One making an impression in film dear to the French (6)
I believe the answer is:
etcher
'one making an impression' is the definition.
(person who creates an impression in something)
'film dear to the french' is the wordplay.
'film' becomes 'ET' (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial).
'dear to the french' becomes 'cher' ('dear' in French).
'et'+'cher'='ETCHER'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for etcher that I've seen before include "A designing individual" , "Artist using acid on metal" , "One with incisive career" , "One making an impression" , "Artist who likes to make an impression?" .)