France's Culture Minister and State Secretary for Foreign Trade signed two agreements at Cannes relating to the digitization of movie theaters throughout the French cultural network and the promotion of film education initiatives abroad.
On May 18 in Cannes, Aurélie Filippetti, France's Minister for Culture and Communication, and Fleur Pellerin, State Secretary for Foreign Trade, signed two agreements in Cannes on the subject of cinema digitization in the French cultural network abroad and the promotion of film education programs in foreign countries. The other signatories of the agreement were Frédérique Bredin, president of the CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée), Xavier Darcos, president of the French Institute, and Jean-Paul Salomé, president of UniFrance Films. These new agreements are a strong signal of the French government's commitment to strengthening the presence of French cinema beyond our borders.
A massive digitization program
France offers an international network of multifunctional movie theaters via its cultural institutions around the world which are dedicated to promoting French culture abroad. These theaters are a crucial resource for the non-commercial distribution of French heritage films, the promotion of recent films, and raising the international profile and exposure of our movie industry.
The first agreement thus aims to boost the visibility of French films and to modernize viewing facilities by focusing on equipping theaters in the French cultural network's sites abroad with digital technology. Today, around twenty theaters are already equipped with this technology, or are currently in the process of being converted to digital projection. The agreement requires the CNC to provide a financial contribution to the digitization of theaters at French Institutes in Abidjan, Barcelona, Beirut, Budapest, Dakar, Hanoi, Istanbul, Jakarta, Cairo, Libreville, Madrid, Phnom Penh, Rio de Janeiro, Sofia, Tokyo, and Yaoundé.
This agreement also provides for a partnership with UniFrance Films for the organization of events (such as for preview and premiere screenings, festivals, inviting the presence of French talent at events, and supporting the commercial release of films) and the French Institute for cultural and educational initiatives, the promotion and non-commercial distribution of programs of heritage films and recent films without distribution deals, and providing support by industry professionals.
Promotion of film education initiatives abroad
Over the past 30 years, France has built up a program of film education schemes aimed at offering audiences the chance to discover films that are representative of the international film production industry through screenings in movie theaters. Today, these initiatives benefit 1.4 million school students in French educational institutions around the world. The purpose of the second agreement signed at Cannes is to develop a partnership that will boost the promotion of film education initiatives in foreign countries. A program of film titles drawn from film catalogues used in the educational initiatives will be screened throughout the French diplomatic and cultural network around the world and its partner organizations. Educational material put together with guidance from the CNC will be made available to partners of this program.
Aurélie Filippetti and Fleur Pellerin applaud this opportunity to combine their government policy initiatives in favor of developing audiences for French films and reaching out to young audiences around the world, in support of an art and an industry—French cinema—that contributes to enhancing the cultural and international profile of France.
