The Paris court of appealshas upheld the decision to block Jean-Pierre Jeunet's A Very Long Engagementfrom benefiting from French subsidies.

The film was stripped of its Frenchstatus in an original decision dating back to November last year.

At issue is the financial structureof the production company for the film, 2003 Productions, set up by Warner BrosFrance president Francis Boespflug. 2003 has contended it is an entirely Frenchcompany while the Independent Producers Union and the Independent ProducersAssociation believed the company to be controlled by Warner Bros. in the US.The court has concurred with the two agencies.

France's National CinemaCenter (CNC), which grants subsidies to films which qualify as European andFrench via a points system, appealed the original decision in November and afurther appeal is still possible.

A decision on another 2003Productions film, L'Ex Femme De Ma Vie, will be handed down later thissummer.

Seperately, Agence FrancePresse reports that claims were dropped by the Technicians and ProductionWorkers Union which sought to reverse the French status of Luc Besson's 1997film The Fifth Element. The film's status will thus stay in tact.