In southern France, where global film and TV leaders met to face the upheaval remaking the industry, France and South Korea took the lead. The Lumiere Summit, which ran Sept. 7 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, convened executives, festival chiefs, heads of state and industry figures from more than 60 countries. The event takes its name from the Lumière brothers, the French pioneers who launched cinema in the 1890s.
President Emmanuel Macron of France and President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea convened the inaugural gathering at the Fondation Maeght, a foundation and museum complex whose grounds are home to works by Braque, Calder, Chagall, Kandinsky and Miró.
The scenery was picture-postcard perfect, yet the talk stayed serious throughout. Business chiefs weighed the growth of social media platforms, the promise of AI, and the stormy state of global politics. Each side saw the meeting as a chance to stake its claim in an industry long ruled by the United States.
Macron’s Warning Against Social Media Platforms
The French president targeted social media companies that pay creators through revenue-sharing deals. He argued that these platforms endanger the long-standing system where artistic works are financed by patrons or platforms paying up front, rather than relying on shares of income from user engagement.
Macron spoke to Variety at the summit about the growing danger of political censorship, which he said endangers creative freedom and artists who test limits. “We have to be ready to resist because this model is what has been created over decades by a lot of artists, by the states and the different governments,” He framed the threat as a rising tide affecting creators who refuse to stay within established bounds. “It’s extremely important and I really believe it’s part of our DNA.”
Macron noted that political pressure is mounting on arts and cultural institutions in Europe, the U.S. and beyond. “If there is a debate or if it is threatened by some populist parties or some extremes, we have to resist because I think it’s part of what we are,” he said. “Culture and art is part of what France is. It’s part of our soft power outside and it’s a very important economy as well.”
A Diplomatic Feel
The gathering carried the air of a diplomatic occasion. Along a narrow red carpet stood sword-bearing members of the Republican Guard, arranged in line to greet Macron’s arrival. A large delegation accompanied South Korea’s Lee Jae Myung.
The premise behind the assembly held that culture operates as both an economic engine and a wellspring of soft power, while also needing deliberate safeguarding. It was this conviction that gave rise to the gathering, which stands as the first of its kind on such a scale in a century.
Initiatives Announced
Several concrete initiatives emerged from the summit:
| Initiative | Details |
|---|---|
| France-South Korea pact | $1.1 billion investment in film, TV, animation and gaming creative sectors; 2026 marks 150 years since France and Korea began diplomatic relations |
| IRIS initiative | Coalition of filmmakers and industry leaders supporting specialty and art house theaters |
| World congress of state film commissions | Meetings twice a year to shore up independently financed films |
| Vintage film preservation | Accelerated efforts to save films at risk of degradation |
| Declaration on AI | 120 of 200 participants endorsed a pledge to prioritize human creation, copyright and cultural diversity |
The Content Flood
Across all talks on the subject of cinema’s future, one point kept recurring: the sheer scale of material now reaching viewers. That constant stream of content is unlike anything audiences have faced before.
Lee Jae Myung and Macron both spoke with strong feeling about the need for greater care when it comes to “the quality of images”, what people take in. They pointed out that audiences have never before had such wide access to material or seen so many things while spending so much time doing it.
Maxime Saada, chairman of Canal+ Group, made the case directly. “People have never had access to so much content, they have never watched so many things and spent so much time watching,” Saada said. “But there is some kind of worry about what they’re watching, and the quality of what they’re watching.”
French film guilds have secured a five-year investment commitment from Saada, with the company pledging $1.1 billion toward French and European cinema beginning in 2028.
AI and Image Literacy
Donna Langley, who chairs NBCUniversal Entertainment, has said that the rise of artificial intelligence makes the question of “image literacy” especially pressing. She believes the industry should develop clearer means for audiences to grasp how what they watch was made.
“AI isn’t all bad. We don’t want to take innovative tools away from storytellers and filmmakers, but I do think that it’s incumbent upon all of us to focus on this idea of disclosure,” Langley said. “So we all know what we’re looking at.”
The head of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux, made clear that education matters greatly. He said it is essential to instruct viewers how to read what they see on screen.
The Trade Angle
Trade was part of the summit agenda, with several concrete declarations about it emerging during the gathering held on the Fondation Maeght grounds. The talks took place amidst priceless works by some of the 20th century’s most renowned artists.
During his remarks, Macron warned that revenue-sharing deals built around user-generated content threaten the traditional model of patronage and platform financing. He singled out such arrangements as the principal danger to the old funding system.
The physical setting of the gathering lent gravity to discussions about tough subjects, including the effect of endless scrolling through social media on young people and worries that the business model of YouTube and similar platforms is fundamentally undermining artistic creation.
The Message From Saint-Paul-de-Vence
Two nations with a common stake in rivaling U.S. supremacy in entertainment have launched a concerted set of measures. One pact, uniting France and South Korea, comes with an investment figure of $1.1 billion. That sum stands out all the more because it marks the 150-year anniversary of the diplomatic ties between the two countries.
IRIS is an effort that gathers filmmakers and industry leaders with the aim of backing specialty and art house theaters across the globe. The world congress of state film commissions plans to convene twice yearly to safeguard independently financed films.
The campaign focused on saving older movies from decay, while the statement of principles signed by its signatories commits them to putting human creation, copyright law, and cultural variety first.
Beyond the film and TV industry itself, the stakes for Macron run deeper. He sought to unite creative forces at an event where social media platforms, the promise of AI, and a turbulent global political scene all threaten the sector.
In recent months, France and South Korea have had disputes with President Donald Trump over tariffs and security issues. That history helps explain why both nations were eager to show their strength in an industry long controlled by the United States.
The summit’s central argument — that culture functions as an economic engine, serves as a source of soft power, and demands active protection — was laid bare for all to see.
This historic gathering established a new standard. It is not yet known if this will result in permanent transformation. The top figures in the field have made their views known, and their position was unambiguous: the quality of the visuals is important, and so is the system behind them.
Source: variety.com