The French national cinema centre (CNC) has announced the establishment of a new form of aid to filmmakers based on export potential.

L'IFCIC, the institute for film and cultural industry financing, which acts as a guarantor for loans made to filmmakers - most notably behind film finance structure Coficine - will now extend its guarantee to cover film export.

This aid will guarantee loans made by French banks to film and television producers and potentially allow for stronger pre-financing of films.

From now on, according to the CNC, IFCIC will have the ability to guarantee up to 65% of the loans made to producers based on their future receipts from export. The previous amount up to which IFCIC made guarantees was 55%.

The idea behind the move is to encourage producers to make more internationally marketable films which will help spread French cinema throughout the world.

This new aid is, however, only provisional. Following a few trial months, the scheme will be re-examined to assess its progress and viability within the local industry.