The cinema of France comprises the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe, with primary influence also on the creation of national cinemas in Asia.
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor, known to be one of the most prolific in film history. Icon of French cinema, a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, almost exclusively as a lead. Depardieu has worked with over 150 film directors whose most notable collaborations include Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Maurice Pialat, Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Ridley Scott, and Bernardo Bertolucci. He is the second highest-grossing actor in the history of French cinema behind Louis de Funès. As of January 2022, his body of work also includes countless television productions, 18 stage plays, 16 records and 9 books. He is known for having portrayed numerous leading historical and fictitious figures of the Western world including Georges Danton, Joseph Stalin, Honoré de Balzac, Alexandre Dumas, Auguste Rodin, Cyrano de Bergerac, Jean Valjean, Edmond Dantès, Christopher Columbus, Obélix, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
The Cannes Film Festival, until 2003 called the International Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around the world. Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. The festival was formally accredited by the FIAPF in 1951.
Bertrand Blier is a French film director and writer. His 1978 film Get Out Your Handkerchiefs won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards.
Emmanuelle Béart is a French film and television actress, who has appeared in over 60 film and television productions since 1972. An eight-time César Award nominee, she won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1986 film Manon des Sources. Her other film roles include La Belle Noiseuse (1991), A Heart in Winter (1992), Nelly and Mr. Arnaud (1995), Mission: Impossible (1996) and 8 Women (2002).
Jean Yanne was a French actor, screenwriter, producer, director and composer. In 1972, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film We Won't Grow Old Together.
Ousmane Sembène, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The Los Angeles Times considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and he has often been called the "father of African film".
Valeria Carla Federica Bruni Tedeschi, also written Bruni-Tedeschi, is an Italian and French actress, screenwriter and film director. Her 2013 film, A Castle in Italy, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Alain Mikli is a French-Armenian designer of high-end handmade eyeglasses and accessories. Mikli's line features unique colors and shapes, and are a favorite among European celebrities and avant-garde Americans. Mikli claims his use of color is inspired by his Lebanese Armenian heritage.
Saïd Naceri, known as Samy Naceri, is a French actor known for his work in the four Taxi films and The Code.
Michel Subor was a French actor who gained initial fame with the starring role in Jean-Luc Godard's second feature, Le petit soldat (1960), but the French government banned it until 1963 because of its political content, touching on terrorism during the undeclared Algerian War. He acted in a couple of American films in the late 1960s including the role of Claude Jade's husband in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz. In 1999, he once again played Forestier in Beau Travail, a highly praised variation of Billy Budd, directed by Claire Denis. He continued to work with her.
Alexandre Brasseur is a French actor. He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, the son of actor Claude Brasseur, the grandson of actor Pierre Brasseur and actress Odette Joyeux.
Michel Brault, OQ was a Canadian cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He was a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s. Brault was a pioneer of the hand-held camera aesthetic.
Vincent Paronnaud, a.k.a. Winshluss, is a French comics artist and filmmaker.
Gérard Lauzier was a French comics author and movie director, best known as one of the leading authors in the more adult-oriented French comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s.
Armand Gatti was a French playwright, poet, journalist, screenwriter, filmmaker and World War II resistance fighter. His debut film Enclosure was entered into the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival where he won the Silver Prize for Best Director. Two years later, his film El Otro Cristóbal was entered into the 1963 Cannes Film Festival.
Yolande Zauberman is a French film director and screenwriter.
Daniel Duval was a French film actor, director and writer.
Valérie Donzelli is a French actress, filmmaker and screenwriter. She has directed six feature films and two short films since 2008, including the film Declaration of War (2011).
Frédéric Fougea is a French author, director and cinema and television producer, born on 4 March 1961 in Paris. He heads the production company Boréales, which he founded in 1987. His films are recognisable for their particular style, mixing documentary and fiction: constructed more like "narratives", than classic documentaries, they are often described as "tales". Their focus tends to be the relationship between humans and animals; exploring the animalistic qualities of man and the human traits of animals.
