Ratings race part 2 - French channels hit back

Factual television and the documentary genre are undergoing constant evolution, but it is not threatening diversity of opinions nor the existence of point-of-view documentary making, say French broadcasters. Marie-Agnès Bruneau reports in the second instalment of her feature on the recent tensions between French channels and documentary producers.

Last week, C21's Factual Weekly reported that a group of prominent French documentary filmmakers and producer associations had formed the ROD - Réseau des Organisations Du Documentaire (Documentary Association Network). One of the new group's key aims is to fight for diversity and auteur-driven docs, while denouncing the domination of television ratings, which they feel threatens to bring down the standards of the doc genre.

Naturally, French broadcasters that were chastised by ROD were quick to defend the integrity of their commissioning policies. "We answered the long-time request from producers for primetime exposure and an increased doc budget, and all we get is scolded," says France 2's director of documentaries and magazines Patricia Boutinard-Rouelle (left). She claims that this hot-button issue is being pumped up by an "old-guard," and is not something that necessarily concerns emerging and newer documentary and factual producers.

As for charges that the editorial line is softening, Boutinard-Rouelle defends the idea that ratings are indeed an important goal for docs. Furthermore, she points out that difficult political topics, and sometimes controversial ones, do make it into primetime on France 2. She refers to Patrick Rotman's two-part programme about French president Jacques Chirac and CC's black and white archive-heavy La Traque des Nazis (Nazi Hunting, 2x60'). "So far, we have managed to achieve an average 20% share on our documentary slot," she says.

Thierry Garrel (left), Arte France's head of documentaries, who is in charge of author-driven slots, believes that the creation of ROD is a good thing and says the issues currently being discussed are worthy of debate. Garrel believes the tensions come from a misunderstanding between doc makers' desires and the constraints of creating a successful TV line-up, but says: "Audience pressure does exist, including at Arte. We have a 'social legitimacy level.' If Arte achieves only a 1% market share, then it is logical that political representatives would criticise us for being too elitist," (which would thus not justify licence fees).

Garrel observes that the pressure for channels like Arte to score ratings has grown as digital channels gain market share, and that there have been internal debates within Arte over this. "There were tensions when the new grid was introduced and the author-driven documentary slot Grand Format was pushed back after 23.00," admits Garrel.

While he was not pleased that author-driven docs were "penalised" by the scheduling move, he does admit that it was done to introduce a new science documentary slot, which is a good thing. "There are currently talks within the channel, and I hope this will be repaired for 2008," says Garrel, adding that he believes some author-driven docs can generate audiences on Arte. He cites the rerun in primetime on January 31 of Grand Format's doc La Langue Ne Ment Pas (Language Does Not Lie), directed by Stan Neumann, about the introduction of Nazi ideology in the German language, which performed well.

France 3's director of documentaries and magazines Muriel Rosé (left), who is in charge of two social primetime docs per month, addresses ROD's criticism that there is not enough international subject matter in documentaries airing in France. She admits France 3's specific editorial line for primetime - social docs - implies mostly domestic issues, but says global angles are also welcomed. Specifically, she highlights an upcoming 110-minute investigative doc Fromages Contre Fromages: La Guerre Du Gout (Cheese vs Cheese: The Taste War), which looks at the business of cheese production and the fight between small cheese makers and big international firms.

"We cannot have stories that are too personal in primetime, but there is room for these in the second part of the evening," she claims. "Most of our commissions are still in the making." For instance a new point-of-view documentary on French lawyers, directed by Denis Granier-Deferre, was commissioned in 2005 and will be delivered later this year.

Addressing ROD's call for diversity of documentary style and subject, Pierre Block de Friberg (left), the new director of France 5 documentaries, says his channel has six departments, each in charge of specific doc genres. "We broadcast 4,000 hours of documentaries per year - this is half our schedule - including 740 hours of acquisitions or international coproductions, and 380 hours of French and European commissions," says Block de Friberg, noting that the channel's mandate is to "unscramble" world issues, so exclusive or highly experimental documentaries don't fit the bill.

Looking ahead, France 5 has launched bids for an ambitious collection of 120 documentaries over four years portraying living personalities from areas such as politics, arts, literature and cinema. These won't include strict guidelines, specifically to ensure creativity, he adds.

Over at France 2, upcoming docs on the primetime slate include a sequel to Homo Sapiens, a docudrama on Marie-Antoinette and a one-off entitled Le Corps Amoureux (The Body in Love). "At France 2 we are trying other forms of factual - magazines and hybrids - but we don't call them documentary, and they are not broadcast in documentary slots," says Boutinard-Rouelle.

She also defends France 2's commitment to docudrama and believes the evolution within the documentary genre is only positive. "Emotion and fictionalisation enhance the viewer's discovery appetite, and this is the mark of a quality content channel," she says. "What comes first is the ability to transmit knowledge."

 

Article paru dans « Channel 21 » le 15/02/07