French cinema consists of 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.
A scene from Louis Lumière's La Sortie des usines Lumière (1895)
Gaumont palace in Paris, c.1914
Leslie Caron with Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier on the set of Gigi (1958).
Alain Delon was known as much for his beauty as for his acting career and holds an enduring status as a leading man in French cinema.
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post-production, film festivals, distribution, and actors. Though the expense involved in making films almost immediately led film production to concentrate under the auspices of standing production companies, advances in affordable filmmaking equipment, as well as an expansion of opportunities to acquire investment capital from outside the film industry itself, have allowed independent film production to evolve.
The Hollywood Sign
Nestor studio, 1911
Old Chinese Cinema in Qufu, Shandong
A scene from Raja Harishchandra (1913) – credited as the first full-length Indian motion picture.
