French protests leave local productions largely unaffected

Two weekends of nationwide protests have disrupted cinemagoing in France, but a sharp rebound in admissions and uninterrupted film and television shoots point to an industry weathering the turmoil.

Demonstrations on October 17 descended into rioting and looting across several French cities, prompting heightened security measures and curfews. Although protests on October 24 were largely peaceful, transport closures and fears of further violence continued to deter cinemagoers during the Toussaint school holidays, traditionally one of France’s busiest cinemagoing periods.

“No international productions currently shooting anywhere in France have been affected,” Arnaud Roland, deputy head of digital at the CNC, told Screen, citing feedback from regional film commissions.

Roland credited that nationwide network, coordinated by Film France-CNC, with working alongside local authorities to anticipate disruption. For example, Paris’s Mission Cinéma Paris Film alerted international productions ahead of October 17, prompting one to postpone filming as a precaution while another proceeded without incident.

Rémi Bergues, director of Film Paris Region, confirmed filming in the capital region has continued uninterrupted, with around 15 French and international productions currently shooting including Canal+ medical drama Hippocrate, Apple TV+’s chef drama Carême and period romance Miles And Juliette, about jazz legend Miles Davis and French singer-actress Juliette Gréco.

Bergues noted that weekend filming is rare in Paris, limiting exposure to the Saturday demonstrations, while heightened security on October 24 provided reassurance.

“We regularly bring together studios, line producers, crews and industry organisations, and the unrest hasn’t come up once as a topic of discussion in recent days,” he said.

Bergues added that contingency plans are in place should the situation deteriorate.

Valentin Françoise, whose Meadow Pictures is handling line production on The White Lotus season four and US indie feature Oula, said both shoots have continued uninterrupted. “That’s not luck. It’s prep,” he said. “We track demonstration routes and dates daily and adjust call sheets and company moves around them.”

Further demonstrations loom on October 31, with president Emmanuel Macron warning that protests coinciding with Halloween could make it another “high-risk day”. A national day of mobilisation is also planned for November 5.

Françoise nevertheless remained confident that filming can continue without major disruption. “The unrest was concentrated in specific areas of city centres, on specific days,” he said. “France is a big country, and production life carries on with the right planning.”