Air France and cinema share the same fascination for travel, movement and escape. From the pioneering films of the 1930s to the jet age, the company has appeared on screen as a privileged witness of an era in constant transformation. These three videos trace that shared history, one in which aviation becomes at once a backdrop, a narrative, and symbol of modernity.
Air France, set and screen actress
In the 1930s, Air France carved out a place for itself in French and international cinema. Aviation captivated audiences, aerial photography was emerging as a new visual language, and the airline embraced this spirit of modernity. At the initiative of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – writer, pilot, artistic advisor and journalist – Air France took part in promotional films and more than ten fictional features, from La Banque Nemo (1934) to Courrier Sud (1936).
The Second World War brought things to a halt: the airlne vanished from screens during the Occupation. Released in 1941, Casablanca remains one of the rare films to explicitly evoke the image of Air France during this period: a cinematic testament to a world in upheaval.
Filming of Casablanca
© Air FranceThe renaissance (1946–1958)
Video
After the war, cinema accompanied the rebuilding of both Air France and France itself. In 1948, In the Eyes of Remembrance portrayed the airline’s people and professions, embodying its renewal. Stars, airport infrastructure, new aircraft: the films of the 1950s reflected a modern aviation that was both reassuring and ambitious.
The iconic figures of the era – Jean Marais, Michèle Morgan, Edith Piaf, Bourvil or Brigitte Bardot – embodied on screen, as in real life, the rise of air travel. Cinema helped familiarize the public with airports, aircraft cabins and new horizons.
Together, Air France and cinema became vehicles for image, innovation, and openness to the world at a time when aviation was becoming both more accessible and more international.
Shooting of the film To the Eyes of Memory
© Air FranceExpansion and age of the jet (1959–1981)
With the dawn of the jet era, Air France became a major cinematic backdrop. The Caravelle, the Boeing 707 and 747, as well as Orly and Roissy airports, all fed the imagination of the “Trente Glorieuses”. The airline appeared in art-house and mainstream films alike, as well as major international productions.
The James Bond franchise, most notably Moonraker (1979), showcased the technological prestige of French aviation and the Concorde. Airports were becoming narrative spaces in their own right, symbols of a world on the move, open and globalized.
Together, these three videos revisit these defining eras and show how cinema tells, in its own way, the story of Air France’s and society’s evolution.
Filming of Womanlight
© Costa Gavras