The Laval Decree was a law controlling content of motion pictures filmed in

French African colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...

. It was used to prevent African filmmakers from filming in Africa.

History

In 1934, the French government passed the Laval Decree to prevent cinema from spreading subversive or anti-colonial messages. It was written by

Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. During the Third Republic, he served as Prime Minister of France from 27 January 1931 to 20 February 1932 and 7 June 1935 to 24 January 1936. He again occu ...

, who later became the

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

minister of colonies. The decree stated that "any person who desire to make cinematographic images or sound recordings must address a written request to the lieutenant Governor of the colony where the applicant intends to operate". The request included all the information about the applicant's professional references, scripts for film or musical accompaniment (for slides). The Decree restricted the work of both African and European filmmakers from 1934 until it was overturned in 1960. The decree required the French government's permission to shoot and show films in

French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...

and banned colonized people from filming them selves. In 1960 when colonies became independent the decree ended.

References

Law of France African cinema Pierre Laval {{Africa-film-stub