I.

Introduction

French Cinema, historical development of the cinema in France. One of the paradoxes of the French film industry is that, despite the fact that foreign companies and investment have, since the silent era, played a major role in the financing of French production, the resulting films have won praise worldwide for their specific qualities of Frenchness, particularly during those periods when they have been most successful internationally: the Golden Age of 1929-1939, and the era of the nouvelle vague (New Wave), 1958-1968, approximately.