Lumiere Declaration Sets 15 Principles for Global Film Governance, Calling Audience Attention ‘a Trust to Be Honored, Not a Resource to Be Captured’

Representatives from countries, international organisations, and leaders across film, television and gaming industries have adopted the Lumière Declaration on the Future of Cinema and the Moving Image, signed on Monday at the Lumière Summit in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Jointly presented by France and South Korea and co-chaired by their presidents, the declaration sets out 15 principles intended as a foundation for global governance of the moving image, remaining open to further signatories. It matters because it represents one of the first coordinated multilateral efforts to assert values-based oversight of an industry increasingly shaped by algorithmic platforms and artificial intelligence, positioning moving images as "a common good" rather than merely content optimised for capturing attention.

The declaration's most quoted line states that "the attention of an audience is not a resource to be captured, but a trust to be honored," a direct rebuke of platform-driven business models. Its principles span creative diversity and freedom, support for creators facing political or social pressure, and the economic role of the audiovisual sector as a driver of investment, jobs and skills, including calls for stronger international co-production. Three principles address technology directly: AI is framed as potentially strengthening creativity provided humans remain central to creation, while the declaration also warns of a future where access to works is increasingly mediated by "agentic AI," and stresses that piracy undermines the rewards needed to sustain creative renewal. Further principles cover cinema infrastructure and cultural diversity, marking the declaration 200 years after the first photograph and 130 years after the Lumière brothers' first Cinématographe screening.