• The cinema of France includes the art of film and creative movies made within France or by French
Filmmakers abroad.
• France was the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions.
• Characteristics of French theater include slower plotlines, strong character development, and a deviance from happy or conclusive endings.

The Cannes
International Film
Festival
• Began in 1946
• It is the most respected such event world wide.
• The Palme d’Or award is one of the most soughtafter achievements in cinema.
• In 1976, the French film industry first awarded the
Césars, the country’s equivalent of Hollywood’s
Academy Awards.

• Apart from France’s strong film traditions, it has also been a gathering spot for artists from across
Europe and the world.
• French cinema is intertwined with the cinemas of many foreign nations:
– Directors from nations such as Poland (Roman
Polanski), Argentina (Gaspar Noé), France (Luc
Besson), Russia (Alexandre Alexeieff), etc.
– French directors have been important in the development in other countries as well such as Luc
Besson in the United States.

– Occupation: Actor, Director,
Producer, and Screenwriter
– Born: August 18, 1933, Paris,
France
• Polanski’s first feature length film, Knife in the Water (1962) was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best
Foreign Language Film.
• He has since received five more Oscar nominations, and in 2002 received the Academy
Awards for Best Director for his film, The Pianist

The Pianist (Co-production between Polish,
French, German, and British Film Companies)
In addition to winning the Palme d’Or at the 2002
Cannes Film Festival, the film won the Academy
Awards for Best Director, Best Actor, and Best
Adapted Screenplay.

– Occupation: Argentinean-born
French Film Director
– Born: December 27, 1963, Buenos
Aires, Argentina
• Irréversible (2002) is a film written, directed, edited, and photographed by Gaspar Noé.
– Won the ‘Bronze Horse’ award at the Stockholm Film Festival.
– Was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.
– As well as the ‘Best Foreign
Language Award’ by the Film
Critics Circle of Australia.

“The Bronze
Award”
Irréversible filmed thirteen scenes in reverse chronological order starting with its ending and ending with its beginning.
Won the Bronze Award at the
Stockholm Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film
Festival and was also nominated for the “Best Foreign
Language Award”.

– Occupation: Producer, director, screenwriter.
– Born: March 18, 1959 Paris,
France.
• He is the creator of EuropaCorp film Company
• He has been involved with over
50 films in a span of 26 years.
• In recent years, he has written and produced several action movies such as Taxi and The
Transporter Series.
• In 1997, he directed the hit movie
The Fifth Element with Bruce
Willis.
– He won Best Director and Best
French Director for this film.

The Fifth Element 1997
Science fantasy, actioncomedy, techno thriller
Directed by Luc Besson
The production design for the film was developed by
French comics creators
Jean Giraud and Jean-
Claude Mezieres.
The costume design was created by French fashion designer Jean Paul
Gaultier, who produced
954 costumes for use in the film.

• Began in 1958
– A young film critic, Claude Chabrol, directed Le
Beau Serge, a study of two young men in a provincial town.
• Other new wave directors include:
– Jean-Luc Godard “À Bout de souffle”
– Francois Truffaut “Les Quatre cent coups”
• Accomplished most with his lively films such as Tirez sur le pianiste (1960) and Jules et Jim (1961).

• By the early 1970s, the “new wave” had lost its experimental edge.
• Although, Truffaut continued to produce fine films such as Le Dernier métro which is a story about love and conflict.
• Despite their loss of ‘edge’, many new directors emerged and attracted world attention.
• Jean Jacques Beineix’s Diva 1981 sparked the
1980s wave and sent France’s film industry soaring with new people:
– Jean Jacques Beineix (Diva 1981), Luc Besson (Subway
1985), and Claude Berri (Jean de Florette 1986).

• In Paris, cinema-goers enjoy a wealth of choices with over 300 films showing every week.
• Smoking is now universally forbidden in
French movie theaters.
• Also, anyone who goes has to remember to tip the usherette 10% - it is the only money that she receives.

http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Movies/mov_ind ex.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Besson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspar_Noé http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Element http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080610/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/César_Award