Explore France through French Cinema

A brief introduction to French Cinema.

Here you can read about how it all started until now. From French directors to French films.

We have the Lumiere brothers to thank for the fact that we actually own the film. It all started with footage of the train speeding towards the station. The people were so shocked by how real it looked that they were afraid the train might actually hit them. This has a pretty big shock effect. The first use of film was mainly used for pure entertainment. Of course, soon the filmmakers began to realize the potential of the art it had. As you can guess from their name, the Lumiere brothers are French. They have made France the birthplace of film. Since then France has remained a central country in terms of cinema. Not only for European films, but also in the world of cinema.

Film is a part of France.

This is without a doubt one of the greatest things that defines French culture. Just imagine the fact that Paris is the city with the highest cinema density in the world. From all over Europe, film directors came to France with the dream of making great cinema. And they did. They have colored French films with their foreign influences. In addition, there are many French directors who left France for a career in Hollywood, and many of them did just that. It is also important to understand that the French government has always done everything in its power to support French filmmakers. Thanks to the French government France remains an important player in world cinema. Also prestigious film festivals such as the Cannes film festival keep France very respectable.

In the last decade, French films have again become very successful around the world. In particular, the film ‘Le Fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain’ (2001) was very popular. It received five Oscar nominations. In 2008 the French film Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis broke all box office records in France. It was the most popular film after Titanic. In addition, France is almost every year nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film, but has not received an award since ‘Indochine’ won it in 1992. However, in 2012 ‘The Artist’ has won an impressive 4 Oscars, as well as the film ‘Involuntary’. ‘ did very well, and is currently a hit in theaters around the world. According to the French film producer, France is back and promises the best for French cinema in the years to come. And indeed, for 2012 there are already some good films to come (Rust&Bone).