But the answer must be more comprehensive

How will the documentary France Rather well. On the occasion of the opening in La Rochelle of the 21eédition of the Sunny Side of the Doc, the international documentary market, the national Centre for cinematography (CNC) published for the first time a comprehensive study on the market of the documentary. This study, which covers all aspects (financing, dissemination in room, television and video, export...) traces a decade (2000-2009) of the documentary France. "The documentary is a television genre adapted to the needs of the strings, as evidenced by the large volume of French production," estimet - it preamble.

Beyond their legal obligations, the chains also like the documentary because it also matches an economy in crisis. "Documentary is a less expensive to produce than fiction, sport, or the variety and its lifetime is longer," said Yves Jeanneau, creator and Commissioner-General of the Sunny Side of the Doc.

A heterogeneous environment

Support numbers: in 2009, there were 2.225 hours of documentaries in France, is an 8.1 increase over 2008. This volume represented an amount of 345,1 million euros ( 7.9). By contrast, the production of documentaries was three times greater than that of the hourly volume fiction, but accounted for 52 of the amounts invested in fiction.

The environment of the documentary is particularly heterogeneous, whether at the level of the formats, themes, funding of the production or distribution: next films to any small budget (a few tens of thousands of euros) broadcast almost in sly on a string of cable or satellite, exist in the mégaproductions - the recent "Home", Yann Arthus-Bertrand, or "Revelation" of France television, on the second world war - worthy of Hollywood, and whose promotion budgets is worthy of a cinema film. In 2009, the largest estimate was that of "La Clef des champs" with 5.8 million euros, while the median estimate lies at 760,000 euros.

The chains have funded EUR 163 million documentary last year (i.e. 47 of total funding), the highest level for 20 years, notes the CNC.

The situations are in fact disparate. Arte made his true trademark documentary, disseminating 279 hours per year. The Franco-German channel is the first funder of the French documentary with 32.4 million euros invested in 2009. For its part, the funding of the France Television Group reach EUR 73 million. Last year, the public group has been a real success with "revelation".

In Canal , the documentary also is a genus that rises more and more. The encrypted string spent 10 million per year. It has installed a monthly appointment in prime time with films on "areas of tension of the French company" (prisons, poorly at work....), as explained by Christine Cauquelin, Director of the documentary for Canal . Already known for its ambitious policy on fiction, Canal claims this same tone for its documentaries. "We want to install the documentary as a pillar of the chain," says Christine Cauquelin.

TF1 and M6 virtually absent

However, with few exceptions, the genus is almost absent from TF1 and M6, the two main French private channels. In 2009, they have funded the documentary that EUR 8 million each. For their part, the TNT channels invest little little niche. With regard to production, the panorama is also heterogeneous. To the sides of the sector, Gédéon, TelFrance and other majors... live - or survive - a multitude of small companies. Small companies who have suffered from the economic crisis. In 2008, the CDC identified 532 companies active in the production of documentaries against 562 a year earlier. Even if this figure is higher than in 2006, the market trend is the concentration of production on mini-majors.

Is a double issue for the documentary: that of the rejuvenation of its hearing and its adaptation to the era of multimedia. "Prison Valley", a particularly innovative work distributed on the Internet, is on everyone's lips. But the answer must be more comprehensive. "It is a question of style but also a matter of substance," said Yves Jeanneau.