French President Emmanuel Macron has published an op-ed calling for a "new multilateralism" to protect and revitalise global creative industries, published on the eve of the Lumière Summit, which he is co-hosting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. The gathering brings together leading figures from film, television and gaming to discuss the future of the "moving image" industries, with Macron framing the moment as a turning point for what he calls civilisation's long relationship with images, warning that society risks resigning itself to watching that culture deteriorate rather than actively reshaping it.

Macron traces the history of cinema back to the Lumière brothers' first public screening in Paris in 1895 before arguing that today's abundance of screens and content has come at the cost of sustained attention, imagination and genuine cultural diversity. He distinguishes between an endless supply of algorithm-driven content and works of "time, talent, risk and intention", arguing that ambitious films, series and video games carry economic, cultural and democratic value that must be protected through international cooperation and support for creative industries, rather than a retreat from screens altogether.