Focus on France Ian Sparks reports from Paris

EURO-REPORT

FOCUS ON... France

Ian Sparks reports from Paris on the thriving French film industry.

IT has taken a movie in which no-one speaks a word of French for France to finally scoop its first ever coveted Best Picture Oscar in the 84-year history of the Academy Awards.

The victory of The Artist is a near unique achievement in itself, with only one other silent, black and white film – the First World War epic ‘Wings’ – receiving the same accolade at the first Oscars ceremony in 1929.

But the success of The Artist is being seen as much more than a one-off fluke chosen for its quirky contrast to its glossy, big budget, English-language rivals for the award.

Amidst deepening economic turmoil in France and a recent EU warning of shrinking GDP, it is being hailed as a rare sign that one French industry is still managing to thrive in an increasingly gloomy climate of lay-offs, profits-warnings and bankruptcies.

Even without the global critical acclaim for The Artist, the film helped make 2011 the French film industry’s most successful financial year for 44 years, with ticket sales topping €216 million, the highest figure since 1967.

Just over two-thirds of all French people went to the movies at least once last year, and more than two-fifths of all seats sold were for French-made movies, including other box office smashes like Les Intouchables (The Untouchables) and Rien a Declarer (Nothing to Declare).

The film industry boom is also an advertisement for the often-criticised policy of public investment in French film-making, with a 12 per cent tax on cinema tickets being ploughed back into the industry which is now the third largest in the world, receiving an annual €1.5 billion from the state and churning out more than 260 movies a year.

Florence Gaustaud of the French Guild of Authors, Directors and Producers said: “Right now is a magic moment for French cinema. The mix of creative financing and tax breaks has meant TV companies are investing in independent productions, and this has given rise to a new generation of film-makers and unprecedented levels of commercial and critical success.

“We now produce around 260 films a year and we are the second-biggest exporter in the world. Each year, we present to foreign bidders a varied mix of some 30 films, so when there is a major smash hit like The Artist, that’s great PR for the rest of the movies out there.”

But the success has also brought harsh criticism from some directors, who claim the current batch of French movies have abandoned the once high-brow, independent French cinema culture to ‘ape American and British trash’.

Film-maker Matthieu Kassovitz wrote recently: “There is a new uninspiring middle ground of French comedies, thrillers and rom-coms that are simply lazy and predictable. France’s tradition of experimental, ground-breaking films by independent writers and directors is being sacrificed at the altar of cash.”

Sparkling sales

When it comes to commercial success, another French ‘luxury goods’ industry is also bucking the current trend of the increasing economic chaos in other sectors.

Sales of Champagne also soared by seven per cent last year, driven by strong export demand, especially in new markets such as China.

The drink’s industry group, the CIVC, said around 323 million bottles of Champagne worth €4.4 billion were drunk in 2011, with most of the sales growth in the most prestigious brands selling at above 50 euros a bottle.

CIVC spokesman Thibaut Le Mailloux said: “It was a very satisfying year because it was sales by value, more than by volume, which gave us the growth. It is exports which are driving the growth in Champagne, especially with the emergence of new markets which are taking up the slack in old established markets.”

In 2011, the US market jumped 14.4 percent to 19.4 million bottles, with Japan up 6.7 per cent and sales in Australia rocketing by a massive 32 per cent to 4.9 million bottles, Mr Le Mailloux said.

Exports to emerging economies also made a significant contribution, with Russian sales up 24 per cent, Brazil gaining 7.0 per cent and sales to China – where a fast growing middle class is eager to improve its standard of living – up 19 per cent at 1.3 million bottles.

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore took 20 per cent more at 1.3 million bottles, South Korea gained 31 per cent to 480,000 while India drank 290,000 bottles, up 58 per cent. The United Arab Emirates – where drinking is banned in many states – still accounted for 1.4 million bottles, up 18 per cent and nearly five times more than 10 years ago.

Sales in western European nations were all up by between three and nine per cent with the only blot on the figures being in France itself, where 1.9 per cent less Champagne was sold.

Mr Le Mailloux added: “The prestige brands and the best vintages did especially well overseas where Champagne remains a luxury symbol.

“Sales were down marginally in France as a temporary effect of the eurozone crisis, but that said, they still accounted for a third of the total global sales of Champagne of more than 320 million bottles a year.

“So that surely shows that no matter how tough things get, we French still don’t mind forking out on the world’s finest tipple to cheer us up during these bleak economic times.” n