Coastline

The French Conservatoire du Littoral (the body responsible for preservation of the French coastline) owns a significant natural heritage on the seashore and on the shores of certain lakes, considered to be fragile natural environments, thus requiring rigorous management. It is difficult to estimate the number of sites open to filming, as they vary according to the time of year and the projects envisaged.

Filming on the sites of the Conservatoire du littoral is subject to authorizations that require delays in obtaining agreements. The collection of a fee for the management of the site may be required.

You must therefore contact the Conservatoire du littoral, which issues the authorizations. The communes are also competent to deliver authorizations for filming at sea if it is less than 300 meters from the coast. The network of film commissions is also at your disposal to inform you about the different sites.

Beaches

With the exception of beaches that are part of the heritage of the Conservatoire du Littoral, the beaches are part of the public maritime domain. Therefore, it is necessary to contact the Town Hall geographically competent who will be the one to deliver filming authorizations.

Coast Guard

The use of the coast guard services is only possible, in principle, in the context of a documentary.

The request, as precise as possible, must be addressed to the communication department of the the French customs and indirect taxation authorities (DGDDI).

The authorization is issued within a period not exceeding one week. The coast guard service is organized into 4 interregional maritime customs directorates (Channel, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Antilles – Guyana). Within each directorate, all the surveillance resources at sea are grouped in a Coast Guard Division (DGC).

To obtain details of the sections of the nautical event declaration form and the contact details of the customs maritime inter-regions, contact the Film France network.