Drawn from the author's PhD, and originally published in Images Documentaires in 2000, this article presents an incisive portrait of the complex political and institutional history that led to the establishment of film education within the curriculum in French secondary schools. Mounting a detailed account of the nuances and successive developments within the field, this essay examines the chronology -- starting within a post-war context -- through which the successive influences of cinéclubs, teachers, television, political movements and government interventions have shaped the form of curricular school-based film education in France today.