A who’s who of the global film industry has gathered in the French resort of Saint-Paul-de-Vence today (September 7) for the Lumière Summit, which is aiming to find solutions for the screen sector amid disruptions from AI, streaming and the creator economy.
Organised by French cinema body the CNC, the summit was opened by French President Emmanuel Macron and Lee Jae Myung, President of South Korea
The daylong event is being held at the modern art museum Fondation Maeght amid tight security.
Macron said he wanted the summit to mark the start of a new era of co-operation in the global industry.
The summit will see the publication and signing of the Lumière Declaration by key participants, setting out “principles for a new multilateralism for film and the moving image.”
Independent cinema support
Initiatives being announced include the launch of the International Resilience Initiative for Independent Screens (IRIS), designed to support independent cinemas, distributors and networks to help films circulate the world.
In a statement, the summit organisers said the initiative is led by an international council of more than 40 filmmakers and artists, including Juliette Binoche, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Costa-Gavras, the Dardenne brothers, Isabelle Huppert, Jim Jarmusch, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nanni Moretti, Jafar Panahi, Tilda Swinton, Denis Villeneuve and Wim Wenders. It said the initiative aims to establish “a permanent global network of solidarity and support for independent cinema.”
“In response to the growing vulnerabilities facing this ecosystem, which is essential to cultural diversity, IRIS will mobilise funding, expertise and international cooperation to sustainably strengthen independent cinema and its distribution to audiences,” said the summit organisers.
Lumière Alliance launch
The summit will also see the launch of the Lumière Alliance, billed as the first global network bringing together public institutions responsible for film and audiovisual policy.
Some 54 national film agencies have joined the network so far, which is being set up to exchange information, develop joint initiatives and co-ordinate positions on international issues. Its members will meet annually in Cannes, as well as at an annual congress hosted by a member state.
France-Korea partnership
Also launching is the Lumière Partnership, which will see France and Korea jointly invest €1bn in the film and audiovisual sector. France will invest €500m through Bpifrance between 2027 and 2031.
Summit organisers said the Lumière Partnership is open to other states, and aims to support the growth of companies in the sector and to promote ”the principles adopted in Saint-Paul-de-Vence: the primacy of human creativity, respect for copyright and cultural diversity.”
The summit is also launching Audiovisual Next Gen, an international programme led by the CNC in partnership with Netflix, RTL Group and Mediawan.
Aimed at 20 professionals under the age of 35 from across the creative industries, the programme will offer an 18-month mentoring programme. The first cohort, which will be announced in January 2027, will consist exclusively of women. The summit said this was to promote greater representation of women at the highest levels of responsibility.
Unveiling the initiatives, a spokesperson said: “Against the backdrop of the creative, technological, economic and geopolitical upheavals affecting the film, audiovisual and video game sectors, the Lumière Summit sought to go beyond simply assessing the situation and to develop concrete solutions. The commitments announced demonstrate the international community’s ability to organise collectively around a shared vision: defending the irreplaceable value of works, creativity and their authors; supporting cultural diversity; fostering innovation within a framework for value-sharing that ensures fair remuneration for authors and creators; and guaranteeing the central role of people in the future of the moving image.”
High-profile attendees
Among the 200 high-profile executives attending the summit are Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Disney Entertainment president Dana Walden and chairman Alan Bergman, NBCUniversal Entertainment chairman Donna Langley, HBO chairman Casey Bloys, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman and CAA CEO Bryan Lourd.
International representatives include Cannes Film Festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux, Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle, BFI CEO Ben Roberts, Vue International CEO Tim Richards, Mubi CEO Efe Cakarel, Cinépolis CEO Alejandro Ramírez Magaña, Toho Cinemas president Hiro Matsuoka, Regal Cinemas CEO Eduardo Acuña, Canal+ Group CEO Maxime Saada, CJ ENM CEO Yoon Sang-hyun, Pathé president Ardavan Safaee and Mediawan co-founder Pierre-Antoine Capton.
Security for the event is tight, with access to the venue strictly controlled and multiple layers of security including sniffer dogs and scanners in place. Speaking to Screen, attendees said they were very impressed by the calibre of guests that had been convened for the event, likening it to a major international summit usually reserved for topics such as finance or climate change.
However, organisational challenges meant some were confused about timings and where events were taking place.
Gaëtan Bruel, president of the CNC, said that the Summit has been convened to address a very urgent challenge. “We live in a world that is shaped by images, but our relationship with screens is slipping out of our control, and this has major consequences both on our lives and our societies.”
He said the summit was about “making cinema and the moving image one of the defining issues of our time” and “addressing these issues with the same seriousness and the same method that we have applied to climate change or global health.”
Bruel added: “Do we want a world in which we are absorbed by our screens, trapped with them, rather than open up to the world?”
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