This is a great way of getting information about French Cinema, especially if you can read a bit of French. If you spot any good ones, dead links or duds let me know. Most of these should link automatically but software can be temperamental.
Live films
Go to google videos for some rare early French films e.g. Que les Heures and Menilmontant. Also Youtube has some excellent material – put Jean-Luc Godard into the search box and see what pops out.
A French friend recommended this one for French songs and film clips Daily Motion
You could try this Reelgood who tell me “Just type in a movie, show, or person, and it’ll tell you everywhere you can stream it, watch it for free with ads, buy, or rent it. Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, you simply click and it’ll link you directly to that service.’
Let me know.
International archives
www.bfi.org.uk The British Film Institute
www.anica.it the Italian state archive
www.imdb.com Internet film database. Written by enthusiasts so full of glitches.
http://www.cinematheque.fr/ Home page of the famous French archive and film centre.
French Film in general
www.ecrannoir.fr a great site with free weekly email newsletter
www.allocine.fr Commercial what’s on in cinema. Excellent listing on films and their cast, crew, trailers etc.
www.lefilmfrancais.com Produced by the French foreign ministry has lots of information including the month’s film trailers
www.unifrance.org The French film distributors website full of graphs and statistics.
www.afrhc.fr The deadly earnest site of the French film historians society.
The New Wave. A website dedicated to New Wave filmmakers and their history
www.francealacarte.org.uk French Embassy in London website
http://filmstudiesforfree.blogspot.com/ Excellent website including film essay on Chabrol’s Les Bonnes Femmes
www.france.diplomatie.gouv.fr a big address for a big site – The French foreign ministry.
http://filmsdefrance.com/homepage_eng.html A useful website with lots of film listings.
www.cnc.fr Website for the Cinema division of the Ministry of Culture
The Lumiere Institute in Lyons —a wonderful museum and archive based in the home of the Lumière brothers, the inventors if cinema.
The Gaumont Film Museum New Museum to Gaumont Studios and cinemas
Gaumont Films One of France’s longest running and biggest film producing and exhibiting companies
Netflix have a wide variety of French Cinema with subtitles with access to some of the more box-officey ones that rarely get a release in the UK.
London Film Groups
Why not check out this group of French Film Lovers who go to films together and share their enjoyment of French Cinema?
Individual film makers and actors
www.luc-besson.com
http://www.tativille.com/ The Official Jacques Tati site
Mathieu Kassovitz His own site.
Listings
www.tf1.fr French TV website with lots of film info. (also offers access to webcams all over France)
Shopping etc
www.fnac.com For buying from France
www.amazon.fr Ditto –great delivery service to French addresses.
www.dvdenfrancais.com What is available on DVD in French
www.find-dvd.co.uk Finds cheapest source of DVD’s in UK