Page 6 - Livre French Touch

French cinema, in the words of producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier, “is an original idea that is made into a work”. This idea of cinema has formed the basis of French lmmaking since its very beginning: it is an art form as well as an industry. This speci c notion has always kept French lmmaking innovative: it has re-envisioned the way lms are made and inspired a great number of artists around the world. Traveling and meeting people from other countries con rms that France is known and admired for its creativity; the world considers France one of the great lmmaking nations. The recognition of Agnès Varda’s at the Academy Awards forms a wonderful example.
If I had to de ne the French Touch, I would say that the term encapsulates the exceptional attachment our country has to its cinema and its creators, an attachment embodied by a unique model of supporting creation, based on the belief that an ambitious cultural policy is always bene cial and preferable to a submission to market forces. We believe that this model is an incentive to creativity and that it allows France to be Europe’s prime hub for production and the second most lauded lm industry in the world. We believe that the French Touch also includes lm schools that are among the world’s best (La Fémis, GOBELINS, and RUBIKA), that it encompasses great expertise, international frontrunners, startups, and innovation in commerce and in technology, in animation and in video games, as well as in virtual and aug- mented reality. We believe that the French Touch is a vision of the world in which commercial success and artistic ambition, commerce and art, competitiveness and diversity can go hand in hand. We believe that this vision allows everyone space to exist, particularly young creators, and allows room for expression to all those humanists to whom lm is a means to understand and even change the world. It is precisely for its values that France is appreciated around the world: freedom of expression and of creation, the defense of human rights, welcoming foreign lmmakers who are obstructed from creating in their own countries. This openness toward others, this generosity, forms the heart of France’s cultural exception.
The book which you are about to discover, Cinéma – La FRENCH TOUCH, pays tribute to all those pro- fessionals, to all those writers, directors, actors, agents, producers, distributors, critics, designers, animators, theater owners, broadcasters, entrepreneurs, and engineers that make France a shining beacon in the world. It gives us an idea of the collective passion this country cultivates for cinema and for all forms of moving image creation.
Frédérique Bredin
Présidente du CNC
5