Attempting to gain clarity in a context of mass confusion, and to take stock of the major existential issues at play, was the focus of the 35th Film Meetings (unspooling in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage under the aegis of the ARP – Civil Society of Authors-Directors-Producers), which painted a relatively worrying picture of French film, even though the latter’s significant strengths should prove considerable enough to help it come through these difficulties more or less unscathed. Unless, of course, the upcoming elections hand power over to the Far Right, who put forward an amendment (which was subsequently rejected) to the National Assembly last week, proposing the CNC be removed from the picture entirely.

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"Is there still room for a strategy in favour of culture?" asked Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, France Télévisions’ head of subsidiaries and programmes, who was the bearer of bad news: with the public audiovisual industry having lost €200m in endowments in 18 months as a result of successive budget cuts, the firm’s investment in French film will fall by €5m next year (out of an annual sum of €80m, €65m of which going to pre-purchases, based on the agreement signed in 2024).

Funding for film production is the focus of everyone’s concerns (read our interview with Marie Masmonteil), given the risk of heightened polarisation between big movies (which are popular with all broadcasters) and smaller movies (with budgets of under €4m) which will survive thanks to the investment obligations diversity clause, but at the cost of mid-range films (with budgets between €4m and €7m) which often prove wonderfully surprising (The Night of the 12th [+lee también:
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In reaction to this unarguably bleak outlook, Bruno Nahon (a producer with Unité) insisted that "Creativity depends on independence. Despite what they tell us, production companies which are part of larger groups are not independent (…). Real independence needs the support of public initiatives which favour and reward producers who take real risks. Where’s the fairness in our system? Inequalities are becoming ever more firmly entrenched in our sector and we have to put that right. We have to create sanctuaries for filmmakers and scriptwriters because there’s nothing without them. We also need to discuss this with actors and talk about flexibility of crews and rethink distribution, because releases are impacting  revenue increases: we can rack up 1 million admissions without any rise in income! But we’re the ones who make the market."

On that note, filmmaker Pierre Jolivet reminded attendees that legal action, initiated by the ARP, the SPI, the UPC and SRF, had been taken to contest access to CNC support for a Radar Films production, given that the firm belongs to a group (Mediawan) which is mostly owned by an American fund. "It’s a complicated, existential procedure. If we lose, it will send a clear message to the US: come and create your French subsidiary here with just 51% ownership and draw up a shareholders’ agreement on artistic freedom. It would be nothing short of a Trojan horse!"

Denis Pineau-Valencienne (Les Films du Kiosque) and Marc Missonnier (Moana Films) unveiled a study by the French Union of Film Producers on risk-taking by independent producers. The conclusion was that it’s increasingly common in the production phase where there’s chronic under-funding. And the adjustment variable, namely reducing the number of film-shoot days, will only work for so long.

As such, it’s a tense situation where solidarity within the film sector will prove crucial in a landscape described by Maxime Saada (chair of the board for Canal+, which is still the leading investor in French film, despite its annual investments declining by a third) as "highly confusing as a result of the change in consumer habits who are now leaning towards video sharing platforms, where content is becoming increasingly professional" (Editor’s note: such as the ultra-dominant YouTube platform, from which French film is hoping for greater involvement in production funding and media release window systems). This instability is amplified, accord to Saada, by the porosity between models (agreements between Amazon/France Télévisions, TF1/Netflix, etc.), by Trump-style protectionism, by streamers’ anti-European tendencies, and by the consolidation underway among global players (notably US studios). And that’s without mentioning the revolution in generative artificial intelligence which comes with its own worrying share of opportunities and risks. It’s an onslaught of turbulence which is giving producers cold sweats, although Maxime Saada did share a degree of counter-intuitive optimism, in light of Canal+’s recent acquisition of a 34% stake in cinema operator UGC, insisting on the vital role of movie theatres in protecting the value of films and noting that, contrary to what global cinema attendance figures would have us believe, the number of French people going to the cinema has been rising for three years now - it’s just that they’re going less frequently. It’s a glimmer of hope in a dark, heavily clouded sky which is also hovering over the European film world, given the uncertainty over film support offered by the upcoming AgoraEU programme and the reality of a European Parliament where forces less inclined to favour culture are now widespread.