Between Jan 19 and Feb 2, noless than 48 films will be released in France. Among them: Closer, TheAviator, Vanessa Paradis-vehicle Mon Ange, Buena Vista France's LaMarche De L'Empereur and EuropaCorp.'s Danny The Dog.

This glut of films hasrekindled the long-debated issue of how to give films a chance to breathe whenthey are constantly chased off the screen by the next week's crop

Olivier Snanoudj of theExhibitors Federation (FNCF) says that the problem is getting worse. In 2004,554 films were released, up from 513 in 2003 and up by nearly 150 in ten years."It's impossible for the public to absorb the films," he said

Snanoudj claims that"technical releases" are also hurting the sector. Columbia's Little BlackBook for example benefited from a huge ad campaign that could be seen allaround Paris, but the film was released on only one screen.

"This eats up ad space, fora film which is essentially just shoring up its DVD career.," he says.

And, although the FNCF doesnot question the aid given to distributors by the French Film Commission (CNC),it has asked for a breakdown of the support so as to better examine thesituation.