French politicians propose to ban smoking in films

Senator Nadine Grelet-Certenais accuses film-makers of advertising for the tobacco industry

'[Smoking in films] participates in more or less trivialising it, if not in promoting it'

A French politician has tabled the idea of banning smoking in films, it has been reported.

Senator Nadine Grelet-Certenais has accused film-makers of advertising for the tobacco industries and has reignited the debate about whether smoking should appear on the big screen.

The comments were made in the Sénat, the upper house of parliament, and some senior ministers agreed with Ms Grelet-Certenais’s call.

"Seventy per cent of new French films have at least one person in the process of smoking," Ms Grelet-Certenais said, the Local reported.

"It participates in more or less trivialising it, if not in promoting it, with children and adolescents who are now the main consumers of series and film especially on the internet.”

France’s health minister Agnès Buzyn agreed with Ms Grelet-Certenais and said smoking on screen was “denormalising the image of tobacco in society".

The proposal has been greeted with a degree of disbelief and ridicule, as smoking has often played a central role in French cinema.

One twitter user mocked the idea and said if the ban goes through, crime and driving above the speed limit should also be banned from films.