Final answer:
True, Émile Zola's naturalistic writing did have a strong influence on the French Poetic Realist filmmakers due to the depiction of individuals constrained by their environment and heredity, which aligns with core concepts of the Poetic Realism film movement.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement 'His naturalistic writing strongly influenced the French Poetic Realist filmmakers' holds true when referring to Émile Zola, the creator of naturalism. Zola's naturalistic works often portrayed characters as being molded by their environment and heredity, leading them to actions that seemed beyond their control. His theory of Naturalism described in Le Roman Expérimental (1880) suggested a form of intense realism, exploring gritty subjects such as heredity and environment's effect on human behavior, which indeed influenced not only literature but also the visual arts, including the film medium.
Realism began in France in the 1850s as a revolt against the exaggerations of Romanticism, aiming to depict ordinary life and the harsher aspects of the human condition with truth and accuracy. Its visual counterpart often included representations of laborers and common people. Naturalism took Realism further by incorporating more controversial topics like prostitution, alcoholism, and domestic violence, as seen in Zola's works and had an impact on filmmakers who sought to depict reality with a similar forthrightness.