Many a university thesis has been devoted to picking apart exactly why French films, particularly the work of the New Wave greats such as François Truffaut, Agnès Varda and Jean-Luc Godard, are so good.
But one thing is clear – France has always been militant about making sure French culture is adequately reflected in its film and TV output. That extends to the streaming era, where video-streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV+ must spend 20% of the revenue they generate in France on local productions, an amount estimated at around €300 million (NZ$492 million) annually since 2021 when the rule came in.
On top of that, France enforces a European Union mandate requiring 30% of streamers’ content to be European work. As a result, streamers are investing heavily in creating high-quality content in the French language for the local market that will also have global appeal. It’s why I watch a lot of good French TV shows on those platforms.
These provisions make sense for New Zealand, too. The likes of TVNZ and Whakaata Māori carry a significant amount of local content, part of their remit as public broadcasters. But locally made shows are all but absent from the major streaming platforms. The fact English is our primary language doesn’t help the situation, with the streamers happy to serve us mainly what the Americans get.
The Ministry of Culture and Heritage has proposed following in the footsteps of France and others with requirements for streamers to fund and carry local content. This should have been done years ago, when the streaming giants started to gain traction here.
But Netflix and Apple are fiercely opposed to such rules, arguing they already serve what Kiwi viewers want.
If traditional broadcasts can no longer attract big audiences with Kiwi TV shows and films, doesn’t that suggest we aren’t interested in seeing ourselves on screen?
I don’t buy that argument. When Netflix can pay to put its streaming button on your TV remote, and have its app preloaded on your new smart TV, you know how much power it has over what we watch. It has no interest in fostering local film and TV, only in making sure it spends the minimum required to keep your monthly subscription rolling over.
With Donald Trump back in the White House and wielding trade tariffs like a cudgel, the big tech companies feel emboldened to push back on new regulations. Canada was this month forced to scrap its planned digital services tax on US tech giants after the US president threatened to halt trade talks and impose punitive tariffs.
His administration has made it clear measures such as local content quotas and digital taxes are seen as “non-tariff trade barriers” and “overseas extortion” targeting American companies.
The threats are not idle ones. Trump has already announced a 100% tariff on foreign-made films.
Australia is facing intense US pressure as it considers moving forward with its streaming quotas requiring 10% of revenue to be invested in new local productions.
What makes French films so good is the confidence of film-makers to tell stories on their terms, even if it means sacrificing commercial appeal. We need to invest in our identity as a nation that tells its own stories, too. The streamers who count so many of us as customers should contribute to that effort.
