On a cold autumn evening in Moscow, Alexandra was headed to a cinema, hoping to escape reality for a few hours by taking in a new French comedy.
With Hollywood boycotting the Russian market over Moscow's offensive on Ukraine, French films are one of the few cultural windows Russians have left to the West.
And even as relations between Paris and Moscow have sunk to their lowest in decades, French cinema has retained its popularity as aficionados seek a big-screen dose of "art de vivre", the French philosophy of living well and savoring the moment.
"French films create a colorful bubble where I want to stay," Alexandra told AFP, allowing her to "pause my thoughts about what's going on in the world."
The Moscow cinema hall showing Cedric Klapisch's dramatic comedy "Colors of Time" -- recently premiered at Cannes -- was crowded.
Other French films on offer range from fresh releases such as Luc Besson's "Dracula" and Quentin Dupieux's "The Piano Accident", to Rene Clement's cult classic "Purple Noon", starring Alain Delon.
Russia was the top export market for French films in 2023, and second in 2024 by ticket sales, according to Unifrance, a French cultural body promoting cinema abroad.
This comes even as pirate copies of Hollywood films were still being shown in some Russian cinemas.
'Life-saving'
The popularity has endured even as France hit Russia with an unprecedented number of sanctions over the Ukraine offensive, and the Kremlin and Elysee deploy increasingly sharp rhetoric against each other.
French President Emmanuel Macron called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin an "ogre" and "predator" earlier this year -- drawing rebukes from officials in Moscow.
But big box office releases have kept flowing, with 73 French films hitting Russian cinemas last year.
In 2023, animated film "Miraculous" scored more than three million viewers in Russia -- the largest audience for a French film in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"It would be foolish in this situation to abandon the country that invented cinema," Konstantin Ernst, the sanctioned head of Russia's state-run Channel One, told AFP.
"The subtlety, depth, and aestheticism of French cinema are closely aligned with the Russian soul," he added.
Many Asian and Latin American producers have tried to fill the void in the Russian market by the formal absence of Hollywood movies -- but with little success.
For Marina, a 33-year-old who works at a law firm, they have a "different energy."
"French or European cinema is closer to me in terms of its atmosphere and elegance," she told AFP.
It is "essential, even life-saving," she added.
- 'Different way of living' -
Russians have for centuries sought to establish cultural bridges to France -- "from French literature in the 19th century to the cinema that replaced it," Joël Chapron, a French expert on Russian cinema, told AFP.
It is "a kind of cultural diplomacy," he added, offering a "glimpse into the culture they've always loved ... and an alternative to propaganda."
As Alexandra put it: "Interwoven for centuries, our two cultures are continuing their dialogue."
Even during the Cold War, French cinema was widely popular behind the Iron Curtain.
The 1952 swashbuckling comedy "Fanfan la Tulipe" starring Gerard Philippe attracted some 30 million viewers.
French actors have also remained high-profile celebrities in Russia. Disgraced star Gerard Depardieu was even granted citizenship in 2013.
Unifrance has defended its decision not to join Hollywood in boycotting the Russian market over the Ukraine offensive.
"Banning culture would mean severing ties with the Russian population," a spokesperson told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Channel One's Ernst hailed that decision as "wise".
Distributors agree.
"Closing doors is never helpful," said Nadezhda Motina, president of Arna Media, which sells French films in Russia.
"We must show Russians another world with its values and bring a little sun into cold water," she said, referring to French writer Francoise Sagan's novel "A Little Sun in Cold Water."
