Page 23 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

Policy and Industry 7

gross, respectively) than American films such as the twenty - fifth - place fi lm
Ghost Rider ($5.3 million box office gross) in 2007. One must bear in

mind as well that France only has 63.4 million people, compared to 305
million in the US. And the US has nearly 40,000 screens compared to
30,000 for all of Europe. The American industry can therefore count on
high levels of domestic income that allow expensive and internationally
appealing products to be made. Nevertheless, France ’ s national market
share in 2006 was an impressive 44.6 percent, and seven of the top 10 fi lms
were French.
National market share for one ’ s own films does not make up for an

absence of a share of international markets. European fi lms attained a 4.9
percent market share in the US in 2007, but only 11 percent of those fi lms
were French. French film culture would appear to be talking to itself, not

to others. This would seem to bear out the argument that France ’ s fi lm
subsidies foster national cultural insularity. Anti - exceptionalists argue that
they require a knowledge of French culture and history to be appreciated
and are seen by an increasingly specialized audience. A single national
style is inimical, the argument goes, to real cultural diversity.
But diversity of another kind is an additional benefi t of the French and
European policies. Films from “ third ” countries in Africa, Latin America,
and Asia are provided a space in the European market that they would
not otherwise have if market forces alone were determinant. As a result,
from 2002 to 2006, 1,324 new films from third countries were distributed

in Europe, accounting for 18.5 percent of all the new titles. This opening
in the market has coincided with an increase in film production in third

countries. European policies that restrict American market power are

thus helping to nurture filmmaking in areas of the world that lack the

financial clout the US industry possesses. The proportion of new fi lms in
Europe that came from third countries increased from 14.7 percent in
2002 to 21.4 percent in 2006. During the same period, few if any African

films were distributed in the US, a loss in terms of broadening the aware-
ness of Americans regarding other parts of the globe that is not easy to
tally numerically in the way that a gain or loss in market share is.
In addition, the argument for liberalization in the relation between
government and the culture industries assumes that one country ’ s
products are better than another ’ s if they succeed in reaching a wider
audience and earning more money. This purely economic argument leaves
out two considerations.