Address by Frédéric Mitterrand, Minister of Culture and Communication, on the occasion of the signing of the agreement on the digitization of film heritage

The digital revolution is the «Copernican revolution» of the last
years: it changes the modes of production and reception of works,
books, visual arts, music and film. The
Ministry of Culture and Communication mobilized to face
this new technological situation with a considerable cultural impact.

For the past two years, I have been digitizing the offer and content
one of the priorities of my action. I am convinced that it is
exceptional opportunity for our heritage and our creators. In
globalization, French culture, in all its richness and
diversity, will be digital or will not be.

However, we must not confuse digital ambition with
the technological illusion, the means and the ends, the pipes and the flow of the
creation.

In the field of cinema, we have decided to accelerate and increase
the massive provision of a legal and quality cultural offer. There are
The European Union is in an urgent situation because we are faced with formidable competition
Foreign and North American offers on all media
digital broadcasting.

We must therefore act quickly because the global giants of the Internet and
media are not waiting for us.

Faced with this challenge, our ambition is to aim for the broadest and most
exhibition of our works on all new media. With the
digitization of movie theatres – for which, I remind you,
we invest 125 M – with the switch to digital TV
terrestrial (TNT), with the development of cultural offerings on
broadband networks, access for the greatest number of cultural works
is now at hand.

After being one of the first countries to commit so strongly to the
digitization of its room park, we are today one of the
the first countries to implement a comprehensive financing system for the
digitization and restoration of heritage works.

All our works are intended to be digitized. Films that offer
real economic outlook in terms of operating
commercial of course, but also films proceeding from a history and
of a more fragile economy, for which public support is
necessary.

Financed by the President of the
Republic and whose pilotage was entrusted to the Commissariat General at
investment (CGI), the future investment program, is a
historic opportunity for the cultural sector. Under the
national for the digital society - of which €750 million will be allocated
funding the digitisation of cultural, scientific and
educational - it’s a great tool for tipping
massively and in a time reduced the cultural offer in the era
digital. Several particularly promising projects, bringing together
major private and public players in the book, press and
are being prepared and should be
presented for consideration for co-funding by
the State as a “prudent investor”.

For several months my services, first of which the Centre
National Cinema and Animated Image (CNC), a true linchpin
of this plan, work closely with
Office of the General Commissioner for Investment (CGI) and the Caisse des dépôts
and records on film digitization.

This work has borne fruit. Today, we are able to
propose a general framework agreement to the main companies in the sector.
Those with a substantial film catalogue, those with
expressed the willingness to engage in a process of
digitization of their heritage.

I would like to thank them warmly, they have paved the way and have given
example. I also want to commend the work of the Society of Authors and
Dramatic Composers (SACD): since its inception, it has
and coordinated exchanges. Finally, I am delighted that the
Cinémathèque française also supported this initiative
since the beginning.

This agreement is a first step that calls for others:
catalogue holders must be able to participate in this process. This
We are at the beginning of a
We are at the origin of a considerable project.

We need smaller companies to take advantage of this as well.
great opportunity. They are often holders of works
of our film heritage. The agreement that we
sign today should be able to cover the digitization of nearly 2500
works. The feature films after 1929, the
films by Jean Cocteau, Julien Duvivier, René Clair and Alain
Resnais.

But we have to go further. That’s why I asked the
CNC to simultaneously set up its own support tools to the
digitization and restoration of catalogues. In accordance with its
mission, the CNC will therefore intervene more particularly in favour of the
heritage part of the sector, the most economically fragile
due to the small size of the catalogues and the very high risk
opportunities. It is also often the most
in terms of restoration and digitisation, as this concerns
works whose original chemical elements are often very
damaged. The projection of Georges Méliès' Voyage in the Moon
(1902) in the opening of the Festival, in its colorized and restored version,
has shown us, however, that digital technology can pay tribute to
is due to the origins of film art.

The CNC system being discussed with the
is also presented to you. It reflects the ambition that is the
mine: cover as widely as possible the extent of our magnificent
assets. This arrangement, subject to the agreement of the authorities
will initially concern silent films and
short films. Thanks to digital, thanks to its different modes of
these formats should find a new life and meet with
new audiences.

Finally, digital tools still have to prove their worth in terms of
long-term conservation, the CNC will intervene to financially support
the return on film of digitized works, again with a
transfer and enhancement of heritage.

That is a strong signal that is being given, particularly to our
partners. And the stakes are obviously economic and
Through this call for investors, the government intends to help the
establishment in France of a technological sector of excellence in the
and restoration. Thanks to the work carried out by the
Commission technique supérieure de l'image et du son (CST)
with the Federation of Industries, Audiovisual and Multimedia
(Ficam), the adoption in this agreement of the digital quality standard
“2K” is an asset in our game.

Defending and preserving film heritage today, you
see, it’s also inventing what it will be tomorrow. Investing in
new technologies, it is of course to preserve
expertise, it also means creating new know-how and creating new
new grounds for cultural employment.

As you can see, commitment to the service of content is at the heart of this
for our cinematographic heritage, the one that
generations of cinephiles, the one who can tomorrow “educate” the eyes of the
more people. In this area, the digital shift has
long been “suffered”; the ambition of future investments is
precisely to anticipate and take the lead.

That is the spirit in which this agreement was signed, that is the meaning of my
commitment and all my action in the field of digitalization
cultural content.

Thank you.