“The initiative comes from the team, explains Patrick Troudet, director of Utopia de Bordeaux. We are one of the few cinemas in Gironde to have kept all of our employees – 12 people – after the switch to digital.” All will be mobilized on Tuesday 15th, Wednesday 16th and the weekend of 19–20, normally busy days, to screen films in the five theaters of the place. Without public, following the last statements of Jean Castex.
The gesture is obviously symbolic.
“We want to denounce this government’s lack of dialogue, with us as with the entire industry, continues Patrick Troudet. Everyone was ready for a reopening on the 15th and we were only told on the 10th that it will not take place, so that the distributors had provided us with the films and put the promotion teams in place. We would have preferred not to be told of a reopening at all. “
Economically speaking, of course, state aid makes it possible to maintain activity and wages. “But we are still worried. We will have been closed for six months. And it is not over. Psychologically, it is hard, for us as for our public. We receive a lot of calls from elderly people for whom we represent an important release. “
As for offering an alternative offer on the Internet, like what is done for live shows or exhibitions, Patrick Troudet rejects the idea: “The virtual cinema hall is the end of the profession. Cinema , it’s getting out of your world to experience emotions in a place designed for that. It’s anything but virtual. “
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