When cinema (and television and streaming) funds cinema (and television and streaming)
As a public establishment under the Ministry of Culture, the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC) is largely funded by specific taxes related to the audiovisual sector, including the special additional tax (TSA), which is levied at a rate of 10.72% on the price of cinema tickets (both for American and French films), as well as through taxes on television subscriptions or streaming services. It is not the taxpayers who are taxed, but the viewers, which is not exactly the same thing.
In 2025, the CNC collected 877.5 million euros to redistribute 772.4 million euros in the form of grants (including 315.5 million for cinema). The projects funded by the CNC will be seen, generating both box office revenue and television audiences, and therefore taxes that will finance future projects and so on. A virtuous circle that benefits diverse films such as the 2025 Palme d’Or winner “A Simple Accident” by Jafar Panahi or the Vosges documentary “The Song of the Forests” by Vincent Munier, and will benefit future films.
