Cinema was introduced in France by the end of nineteenth century. The French inventors Auguste Lumiere and his brother, Louis Lumiere, were the pioneers who invented the cinematograph. The first film the brothers made was named, “Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory” (English translation) in the year 1895. The duration of this film was around 50 seconds. The brothers created a number of such short films, all with similar content and duration. Apart from the Lumiere brothers, other scientists, such as Eadweard Muybridge, Etienne-Jules Marey and Ottomar Anschutz, conducted extensive research in the field of cinematography.

The first movie related to the field of science fiction, “A Trip to the Moon” (Le Voyage dans la Lune) was created by Georges Melies in the year 1902.Gaumont Pictures, headed by Alice Blache, produced 400 films in a span of ten years. After the First World War, many such enterprising movie makers migrated to United States for better career opportunities, as there was lack of adequate funding in France which stalled the growth of French cinema. But there were enthusiasts like Jacques Feyder who stayed back in France to create a new wave in French cinema of expressing realism on the screen.

In the second quarter of the twentieth century, there were some personalities that made significant contribution towards the French cinema. These individuals included film makers Abel Gance and Jean Vigo, comedian director Rene Clair, comedian artist Jacques Tati and the classic maker Robert Bresson. It was during this period that First Cannes Film Festival was organized in the year 1946, to honor the filmmakers who had done extraordinary work in French cinema. The second half of the twentieth century brought a change in the French cinema. The influence of the Hollywood style waned out and French cinema achieved its own style. The cinema created explored genres like romance and comedy thrillers.

Today’s French cinema has suffered a lot as far as business is concerned. This is mainly because of the considerable decrease in the number of viewers with the inclusion of the new advancements in the field of television channels. Also there has been a setback of business for the French cinema due to the availability of DVDs of the latest movies on the market. In order to curb losses due to these drawbacks, the French government has taken some supporting initiatives to ensure that the producers get enough business to recover their investments. These include making it compulsory to the television channel companies to support the production of movies, providing subsidies and tax cuts for French cinema producers and development of DVDs of the new movies after some considerable period from release in the French cinema.