by Sebastien GOULARD
During his official visit to France at the beginning of September, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron chaired the “Lumière Summit” in Saint-Paul-de-Vence to promote multilateralism and new forms of cooperation in the film, gaming and broader audiovisual arts sectors. On this occasion, several initiatives were announced to protect and promote the film industry.
The “Lumière” Summit
Named after the inventors of cinema, the Lumière Summit is a new platform bringing together states and film industry stakeholders to support the sector during the crisis it is currently facing: declining cinema attendance, competition from digital platforms, and the threats posed by artificial intelligence. The initiative also provides France with an opportunity to promote the expertise of its companies in this sector and to strengthen its attractiveness to filmmakers and producers from around the world.
The “Lumière” Fund
France and South Korea have also committed to supporting the image, film and video game industries, as well as audiovisual creativity more broadly, through a fund endowed with €1 billion over the next five years. On the French side, Bpifrance will be responsible for supporting the beneficiaries of this fund, providing them with advice and facilitating access to loans. The fund aims to encourage human creativity in the face of generative artificial intelligence, which could potentially transform the sector and lead to a major crisis, as feared by the South Korean President. To this end, French and South Korean filmmakers and creators need new investment in innovation, as well as support to help new players emerge and develop more ambitious productions.
The fund also aims to better protect the cinematic experience from competition posed by streaming platforms. Worldwide, since the Covid crisis in 2020, audiences have moved away from cinemas, with attendance falling by nearly 40% over five years.
France and South Korea are two major film powers with diverse offerings, encompassing both commercial films and more specialised works. Both countries are committed to protecting their domestic film industries, for example through national film quotas, either on television or in cinemas. Paris and Seoul can therefore be said to defend a form of cultural exception that enables their domestic film industries to maintain their position in the face of the American giants of the sector. In 2025, domestic films accounted for 37% and 40% respectively of the French and South Korean markets.
The “Lumière” Alliance
The summit also gave rise to the “Lumière Alliance”, a new network that currently brings together fifty-four public institutions responsible for cinema and audiovisual media. It will enable greater international coordination in addressing the major challenges facing the film industry. Faced with the power of digital and Hollywood giants, France and South Korea have chosen to prioritise multilateralism and thereby play a greater role in shaping the future of the film industry.
The IRIS Network
Finally, the first “Lumière” Summit also saw the launch of the IRIS programme (International Resilience Initiative for Independent Screens), which brings together France, South Korea, Portugal, Greece and Morocco and aims to support independent cinema. The initiative notably seeks to promote the wider international distribution of independent films and thus offer often more demanding cinema as an alternative to Hollywood blockbusters. Initially, the initiative will be financed through a €30 million fund. Around forty prominent filmmakers and actors, including Martin Scorsese, Sofia Coppola, Costa-Gavras, Denis Villeneuve and Hirokazu Kore-eda, are expected to join the IRIS International Council and help defend a particular vision of cinema.
A New Partnership Between France and South Korea
These various initiatives should enable Paris and Seoul to maintain their position as major film powers and enable them to attract new investment. This cooperation between France and South Korea can also be seen as another illustration of the two countries’ stated desire to strengthen a form of leadership in the face of the major powers. Promoting independent cinema complements the strategic autonomy policies pursued by France and South Korea, helping to strengthen their soft power in the audiovisual sector. However, beyond these announcements, it will be necessary to ensure that these instruments enable the two countries to adapt to the transformations underway in the film industry.
These initiatives and expressions of friendship between France and South Korea could herald a stronger relationship between the two countries, which are seeking to diversify their partnerships.
Sebastien GOULARD
Sebastien Goulard is a consultant at Cooperans, a consultancy specializing in international relations.
He is also the founder of Diplomarty.
Sebastien Goulard holds a doctorate in economic and social development from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences), Paris. He has been involved in several European research programs focusing on sustainable urbanization in China.
