Cinema: a geopolitical, social, inclusive and ecological weapon

At a time when the Cannes Film Festival, a world showcase for cinema, is opening, it is time

to recall the strategic role of the seventh art. In the face of geopolitical, social and ecological

challenges, cinema is no longer just entertainment. It becomes a lever for influence, memory and social transformation.

Art, and especially cinema, acts as a catalyst for transformation. It allows us to reconsider our relationship to the world through an immersive and accessible form. According to a 2020 European survey, 72% of citizens believe that cinema promotes intercultural dialogue. However, a UNESCO report (2021) highlights that 55% of countries still do not have policies in place to ensure equitable representation of minorities in the audiovisual sector. Cinema evokes, suggests, proposes. It shows invisible realities, engaging the viewer in a process of empathy. It allows us to temporarily inhabit other worlds and to resonate with stories far from our own.

Reinscribing narratives according to decolonial logics means giving communities the means to represent themselves in freedom and autonomy, outside of the epistemic legacies imposed by a form of coloniality of knowledge. Opening up the artistic, political, and economic spheres is part of a broader process of deconstructing dominant frameworks — a movement that recalls the use of deconstruction in the critique of hegemonic discourses. The alliance between an experienced filmmaker and a young creator from marginalized territories can give rise to hybrid, rich, powerful, and sincere narratives, carriers of a pluriversality that resonates with the visions of Mignolo or Walsh, who propose an epistemic alternative grounded in indigenous knowledges and aimed at breaking with imposed universality. It is also necessary to sustain situated storytelling: filmmakers such as Mati Diop (Atlantics) or Wanuri Kahiu (Rafiki) show that the universal can emerge from the local, embodying a poetics of cultural grounding that affirms the value of a singular perspective without erasing it.

A tool of diplomatic influence, a lever for social emancipation

Cinema is a vector of soft power. It projects the image of a country, its values, its openness. Since the 1990s, Hollywood has adapted its productions to appeal to foreign markets, to the point of modifying its scripts for China, as for "Top Gun: Maverick". But this compromise threatens artistic singularity.

Faced with this, two opposing examples emerge. Brazil, with "I'm still here" (Oscar 2025), proves that a local film, without concessions, can shine worldwide. Conversely, Iranian cinema, which is internationally acclaimed, remains closely monitored by the state. Soft power can thus conceal internal censorship. In neglected areas, cinema can play an educational and civic role. The "Mobile Cinema Project" in Kenya has reached 120,000 spectators in three years through travelling screenings and workshops. These initiatives reveal talent, enhance local identities and change the image of territories. Their effectiveness is based on anchoring in coherent educational, social and cultural policies.

Towards a sustainable and equitable model

Committed works, often on the margins of the system, remain fragile. Despite its limitations, the French model remains exemplary, with €800 million allocated to cinema in 2023, more than 200 European co-productions and obligations for platforms. But dependence on public funding calls for vigilance: the transparency of committees and the diversity of decision-making profiles must be guaranteed.

International support (Eurimages, World Cinema Fund, Fonds de la Francophonie) must be strengthened, as must support for post-production: translation, subtitling, school and festival screening. It is also crucial to re-examine festival models in the light of geopolitical, security and ecological risks.

A series of decisions made it possible to make progress on the subject with a global dimension:

- Structural inclusion: recruiting fairly, creating mentorship programs, translating works into local languages, making platforms accessible.

- Ecological sustainability: eco-designing shoots, reducing journeys, training crews, labelling responsible production.

- Cultural sovereignty: create South-South and North-South co-writing laboratories with the countries of the South as project leaders, finance rural studios, protect intangible heritage, impose quotas for works from the Global South.

- Cultural diplomacy: strengthen funding programmes for fair co-productions, support festivals and transnational exchanges.

- Review the selection and evaluation criteria for works during international competitions.

- Innovate financing models, for transnational and collaborative financing.

Cinema alone will not change the world. But it can transform the way people look at things. And often, this is how major changes begin. Institutions, artists and citizens have the responsibility to keep a free, anchored and open cinema alive. A cinema capable of telling the story of our fractures, but also our hopes – infinite.