VERY often, the world finds out about the magnificence of French animations on the back of a successful film. This was the case with “Oktapodi,” a short film produced by a group of young students, which was recently nominated for an Oscar. In 2007, “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud was shown at the Cannes Festival and was awarded the judges’ special prize. These external signs are the result of one of France’s most vibrant activities, in both economic and artistic terms.
Some 20 animated feature films have been released in French cinemas every year since the beginning of this century. A quarter of them are national productions. These films have been extremely popular in France and have also enjoyed great success abroad. This success is the result of the patient efforts of the many French production companies that specialize in this area. Whether they are part of a larger group or independents, whether they are producing films for cinema or television, creating innovative pieces or works aimed at the general public, they are what cement this buoyant industry. From Folimage, founded in 1984, to Alphanim, created in 1997, via Marathon International and Xilam, the union of animated film production companies now has some fifty firms to its name. Les Armateurs, whose chairman is Didier Brunner, has just celebrated fifteen years of existence. One of the company’s major productions was “Kirikou et la sorcière”. Michel Ocelot’s feature film, released in 1998, really gave the French animation sector a new lease of life.
Whilst Japanese animation was triumphing with films such as “Ghost in the Shell” (1995) and one of its most important representatives, Hayao Miyazaki, was only just beginning to find audiences outside his own country, French creativity gradually won its spurs on the large screen. The number of animated films has increased significantly, benefiting from the snowball effect. In 2003, for example, Sylvain Chomet’s “Triplettes de Belleville” was widely acclaimed at the Cannes Film Festival. This was followed by the triumphant “Persepolis,” in 2007, and Luc Besson’s “Arthur et les Minimoys” series, which attracted 15.4 million French and foreign viewers in the same year.
France also produces programs that appeal to broadcasting managers. In 2007, their sales to foreign broadcasters generated 41.7 million euros. French programs tend to do best in Western Europe and in North America.
This kind of dynamism is also due to the energy and know-how of numerous skilled French workers. The sector employs almost 2,500 people. Whilst some foreign producers use offshore providers for part of the production process to take advantage of reduced labor costs, French films are often made entirely in France in order to ensure greater consistency and control in the creative process.
Such vitality is also due to the recognized excellence of the training provided in French film schools. One of the best known is Gobelins, l’Ecole de l’image. The Paris-based school regularly receives international acclaim for the films produced by its students in the final year of their studies. Many of them were short listed in some of the major festivals before the release of “Oktapodi,” produced by six students in 2007 and recently nominated for an Oscar for the best animated short film. The same is true of the two film centers La Poudrière, located in Valence, in the south of France, and the Ecole des métiers du cinéma d’animation based in the west of the country, in Angoulême, the French capital of the drawn image. Graduates from these schools attract some of the major studios. The famous American studio Walt Disney had a studio in France from 1994 to 2003 to take advantage of their talent, although later it opted to tempt the best away and send them to the United States. DreamWorks has done the same: there were no fewer than four Frenchmen in the production team for “Kung Fu Panda”. Not to be outdone, Pixar also made the most of French know-how for “Wall-E”.
Although talent is exported, it is also encouraged in France. Numerous support schemes have been set up to encourage creative ventures. In the Paris region, Fontevraud Abbey organizes a residency aimed at animated filmmakers who are working on the production of a short or feature film. In the Centre region, the Bourges scriptwriters’ festival has set up a workshop for scriptwriters in the animated film sector.
Numerous industry and public events organised throughout the year ensure animated films are well promoted. The Fête du film d’animation animated film festival is held for a fortnight in autumn right across the country. The Image par Image festival held in the Paris region in February offers a wide range of audiences the chance to discover new animated films. France also hosts some major international events. The Annecy Festival, which includes the Marché international du film d’animation is an event that has attracted industry professionals from across the world for over 45 years. The event is a showcase for the latest global trends, where projects in need of funding are presented and films looking for an audience can find a distributor. Lastly, Cartoon, the European association for animated films, which also organizes events throughout the year to encourage European production and co-productions, has organized one of its meetings in Lyon: the 11th Cartoon Movie was held there at the beginning of March. “Brendan and the Secret of Kells,” a French, Belgian and Irish co-production, received an award at the event.
