking markets) to help encourage a broader range of films to be shown in French cinemas. This support has tended to go to highly respected directors who would not be able to put their films together without unconditional state support which is generally not available in their own country.

Levies are charged on cinema ticket sales, video/home entertainment sales, and television licence deals in order to create a pool of funding, managed by the Government through the Centre Nationale de la Cinematographie (CNC), which is then made available to producers for their subsequent films. The box office levy (le fonds de soutien) is charged at a rate of around 50 pence per ticket on every ticket sold. This money is held in a designated account for the producer by the CNC and can be drawn down to help finance their next French speaking film (including a co-production). As well as reducing the need for other external funding, this levy is available to the producer during pre-production which means that they are not under pressure to sell off rights in order to cash flow this stage of the film. 10% of the first television sale up to £200,000 and 5% of the value thereafter also goes into this production account. For even a reasonably successful film with an average television deal, therefore, it can be seen that the amount of levy generated by this system, and available to be invested in the producer's next film, can be very significant.

It is clear that these levies have had a beneficial structural effect on the French industry, enabling producers to develop their portfolios and libraries and helping them to cash flow their productions at the most difficult times. It can make life slightly more difficult for new producers because they do not have any funds built up with the CNC but they can usually get round this by making their first film with an established producer and splitting the levy. This would also work for British producers looking to make their first French co-production, but the levy would only be available for any subsequent film .

The French Government is now also introducing a tax credit scheme from the beginning of 2004 giving tax relief against expenditure that takes place in France. This would be tailored to meet the needs of the producer and, for example, could be applied to a co-production but the credits would only attach to that part of the spend that took place in France.

Co-production

The French national and regional governments involve themselves in film production. For example, the award-winning documentary In the Land of the Deaf (Le Pays des sourds) was created byNicolas Philibert in 1992. The film was co-produced by multinational partners, which reduced the financial risks inherent in the project; and co-production also ensured enhanced distribution opportunities. . Les Films d‟Ici. . Fondation de France.

. La Sept-cinéma. . Ministry of Foreign Affairs (France).

. Rhône-Alpes European Cinematographic Centre. . Rai Tre.

. Canal +. . BBC Television.

. Rhône-Alpes région. . Télévision Suisse Romande.

. Centre National de la Cinématographie.

In Anglophone distribution, In the Land of the Deaf was presented in French Sign Language (FSL) and French, with English subtitles and closed captions.

Industry Report: France Welcomes Foreign Film Production

According to the latest figures released by Film France, the French film industry generated €330 million in revenues, with exports accounting for €137 million of this figure, in 2011. Eleven films saw even higher admissions overseas than in France, taking all genres into account, including art-house, general-release and animated films. In the latter category, France has acquired a worldwide reputation in special effects and 3-D expertise, through companies such as , Buf and Mikros.

France showcases productions from around the world, in particular during the and American Film Festival. As a location, it provides significant support for cinema and audiovisual productions, and as a major film producer, making around 200 feature-length movies a year, France boasts a pool of expert technicians trained by FEMIS (the French national elite film school) which has a widely recognized reputation for excellence around the world.

Film studios in the Ile-de-France (Paris area) and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d„Azur regions, along with the recent completion of facilities in and for example, are equipped to accommodate world-class productions. For location shooting, the natural, historical and cultural heritage of France is a major draw. France also has outstanding film restoration and archiving resources. The Cinémathèque Française museum houses the world‟s largest database of the Seventh Art, while the National Audiovisual Institute (INA) leads R&D, training and production activities in all areas of picture and sound. France's attractiveness as a location for foreign film productions was further strengthened in 2009 by the introduction of the Tax Rebate for International Productions (TRIP) designed for foreign companies making part or all of a film in France. Since it was introduced, 31 foreign productions (on location filming, animation, and digital visual effects) have been granted a TRIP rebate amounting to 20% of eligible expenditure. Twelve of these productions were shot entirely or partially in Paris and the others in the regions of Provence-Alpes-Cote- d‟Azur, Picardie, Bretagne (Brittany), Rhône-Alpes and Guadeloupe.

Foreign production expenditure in France has increased fivefold in recent years (€50 million in 2009 and again in 2011, up from €15 million in 2008). The BBC, for example, decided to shoot a series of films on Merlin in France, while several American filmmakers have taken advantage of the scheme, including Clint Eastwood (Hereafter), Martin Scorsese (The Invention of Hugo Cabret) and Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris). The number of shooting days determines the knock-on benefits for the local economy (jobs for artists and technicians, post-production, equipment hire, accommodation, transport, catering etc.). In 2010, total foreign feature-length shooting days increased to 210 days, up from 92 days in 2008. The average number of shooting days per foreign feature-length film increased from six to 14 days over the same period.

The titles (in France) of the best French films, sorted by title

Title Year Genre Director

1 37°2 Le matin 1986 Romace, Drama Jean-Jacques Beineix

2 8 Femmes 2001 Music, Comedy, Crime, Mystery François Ozon

3 À bout de souffle 1960 Drama, Romance Jean-Luc Godard

4 Belle de jour 1967 Erotic Drama Luis Buñuel

5 Caché 2005 Drama

6 Cyrano de Bergerac 1990 Romance, Drama Jean-Paul Rappeneau Marc Caro & Jean-

7 Delicatessen 1991 Sci-Fi Comedy Pierre Jeunet

8 Diva 1981 Action Thriller, Drama Jean-Jacques Beineix

9 Gazon maudit 1995 Comedy Josiane Balasko

10 Hiroshima, mon amour 1959 Romance, Drama

11 1986 Drama, Modernised Greek Tragedy Claude Berri

12 Jésus de Montréal 1989 Drama Denys Arcand

13 Jules et Jim 1961 Romance, Drama François Truffaut

14 L'affaire Dominici 1973 Crime Drama Mystery Claude Bernard-Aubert

15 La belle et la bête 1946 Fantasy Drama, Romance

16 La cage aux folles 1978 Comedy Edouard Molinaro

Jean-Pierre Jeunet and

17 La cité des enfants perdus 1995 Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Marc Caro

18 La controverse de Valladolid 1992 History (16thC), Drama Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe

Music, Fantasy, Romance, Psychological

19 La double vie de Véroniquee 1991 Krzysztof Kieslowski Drama

20 La fille sur le pont 1999 Comedy, Romance, Fantasy, Drama Patrice Leconte

21 1995 Crime, Drama

22 La lectrice 1988 Mildly Erotic Comedy Fantasy

23 La pianiste 2001 Drama, Music Michael Haneke

History (16thC) Drama, Biography, History,

24 La reine Margot 1994 Patrice Chéreau Romance

Le charme discret de la 25 1972 Surreal Black Comedy, Drama, Fantasy Luis Buñuel

bourgeoisie 26 Le dernier métro 1980 Romance, History (WW2) Drama François Truffaut

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie 27 2001 Comedy, Romance, Drama Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Poulain

28 Le grand bleu 1988 Drama, Romance Luc Besson

29 Le placard 2001 Comedy Drama Francis Veber

History (16thC) Drama, Biography, Crime,

30 Le retour de Martin Guerre 1982 Daniel Vigne Mystery,

31 Les enfants du paradis 1945 Drama, Romance Marcel Carne

32 Les quatre cents coups 1959 Crime Drama François Truffaut

33 Les visiteurs 1993 Fantasy, Comedy Jean-Marie Poiré

34 Lunes de fiel 1992 Sado-masochistic Erotic Drama Roman Polanski

35 Ma vie en rose 1997 Comedy Drama Alain Berliner

36 Manon des sources 1986 Drama, Romance, modernised Greek Tragedy Claude Berri

37 Monsieur Hire 1989 Crime Thriller, Romance, Drama Patrice Leconte

38 Nikita 1990 Crime, Thriller, Romance, Drama Luc Besson

39 Ridicule 1996 History (18thC) Drama Patrice Leconte

40 Swimming Pool 2003 Psychological Thriller, Mystery Drama François Ozon

41 Trois couleurs: Blanc 1994 Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance Krzysztof Kieslowski

42 Trois couleurs: Bleu 1993 Drama, Music, Mystery, Romance Krzysztof Kieslowski

43 Trois couleurs: Rouge 1994 Drama, Mystery, Romance Krzysztof Kieslowski

44 Un coeur en hiver 1992 Romance, Drama, Music

Une hirondelle a fait le 45 2001 Comedy, Romance, Drama Christian Carion

printemps Top 10 Directors

The 10 best French directors created movies in a country that has long appreciated putting out something different. The country invented the New Wave style but also allowed filmmakers to work on other areas of individualistic expression, including .

1. Francois Truffaut – Truffaut began his film career as a critic before setting out to create some of French cinema‟s greatest films. Some film fans may recognize him from his cameo in Steven Spielberg‟s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, but the director created one of the greatest movies in cinema history with “.” 2. Roman Polanski – Roman Polanski is one of the most controversial of the French directors thanks to his rape allegations in the early „70s. The director is still a fugitive, wanted for crimes in the United States. Over his career, he was nominated for five Oscars, winning for “The Pianist.” 3. Jean-Luc Godard – Godard is credited with helping develop theFrench New Wave and mastered the technique in his film “Breathless.” Godard is still making movies in 2011 at the age of 80 and is responsible for films such as “Pierrot le Fou” and “Band of Outsiders.” 4. Luc Besson – One of the younger choices when talking about the best French directors, Besson is responsible for the movie that made a thirteen-year old a star in hit-man flick “Leon: The Professional.” He also directed the popular “La Femme Nikita.” 5. Jean Renoir – Jean Renoit created one of the earliest French masterpieces in “Grand Illusion” in 1937. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1946 for “The Southerner” and received an Honorary Award in 1975. He also directed class conflict movie, “” in 1939. 6. Michel Gondry – One of the more visually dynamic French directors working today, Gondry began his career working in music videos before directing the amazing “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” He has since reached commercial success with the comic book adaptation “The Green Hornet.” 7. – Louis Malle built an interesting career, refusing to get tied down to a specific genre or form, making many very different movies in different genres. While his more acclaimed movies wereHolocaust film “Au Revoir Les Enants,” his best film is the wonderful “The Fire Within.” 8. Jean-Pierre Jeunet – After creating genre films like “Delicatessen” and “The City of Lost Children,” Jeunet was chosen to take over the “Alien” franchise. With that debacle behind him, he created his masterpiece with the quirky, beautiful “Amelie.” 9. Jean Cocteau – Jean Cocteau spent most of his film career as an art director, creating many eclectic, yet abstract films. However, he remains one of the best French directors in cinema history thanks to his work on the greatest fairy tale movie ever created, 1946‟s “Beauty and the Beast.” 10. Jean-Pierre Melville – Jean-Pierre Melville is a Noir French director that made movies from 1946 until 1972. The man made some of France‟s greatest crime movies, including “Le Samourai,” “Army of Shadows” and “Le Cercle Rouge.”

10 Best French Songs

In any film the music helps to set the mood, the 10 best French movie songs set the scene for adventure, romance and comedy. From modern films to old classic movies, these movies employ the use of songs to further the storyline and set the tone of the film.

1. “La Valse des Monstres.” Prominently featured at the end of the film “Amelie” starring Audrey Tatou, this song is easily one of the best French movie songs. 2. “Rose." Sung by Zazie and from the acclaimed film “Ma Vie en Rose,” this song was one of the most popular songs in the film. The film is about gender identity in a young boy and the struggle the family and child experience. This, one of the best French movie songs, beautifully expresses the struggle of the child. 3. “Je n’aime Que Toi.” Written by Alex Beaupain for the film “Love Songs” (or the French, Les Chansons d‟amour”). This song is one of the best French movie songs and was sung by three of the film‟s stars: , Ludivine Sagnier and . 4. “Ashes to the Wind/Roux Returns.” From Academy Award-nominated film, “Chocolat,” starring , Judi Dench and Johnny Depp. The soundtrack, which was nominated for both an Academy Award for Best Original Score and Grammy Award for Best Score Sountrack included this ambient wistful tune. 5. “Minor Swing.” As one of the best French movie songs,“Minor Swing” was written by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli and was first recorded in 1937. The popular gypsy song is the first song featured in the acclaimed film, “Chocolat.” 6. “Chanson Anglaise.” From the film “Le Coeur sur la Main” comes one of the best French movie songs. The song was performed by famous French group “.” 7. “Tout Pres de Toi Qu'il Fait Bon.” This song is from the film “Serenade aux Nuages” (“Serenade the Clouds”). This mystery romance film has one of the best French movie songs of all time sung by Tino Rossi 8. “De Bonne Raisons.” The main song in the 2007 film, “Love Songs” (“Les Chansons d‟amour.”) This bouncy song by Alex Beaupain, the main songwriter of the film, became an instant hit after the release of the movie. The film starred Louis Garrel, Clotilde Hesme, Ludivine Sagnier and Chiara Mastroianni. 9. “Emmene-moi Danser ce Soir.” From the 1007 film “Ma Vie en Rose,” this song was sung by Michele Torr. The song title meaning “take me dancing tonight” helps to express the desire the main character feels to get away from his real life. 10. “Si tu n’etais pas la.” Another of the best French movie songs from the movie “Amelie,” this tune was performed by Frehel in 1934. The title of the song translates to “If You Were Not There.”

French Film Production Companies

. EuropaCorp

. Gaumont

. Pathé

. StudioCanal

. UGC

.

French Film Awards

 César Awards

 French Union of Film Critics Awards

The following 11 pages are in this category, out of 11 total. This list may not reflect recent changes:

 César Award

 Louis Delluc Prize

 René Clair Award

 Prix

 François Truffaut Award

 French Syndicate of Cinema Critics

 Palme d'Or

 Prix

 Vulcain Prize

 Grand Prix ( Film Festival)

Conclusion

 The French cinema market is culturally and linguistically specific. Neither producers nor the audience respond well to French stories told in English, or mainstream stories that have been all round Hollywood before being taken to French producers.  The French film industry is closer to being self-sufficient than any other country in Europe. Some 80 - 90% of budgets are covered by domestic revenues, with only 10 - 20% needed from all international sales to take the film into profit.  Generous levies (linked to their past performance) are available in France to help producers build on their successes by cash flowing and supporting their subsequent films.

The French System

There are a number of very distinctive features about the film production sector in France that distinguish it from Britain and many other countries. The first is that the film community tends to keep itself entirely separate from the other media or arts in France - unlike in the UK, it is rare for someone to move from producing television programmes or stage productions into film. French producers are also unlikely to be interested in working on any projects that look like mainstream Hollywood films. They do not want to see ideas that have been passed on by every studio and have now been slightly altered to try to appeal to the French market: their sensibilities and approach are very different to those of the studios and this is reflected in the material that they like to develop and produce. Also, the French market is culturally and linguistically specific. Neither producers nor the audience respond well to French stories told in English, and even tend to shun films made by their own stars in English.

The French Market

For British producers, France represents the gateway into the continental European market. France is the biggest single cinema market in Europe and more to the point, the place where non-American productions have the biggest share. The French film industry is closer to being entirely self-sufficient than any other country in Europe, recovering around 80 - 90% of their budget in revenues generated from the domestic market, leaving them with only a further 10 - 20% to make from all international sales in order to be in profit. As a result, French producers tend to be able to retain more of their rights than their British counterparts and take a greater share of revenues, enabling them to be more financially successful even if, internationally, their films are not as successful as the top British films. Because of this they are not as reliant on fees as British producers and have a better chance to develop the projects that they really want to make - and which have good commercial potential - rather than being rushed into making the next project that they can get financed.

Producers represent a significant political lobby in France and this has enabled them to win, and defend, various helpful policies, including broadcasting quotas which give them a strong bargaining position with television companies that need domestic films to strengthen their schedules. Television licence deals for films are, therefore, significantly more lucrative in France than in the UK. They also tend to be negotiated for one cycle at time, meaning that the rights can be re-sold roughly every three or four years, giving French producers a lucrative library which can be exploited much earlier than a UK producer would expect to have rights returned.

Bibliography

 www.google.com  www.wikipedia.org  www.guardian.co.uk  www.invest-in-france.org  www.expatforum.com  www.learnaboutmoviesposters.com  www.skillset.org  www.worldfilm.about.com