French President Emmanuel Macron opened the Lumiere Summit by calling for coordinated global action to safeguard the future of cinema, while warning that social media's endless scroll poses a serious threat to artistic expression and human attention. Speaking at the Fondation Maeght art museum in Saint Paul de Vence, Macron framed the issue as a matter of cultural preservation, arguing that storytelling underpins national identity and that the film industry faces unprecedented, unavoidable change.

Macron described what he called "the paradox of our environment": although people watch more images than ever, they risk seeing and absorbing nothing meaningful amid a relentless stream of content designed for instant reaction and validation, such as "likes". He said this dynamic undermines creativity and artists' ability to find and hold an audience, adding that "our attention is an economic resource" as he acknowledged the growing influence of the creator economy on cultural life.