Roselyne Bachelot

"Asterix" returned to the big screen on Feb. 1 as France tries to match Hollywood by weaponizing nostalgia in the battle for box office success.

Critics may bemoan the crushing lack of originality in Hollywood in recent years, as risk-averse studios fall back on their catalogue of familiar superhero and sci-fi franchises.

A painting by Marc Chagall, which was among 15 works stolen by Nazis and eventually returned by France to the heirs of the affected families, will go on sale next month in New York, the Phillips auction house said on Oct. 6.

The French senate on Feb. 15 approved the return of 15 artworks looted from Jews during World War II, as part of efforts by the government to accelerate restitutions.

The vote authorizes public museums holding the works, including the world-famous Musee d'Orsay in Paris, to hand over the property to the heirs of the original owners.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi's license has been extended by 10 years to 2047, the French presidency said on Dec. 3 during a visit by Emmanuel Macron to the United Arab Emirates.

One of Picasso's daughters has given eight of his artworks and a book of drawings to the French state in lieu of inheritance tax at a ceremony on Sept. 20.

Six paintings and two statues by the Spanish master were handed over to the state-run Picasso Museum in Paris by his daughter Maya Ruiz-Picasso, his daughter by French model Marie-Therese Walter.

One of the world's biggest theatre festivals gets underway on July 5 in the southern French city of Avignon after a year-long hiatus caused by COVID-19, with masks compulsory for audiences but organizers relishing a return to relative normality.