At the Drive-In Festival, 200 cars between “America” ​​and “carefree”

• The dark rooms being closed because of Covid-19, it is the immense Place des Quinconces, in Bordeaux, which was transformed, this Saturday evening, into an open-air cinema for the first stage in France of the Drive- In Festival.
• The organizers of the itinerant and ephemeral event will donate the potential benefits to cinemas in difficulty and will suspend the meetings as soon as they can reopen.
• “20 Minutes” attended the premiere of the festival during which the film was screened Hippocrates, in front of nearly 200 cars and 600 spectators.

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Bordeaux. 20 hours. Exterior day. The first spectators of the
first Drive-In Festival roll in the brand new
outdoor cinema. Place des Quinconces, the largest in Europe, has been chosen to host the first dates of the itinerant event which wants to support operators in financial distress since the beginning of
the Covid-19 epidemic. Lovers of dark cinemas like those “who have never screwed a foot in the cinema” responded. As soon as the program was announced less than two weeks ago, the Drive-In Festival won over 37-year-old Julien: “because it’s finally the opportunity to go out and do something nice”. The Bordeaux resident and his partner, Isabelle, are the first to stand in front of the 190 m2 inflatable screen.

Screened this Saturday evening, Hippocrates, in tribute to
hospital staff. “It is this film which decided us to come, even if it does not change our ideas too much”, smile Etienne and Jérémy. The two accomplices are caregivers and grant themselves their “first outing since January”. “It feels great to be there, to see people, to be carefree,” says Etienne, his voice trembling. I haven’t hung up for months, I’ve chained the guards and, tonight, it’s America. “

“Netflix or Amazon continue to enjoy themselves”

8.45 p.m. Between dog and wolf. Clément, who coordinates the 50 volunteers and supervisors of the Drive-In Festival association launched for the occasion, relaxes. “My phone rings less is that it rolls,” said he headed for members of the “reception team” at the entrance to the site. There, the line of cars slowly continues to advance to the rhythm of the volunteers who scan the tickets which can only be bought on the Net. The “safety team”, it squares the immense place of Quinconces. And the “team parking” continues to place the cars on the cob in front of the screen, checks if the spectators have masks at hand or warns that the exits will be limited. And pee breaks prohibited except “in case of extreme emergency”, reassures Alexis Delage, the press attaché accustomed to the Cannes festival who joined the Drive-In Festival adventure at the beginning of the project.

It was in the mind of Mathieu Robinet, a film producer, that the idea germinated. And during this premiere, the Parisian wants to reassure the Federation of French Cinemas which has taken offense when seeing a festival land before the opening of cinemas and environmentalists (including the association Velocity), who denounce pollution and profits. “There may be misunderstandings but the aim of the association is in no way to compete with cinemas. We intend to transfer the potential profits to the operators who can no longer pay anything while
Netflix or Amazon continue to enjoy “Defends Mathieu Robinet. As for the carbon footprint, “we will calculate it and we will compensate it with a donation to environmentalists”, adds the producer who says he is a fan of cycling: “I understand the concerns but this is politics. We are here to give the French people the opportunity to dream, to breathe. “

“Frankly, masks are not practical for shoveling”

9:15 p.m. Aperitif for some. Cécile and Dimitri, both 34, are in pole position to “take advantage of this recreation offered to Bordeaux residents”. The couple planned the beers, crisps, popcorn and sandwiches. Small blankets too, in case it gets a little cold. Further on, Nathan and Léa are already under their quilts flanked by the starry banner, warmly installed in the back of their pick-up. Next door, Justine and Sofiane, 26, drink a homemade mojito from the gourd. What about social distancing, masks? “Frankly, it’s not practical to roll shovels,” says Sofiane. Come alone Marie-Clémence prefers to immerse herself “in the American atmosphere quietly” … with her sushi. The 32-year-old Mérignacaise never goes to the cinema but found in the event “a little attractive retro side, a way to play it Dirty Dancing “

22 hours. Exterior night. Thomas Lilti, director of Hippocrates, makes his long speech on a giant screen. The horn concert thanks the caregivers. Then, Vincent Lacoste’s boil finally appears. His voice can be heard in cars via the FM radio band. Between the aisles, the volunteers bring a portable radio to the few spectators whose cars automatically go to sleep every ten minutes. These people turned on their warnings to report their distress.

Our file on deconfinement

Midnight. Exterior… cold. Spectators win the exit. In twenty minutes, the Place des Quinconces is deserted. Only two cars were left in a battery but quickly repaired by Mathieu Robinet and his starter cables. Before leaving, happy spectators gave a few horns. Among them, François and his son Elie, happy to reconnect with “le cinoche et Vincent Lacoste”. Damien and Adriana, they run quickly: “drinking water for three hours was not a good idea”. As for Isabelle and Sandie, they will join the Médoc. “It was a nice parenthesis, analyzes Isabelle, 39 years old. I was confined with the children and this evening between girlfriends made a lot of good. “We had gone around the pleasures that we could offer at home,” says Sandie, smiling. And once you understand that jogging or dynamic range is not for you, it’s good to know that the cinema is there. “