Laval Decree

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}The '''Laval Decree''' was a law controlling content of motion pictures filmed in French African colonies.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Diawara|first=Manthia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lIjrlnC0bmsC&pg=PA22|title=African Cinema: Politics & Culture|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-253-20707-4|pages=22|language=en}}</ref> It was used to prevent African filmmakers from filming in Africa.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=Heath|first=Elizabeth|title=Laval Decree|date=2005-04-07|url=https://oxfordaasc.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-42100|encyclopedia=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.42100|isbn=978-0-19-530173-1|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Diawara|first1=Manthia|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zg-1VxIZKAwC&pg=PA117|title=The International Movie Industry|last2=Kindem|first2=Gorham|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-8093-2299-2|editor-last=Kindem|editor-first=Gorham Anders|pages=117|language=en|chapter=Senegal}}</ref>

== 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, who later became the Vichy France minister of colonies.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Genova|first=James E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aeStAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|title=Cinema and Development in West Africa|date=2013-09-25|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-01011-7|pages=27|language=en}}</ref> 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".<ref name=":0" />

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.<ref name=":0" />

The decree required the French government's permission to shoot and show films in French colonies and banned colonized people from filming themselves. In 1960 when colonies became independent the decree ended.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fofana|first=Amadou|date=|title=Cinema in Senegal: A Brief History|url=https://willamette.edu/arts-sciences/fi/faculty/fofana/africancinema/index.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-05|website=|publisher=Willamette University}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Law of France Category:Cinema of Africa Category:Pierre Laval