The situation for exports was little better. The domestic
French market itself was relatively small, and films
seldom could recover their costs without going abroad.
Foreign films, however, were difficult to place in the lucrative
American market, and only a tiny number of
French films had any success there during this period.
With American films dominating most other markets, the
French could count on only limited export-primarily to
areas that already had cultural exchange with France,
such as Belgium, Switzerland, and French colonies in
Africa and Southeast Asia. Thus there was a continuous
call for a distinctively French cinema that might help
counter foreign competition, both at home and abroad.
Companies were apparently willing to experiment, and
several directors central to the fledgling French Impressionist
movement-Abel Gance, Marcel L'Herbier, Germaine
Dulac, and Jean Epstein-made their early films
for large firms.