Last year they ha e captured 60 o Manna

Ha e you heard o "Bata ille", rançois Caillat, or "The carrot and the stick" o Stéphane Arnoux Or to "It burns", Claire Simon Non. Yet, they are a party with "Les Bronzés 3 - Amis pour la ie", "Camping" and "The lining" o the 240 rench ilms produced last year. An absolute record. To the extent that éronique Cayla, Director General or less than a year o the national Centre or cinematography (CNC), launched a warning. A irst or the public body responsible or the production!

Barely i e years ago the rench production took just the cap o the 200 eature ilms. Within a decade, it has doubled. Howe er, itality is not necessarily synonymous with good health. O course, this abundance re lects di ersity both times aunted o a theatre able to align popular comedies, author ilms and documentaries. Does not nonetheless too rance

What is in this proli eration o eature ilms that recei ed the appro al o the CNC, Sesame by which a work can access to aid and unding by tele ision stations, and also out in theatres O d' abord irst amount o ilms on a small budget without assured isibility, except perhaps in esti als, then large always more numerous productions, including "Oli er Twist", Roman Polanski was leader in 2005 with a cost o EUR 50 million. Ready to lush out new talents, to encourage promising ilmmakers, the system submitted last year more than 120 irst and second ilms. But at what cost to the community The subject remains taboo.

Each year, now, the number o eature ilms made with ery low resources increases. In 2005, 41 ha e cost less than 1 million euros, just the speci ications o a ilm means. Se eral explanations or this. A generation o "small" mo ies shot with digital cameras is born, eligible or the aid o the CNC. A ter the success o the "migratory people" and "March o the Emperor", documentaries, the reduced budget, became ashionable. inally, note Didier Courtois Du erger, ice-PDG o Natexis Co iciné, " ound a production based on a parallel economy that small-scale, with a cultural ambition but without solid unding". What is it eature ilms made through grappillées grants in the maquis o the aid o the CNC (read here), but rarely with the support o a tele ision or a Distributor. Which condemns them to pri acy... Each year, howe er, a miracle occurs. In 2002, "Wesh Wesh", Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche, conducted or 230,000 euros, exceeded the 67.000 entries. More recently, "The e asion" o Abdellati Kechiche, ilmed with amateur, without support o any large chain actors, won our césars.

Rotation in rooms

The creation o new public aid or the cinema also promoted the proli eration o projects. Thus, the tax credit helped Emmanuel Bourdieu to achie e "The riendships e il", which opened these days in Cannes critics week. Regions, since the CNC pay 1 euro when they in est 2, they ha e a ripple e ect.

The ery opposite, large productions (more than 7 million budget) o the type "oss 117" or "The Council o stone" (exit planned in October) eeding they also ilm in lation. 26 In 2000, these "blockbusters" rench went to 39 last year, claimed by the strings to ill in their boxes and to blow up the ratings. E erything is there ore designed to appeal to the greatest number: history, casting, promotional hype...

Howe er, the eature ilms "a erage" contract between 4 and 6 million euros, are poor parents. Logical, since they are not insured to ha e a good exposure in theatres or on tele ision, e en i they are part o the 150 ilms ha ing access!

Because, or many years, the market ha en't been able to absorb all o the national production. Explanation: when "Les Bronzés 3" rolling, immediately a thousand screens are mobilized, as in a "Harry Potter" or a "Matrix". But "to medium budget ilms also embarked on a bid to exist in the circuits", obser ed Adeline Monzier, Delegate General o say, a ederation o independent distributors. In total, the number o copies put into circulation each week has doubled in ten years, or a park o screens rom 4.300 to 5.300. Result: while mo ies remained on display six weeks on a erage, they must merely today o two to three times less.

The mo ie bu who now is o ering each week between 10 and 15 new happens more to ollow. And, in his choices, Tri works come into competition with a oreign ilm more and more rich. In a system where a title is remo ed rom the poster i success is not the appointment rom the early days, the comédie rançaise unpretentious minimalist decor, not stars or the ilm o author, ambitious artistic yet to a restricted public, su er. Criticism, busy, is not the place to gi e an opinion on all outputs. The word-o -mouth, crucial to attract spectators to the less publicized works, has more time to play its role. Result: I some eature ilms, made in a small economy, do not need many entries to balance their accounts, "many spend trap without ha ing the means to exist in rooms", summarizes Patrick Sobelman, the head o the company o production Ex Nihilo.

T want to "sa e securities."

Access to the small screen is also become ery selecti e. String o di ersity, Canal irst under o the se enth art with 106 préachetés titles in 2005, sweeping the range, or almost, ranging rom large productions, to retain subscribers, small, in a logic o artistic disco ery and in order to meet its obligations o dissemination and unding.

Also required to und the hexagonal cinema, and in programming, strings in clear, except or Arte, they decided: they want more than "products" known to the public, which pro ide a strong hearing. But, "in rance, the success in theatres remains linchpin o the li e o a ilm." "It is him who, in most cases determines success in ideo, and the hearing on the strings," obser es E i ullenbach, Director o the cinema o the Canal group. At the time, li e is hard or the "classic" works, less key that in the past, which are no longer their place in circuits or on the small screen really.

40 O the tra ic eature ilms drew less than 20,000 spectators last year, producers re use ne ertheless judged by purely inancial criteria. "Economic success is not the only criterion or turning, it annoys Patrick Sobelman. We are also in a logic o basic research or almost. "Celle which assured the renewal o rench cinema and helped a Godard or a Manuel de Oli eira to create rom any commercial logic.

But when it comes to raise capital, dispensing close. Because the unding increase also aster than production. In i e years, they mo ed rom 678 million to EUR 933 million, with an increase limited to 4.6 in 2005, and they ocus on the "blockbusters". Last year, they ha e captured 60 o Manna. With the disappointing hearing o the ilms that they are channels reduced their contributions. orced to inance the rench cinema, they emphasize alues sa e "Asterix and the ikings" or M6, T 1 "Les Bronzés 3", resulting in their wake other unders.

Per erse e ects

I the new kiosks (tax credit, regional unds, international co-productions) take o er, a pan production must manage the shortage. Despite the relati e success o "wesh wesh", Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche ound no tele ision to support "Bled Number One", presented this year in the Un certain regard selection. ine in many eature ilms are under unded. But the producer who started to de elop a project, he renounces not. Lea e, to remain in the en elope o the unds collected, sa e on writing the screenplay, the means o implementation, etc. Otherwise, it may no longer co er o erhead costs and the ixed salaries o his company. Howe er, certain aid encourage it to pro ide without delay the irst shot o crank since they are released at the beginning o the shooting and that others are re undable i it does not start a ter a certain period o time.

Too many poorly exposed works, too poorly unded ilms. éronique Cayla is ready to take the problem and acknowledges that "the CNC must ensure that its system o aid does not ha e a certain natalisme. Di ided on many questions, the pro ession admits that a boxed unding system has per erse e ects and claims de elopments. Each that producers take the time to better de elop their ilms be ore turning, other that operators gi e their chance to more titles. But no oice asks a questioning total o this rench exception, en y, desired. This e en less that it has recei ed the blessing o Brussels.