Thierry Fremaux and Gaëtan Bruel Speak at CNC’s 80th Anniversary

France’s National Film Board, the CNC, marked its 80th anniversary with a three-day gathering of industry leaders in Paris, including Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux who praised the country’s unique film funding system. CNC president Gaëtan Bruel, meanwhile, warned against attempts to dismantle a model that has helped make France a global cinema powerhouse.

The anniversary celebrations, held from Oct. 26-28 at the Cinémathèque française, came at a particularly fraught moment for the institution which faces growing political scrutiny and budgetary pressures as France heads toward the 2027 presidential election.

Frémaux, who also heads the Institut Lumière in Lyon, highlighted the CNC’s key role on display across films showcased at Cannes and other major festivals.

“We don’t say it because the Americans accuse us of constantly favoring certain things, because they themselves cannot imagine that the selection process is conducted in complete independence. But you can see just how much French money, the CNC and French professionals are absolutely everywhere,” Frémaux said during an onstage conversation with film historian Antoine de Baecque at the French Cinémathèque on Wednesday.

Frémaux also pointed out the CNC’s support for film restoration, noting that countries around the world have begun developing similar initiatives.

“Every country in the world has its masterpieces. And not all masterpieces have been restored, so there is still plenty of work to be done. Many countries are now giving themselves the means to do this, following the French model,” he said.

Frémaux emphasized that France’s film funding system not only supports contemporary production but also helps preserve cinema’s history and nurture future generations of film lovers.

“People are finally beginning to understand that money from cinema goes back into cinema. It has taken a long time, but I’m starting to read things about it. Journalists are always a little slow,” he joked. “But the fact remains that this money from cinema also goes toward cinema’s history. And that brings us back to the fundamental role of building an educational and intellectual foundation for cinephilia as a driving force in protecting contemporary creation.”

The event wrapped with a forceful defense of the institution from Bruel, who took over as CNC president last year and is facing pressures from populist parties, including the far right party Rassemblement National. In its latest budget proposal, unveiled earlier this month, the party outlined plans to strip down the National Film Board, privatize public broadcasting and slash public broadcasting funding

“We are going through, on a global scale, one of the deepest crises this sector has experienced since the invention of cinema,” Bruel said. “These 80 years have not been a smooth ride. They have been marked by successive upheavals. But what we are experiencing today is as though we were facing the ocean head-on, as though the upheavals of eight decades were happening all at once.”

Bruel also pointed to the industry’s shifting power dynamics, as streaming platforms are now facing new competition from YouTube.

“A few years ago, streamers seemed to be triumphing over television and movie theaters. Today, faced with YouTube, they themselves are discovering their vulnerabilities, and they are seeking to converge with traditional broadcasters, a sign that yesterday’s world has not said its last word,” he said.

For Bruel, these changes make the CNC’s mission more important than ever, particularly as public support for the arts faces increasing criticism.

“According to some, the CNC is a dispensable appendage, and all we would need to do is cut it off to get better. You can always cut off an arm, but you’d better be sure of what you stand to gain and what you stand to lose,” he said.

Bruel argued that France’s film funding model also serves a civic role, in giving people access to culture, through an extensive network of movie theaters, as well as film education programs allowing an estimated two million schoolchildren to visit movie theater each year.

The CNC’s 80th anniversary brought together a broad cross-section of France’s film and television industries for three days of discussions exploring the institution’s history and its evolving role in the entertainment landscape.

Among the prominent filmmakers participating were Olivier Assayas, Arnaud Desplechin, Amélie Bonnin and Rachid Hami, alongside producers Anne-Dominique Toussaint, Alex Berger and Simone Harari Baulieu, and leading animation executives including Illumination Studios Paris co-founder Jacques Bled and Xilam Animation founder Marc du Pontavice.

The program explored the defense of theatrical exhibition, the rise of French animation, the expansion of the CNC’s remit into television, video games and immersive creation, and the challenges posed by Hollywood’s global dominance. A panel devoted to protecting movie theaters featured Desplechin alongside exhibitors Aurélie Delage and Camille Labé, and former UGC chief Alain Sussfeld. Another discussion examined the CNC’s expansion into television, bringing together Berger, Harari Baulieu, former CNC director general and Arte president Jérôme Clément, and screenwriter-director Clémence Madeleine-Perdrillat.

Looking ahead, Bruel signaled that the CNC would soon present a broader strategy for digital creators and social media platforms like YouTube, arguing that they should contribute more fairly to the financing of French audiovisual creation, on par with streaming services.

His words on investment alluded to the European Commission’s current review of the Audiovisual Media Service Directive which allows members states to require streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video to invest in European film and television production. The review could also open the door to bringing YouTube under similar investment obligations to level the playing field between broadcasters, streamers and digital platforms.

“Will we remain one in the future? No battle is lost in advance, especially when we have so many strengths in our hands, and you can count on the CNC to play its full part. But the answer, by definition, remains open,” Bruel concluded.