Cinema export agency Unifrance’s annual international box office report for 2023 revealed on Tuesday that Russia was the top market in terms of admissions for French cinema last year. Given that Russia’s relations with Europe are at their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War in 1991 as its ongoing war on Ukraine
France
French cinema saw its fortunes rise at the international box office in 2023 after three difficult Covid-19 and post pandemic years, according to the annual report of export agency Unifrance released on Tuesday. The new figures showed that worldwide admissions for all feature films involving a French partner generated 37.4M admissions in 2023, representing a
The fatal shooting of a 17-year-old by a police officer in Nanterre, France earlier this week has set off a swath of nationwide riots and violence, resulting in early closures of some cinemas, curfews in certain cities and a plea for calm from the national football team, among more widespread issues. The killing of the
French cinemas amassed nearly 152 million admissions in 2022, new data from the National Cinema Center (CNC) shows. That’s an estimated 26.9% off the pre-pandemic three-year average (2017-2019), and an estimated 59.2% hike on 2021 which endured 138 days of movie theater closures. France reports its box office in terms of admissions, however, the total
French director Cédric Jimenez’s thriller November has drawn one million spectators in France in its first two weeks on release, bucking the trend of the country’s recent lackluster box office, co-producer and distributor Studiocanal has announced. The fast-paced drama feature, which is inspired by the five-day manhunt for the perpetrators of the November 15 terror
Stopping short of a lockdown or the addition of curfews as some other European countries have imposed recently, France is introducing new measures to combat the spread of the Omicron variant. Chief among them affecting the entertainment industry is that consuming food and drink in cinemas will be banned beginning Monday, January 3, for a
A dictionary in France has added a gender-neutral pronoun, iel. (Envato Elements) The gender-neutral pronoun “iel” has been added to a French dictionary in a major shake-up for the strictly-controlled language. Le Robert, a reference book for the French language, included the gender-neutral pronoun after noticing an uptick in its usage, the dictionary’s managing director
Fabien Azoulay was arrested in Turkey for buying GBL for personal consumption (Change.org) Fabien Azoulay, a French Jewish gay man harassed, beaten and burned with boiling water in a Turkish jail by homophobic inmates, has been released. Fabien Azoulay, 43, was jailed four years ago by the authorities for ordering a small amount of GBL
In an effort to combat an increasing number of Delta variant Covid cases, France is set to introduce tighter restrictions affecting cultural activities beginning July 21. From that date, it will become mandatory for those over 12-years-old to show the official EU Digital Covid Certificate (or “health pass”) to access all cultural and leisure venues
As France struggles with a rise in Covid variant cases, the country will enter a third nationwide lockdown beginning April 3, President Emmanuel Macron announced this evening in a televised address. This is currently expected to last until May 2. Some 19 départements (similar to counties) were already under a third lockdown that began on
France’s cinemas and other cultural venues are to remain closed until at least the end of January, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced during a press conference this evening local time. The move is not terribly surprising given the country’s daily rate of new Covid-19 cases is well above the 5,000 threshold that had been
Cinemas in France will not be able to reopen on December 15 which was the date initially set by the government late last month. They will instead remain closed for at least three weeks from that date, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said in an address to the nation this evening. France has been in
Movie theaters in France will be allowed to reopen from December 15, President Emmanuel Macron announced this evening in an address to the nation. The country’s second COVID-19 spike has peaked, said Macron, and there will be an overall, gradual easing of restrictions over the next several weeks. Culture “is essential,” Macron insisted. A 9PM
Daniel Cordier, a gay art dealer and one of the last surviving operatives of the wartime French Resistance, has passed away at the age of 100. His death on Friday leaves only one survivor among the 1,038 men and women who received the title “Compagnons de la Libération”, or Heroes of the Resistance, after World
France is now set to enter a second lockdown phase from tomorrow night and for five weeks as coronavirus cases continue to escalate. French President Emmanuel Macron made the announcement in an address to the nation this evening. Movie theaters were not explicitly cited, but will clearly be included in the off-limit zones, dealing a
A government-mandated curfew that was set in place in France last week has been widely extended across the country, and will come into effect from Friday night. An estimated 46M people (69% of the population) will be impacted by the new measures announced by Prime Minister Jean Castex this evening. Residents of the 54 total
In another blow to the industry, the French government has ordered a curfew in several major cities across the country. From Saturday, residents of L’Ile de France (which includes Paris and its environs), Lyon, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Lille, Grenoble, Montpellier, Rouen, Toulouse and Saint-Etienne will be under a strict curfew from 9PM to 6AM. This will
This tattooed school teacher hopes his appearance will encourage children to be open-minded (Instagram/@freakyhoody) A school teacher whose entire body, face and tongue are covered in tattoos says he hopes his appearance will help to make children more tolerant and less homophobic. Sylvain Helaine, 35, started getting tattoos at the age of 27 and now
France’s Prime Minister Jean Castex on Wednesday said that the state has earmarked 2B euros ($2.36B) for the cultural sector in the wake of the coronavirus. While the full economic recovery plan — 100B euros in total — will not be officially unveiled until September 3, the newly-installed Castex told France Inter radio that the
The big international box office news this week isn’t actually from the weekend — which was again led by Korea and saw continued ups and downs versus last session as moviegoers await new product. Instead, after 100 days of closure, French cinemas re-opened beginning Monday this week, and with at least 40 films programmed for
France’s movie theaters will be allowed to re-open from June 22, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced this evening. This is earlier than expected, as French Culture Minister Franck Riester said this week that cinemas were eyeing a July 1 re-start. The decision was made in concert with the industry, Philippe said today, in order to
As France awaits official updates that are expected to come later this week with regard to the re-opening of restaurants and perhaps fewer restrictions on travel, Culture Minister Franck Riester reiterated today that cinemas are eyeing a July 1 re-start. Speaking to France Info, Riester said the government is mulling dates to re-open cultural venues
France’s movie theaters may be able to re-open at the beginning of July, the country’s Culture Minister Franck Riester said today. A further update is expected at the end of this month, however, Riester told local radio this morning that the government believes a certain number of cinemas may be able to get back to
French movie theaters will not be allowed to re-open when the country begins to lift its lockdown on May 11, while a ban on festivals and events that draw more than 5,000 people has been extended to September. That includes professional sports, notably the 2019-2020 soccer season. France’s Prime Minister Edouard Philippe made the statements
French president Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation this evening, saying that in-home confinement spurred by the coronavirus crisis will be prolonged until May 11. While not specifically identifying the Cannes Film Festival, Macron also noted that festivals and other events drawing large crowds will not be allowed to go forward until at least mid-July. That
France’s National Film Center, the CNC, has taken measures to relax the country’s notoriously strict windows policy during the coronavirus pandemic. A reduction from the traditional four-month delay between theatrical release and DVD or TVOD was earlier granted for all titles that were already in cinemas on March 14, while movies whose release was set
All movie theaters in France will be closed from midnight tonight, we have learned. This is a new directive from the French government which yesterday had limited gatherings to no more than 100 people in public places. This evening’s measures were announced by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe as France passes to Stage 3 — the
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced new measures to control the spread of the coronavirus with gatherings of more than 100 people forbidden for the foreseeable future. This is down from the previous 1,000 person limit and follows President Emmanuel Macron’s speech last night which stipulated that all schools and universities in the country