French cinema, in decline for more than a decade, is experiencing a resurgence of popularity, thanks in large part to “various practical government initiatives: substantial subsidies for first- and second-time filmmakers; well-funded film schools; an obligation on television stations to show French films; and a complex system of subsidies funded by a levy on all box-office receipts, a measure regarded with fury by the US studios, which believe they are thereby helping to fund their direct competition.”