CineDuchere, a wonderful story of the seventh art!

The Bees went to meet CineDuchere, an art-house cinema in Lyon, which this year celebrates 25 years of a wonderful adventure...

By Nicolas Lepage, Payroll Manager at Fifty Bees & Claire Le Meur, CEO of Blue Bees. This week, the Bees went to meet Georges Sothier and Emmanuelle Bureau, who passionately run CineDuchere, an art-house cinema nestled in Lyon's 9th arrondissement, which this year celebrates 25 years of a wonderful adventure...

Claire Le Meur: Can you tell us about the history of this surprising venue?

Georges Sothier: Originally, in 1992, I had a small restaurant in La Duchere, which no longer exists. We had converted an unused school space into a restaurant. It was called La Foucade. It was a daytime restaurant where all the social workers came to eat. By the end, we had 70 covers every day. The sub-prefect for urban affairs and the DRAC delegate came to eat regularly. We were 4 people and an apprentice. Then I was approached about setting up a cinema in La Duchere. I thought, why not, that would be really great!

CLM: Why would someone approach a restaurant owner to set up a cinema?!

GS: (laughs) Well, we had set up the restaurant using social development funds, back then. We were the "social component" of all of La Duchere. There was nothing else. We were the rallying point. We had links with the library and it was someone from the library who contacted me.

We also held musical evenings.

CLM: So there was already a cultural dimension to this adventure...

GS: Exactly. We had also had the idea of creating a rehearsal space to bring in artists, but that never came to fruition. Cinema was one of my passions, along with singing and music.

CLM: Are you a musician?

GS: I'm a singer! Unfortunately, I'm not a musician... I sing a lot of French chanson. Brassens, Brel, Anne Sylvestre. So I was approached for the cinema project with a certain logic. We began holding meetings at the restaurant in 1993. We conducted a survey among La Duchere residents, asking them to name the 3 films they wanted to see. When the cinema opened, we would screen the 3 films that had received the most votes! For two years, we looked for venues. We considered a gymnasium, next to a school, and other locations too.

Nicolas Lepage: You were approached to set up a cinema without any idea of a venue? That's surprising...

GS: Indeed! In 1995, the European projects for the transformation of La Duchere arrived, following urban policy reforms. There was a programme called FEDER that funded projects, including one that would serve us: a 1970s church had just been deconsecrated to show 3D cinema, as part of a children's project. The structure was called Captiva. In the hall, there was an enormous ant, a building site with foam bricks, etc. The idea was to create a mini "Villette", like in Paris. The cinema ran about 3 times ten minutes per day.

NL: Why so little screen time?

GS: Because it involved groups of children who were received, and at the end of the exhibition visit, which lasted about an hour, they were shown ten to 15 minutes of 3D short films. The problem was they couldn't fill the seats. Maximum showing was 5 screenings per day, up to five in the afternoon. Since the venue was closed in the evening, we thought perhaps we could show some films... As we had an association of about fifteen people, we were able to discuss it with the city council, which was very reluctant but finally agreed. Our first screening took place on 8 May 1996.

NL: What was the first film you screened?

GS: Toy Story. It was an instant success (laughs). Especially since there had been no cinema in La Duchere since 1975. Right from the start, we had an audience...

The film had just been released.

CLM: But why was the city council initially reluctant about the project?

GS: Because culture wasn't their main concern... They were focused on what had become urban social development, essentially concentrated on building renovation, on property.

The rest interested them very little.

NL: There must have been very little life in the neighbourhood then.

GS: No, there has always been life in this neighbourhood. Because there were two community centres, a children's centre, an MJC (youth and cultural centre), the library. In the FEDER project, there was for example the Lego house. They had put a mountain of Lego in a room and children came to build things. I don't know what became of those Lego pieces! There was also a brewery project. Our restaurant had closed in 1995 and I had made a proposal to take over this run-down establishment, for the same price as the brewery project. We had planned to renovate the building. Our project was not selected, despite the support of the urban sub-prefect and the then-district mayor who was called... Gerard Collomb. But the funds went to the FEDER project. The brewery project lasted 6 months... The neighbourhood where the brewery had set up was complicated... You don't just set up shop in La Duchere like that!

CLM: So you started the cinema adventure in 1996...

GS: Yes! Despite the city council's scepticism. Then came 1998. Suddenly, we no longer had a director... The group that had partly created the cinema decided to abandon the project to invest in an experimental cinema project - which didn't suit the context of La Duchere at all. That's how I found myself suddenly appointed chairman of the cinema (laughs).

We were down to three: Marie, who is still our accountant, a projectionist and myself! We carried on like that for a few months. Then came the "emplois-jeunes" (youth employment scheme), in September 1998. We recruited a 29-year-old: Sami Bouguerch. He became the first cine-mediator! That was the title I had come up with. In fact, he was the cinema director (laughs). We were programmed by an eastern Lyon group that brought together Venissieux, Bron, Saint-Priest and other cinemas. They did joint programming to have more clout. The principle was that they left us the leftovers of little interest, after making their selection (laughs). Our first preview was "Monsieur Frost", a film in "technical release". Meaning that roughly a week after its release, the film was available on DVD!

Emmanuelle Bureau: If you wanted a specific film on national release from a distributor, you had to take the whole list at the time... For example, to get THE big Gaumont film, you had to take the bad films that came with it. It was a rather curious practice dating back to the early days of cinema.

GS: Then we hired a second cine-mediator who looked after the young people. Because the project was truly about film education. Sami had a master's in cinema and was very knowledgeable about film, full of ideas, but knew nothing about running a cinema. He expressed the desire to take on the programming. So we said "goodbye" to the group and decided to manage on our own! And it worked! We managed to get some lovely films despite the small size of our cinema. The big change came in 2001, with the arrival of Gerard Collomb at Lyon's city hall. Suddenly, a complete turnaround... Our subsidies doubled and the Captiva people, who had been hosting us while systematically putting obstacles in our way, became very friendly... On 24 December 2002, the Captiva team left, leaving everything behind (including the giant ant!). Since the premises were empty, we moved into the offices and carried on. We had signed agreements, notably thanks to Abel Gago, then Deputy Mayor for Culture and Schools. Louis Leveque, who was at the central city hall, supported us and helped us secure funding for a new screen. The existing screen was designed for 3D and "ate up" the light. Thanks to this support, we were also able to buy equipment for outdoor film screenings. Sami had suggested buying equipment rather than renting it. So we were able to gain our independence by having our own equipment.

NL: So you also held outdoor, travelling screenings?

GS: Yes! We held summer screenings from 10pm. We had some superb screenings, notably on the MJC terrace, with an incredible view. The films were free, as part of "Tout l'monde dehors" (Everyone Outside). There were up to 300 people. It was really great. But we sold the equipment a few years ago as it was designed for 35mm. It no longer works with digital...

EB: It also required a large team of volunteers because all the equipment had to be transported and set up. We held the last screening with a 35mm print in 2012. It was memorable...

GS: Oh yes! (laughs) It was the screening of The Night of the Hunter. The film broke 15 times during the projection...

EB: The film had arrived in a terrible state. The print had been damaged. It had to be repaired the old-fashioned way just before the screening. Despite that, the film kept breaking.

GS: And it was quite funny because every time the film broke, the 200 people present exclaimed a great "Ooohhh" and then, when the screening resumed, followed with a great "Ahhhh". Incredibly, at the end, when the words "The End" appeared, the film melted!! True story! Everyone applauded. It was quite the exotic experience, that last screening...

EB: We still organise outdoor screenings but now we work with an external provider. It's simpler for us in terms of organisation. You would need someone full-time, dedicated to the subject, to manage it in-house.

GS: We love popular cinema, as it was conceived at the beginning, in the 1930s. I remember my mother telling me that when she went to the cinema in Croix-Rousse - it was a parish cinema at the time - she would discover the news. That stuck with me. In those days, cinemas were full all the time...

CLM: It must be said that back then, a ticket cost much less. A cinema ticket easily costs around 11 euros now. That's a lot of money...

GS: Yes, except here! Our full-price ticket is 6.70 euros... We also have many partnerships. With the Restos du Coeur (food bank charity), for example.

CLM: You have just passed a quarter century of adventure... What happens in the next quarter century? What are your next bold ideas?

GS: Well, Covid cut us off in our stride... The restart has been difficult. We tried many things, however, when we were forced to close due to the health situation. We organised cinema games, for example. We would show a small part of a poster and people had to guess the film. Or, based on a word-play game, we would get people to guess a film title. The Night of the Hunter could become "The Day of the Fisherman", for example. We did this for several weeks. We gave 7 titles with 7 tickets as prizes for those who found all the titles, 5 tickets for finding 5, etc. We stopped because people became too good (laughs). In the end, people were playing just for the love of it. We did our best to enliven that period but we didn't really dive into strategic thinking. We had the idea of creating a second screening room. We had produced a brochure telling the story of the venue and its future.

CLM: A second room here?

GS: Yes! We have an initial architect's plan for a second room with a capacity of 50 to 60 seats - we have a capacity of 90 seats in the current room. It's entirely feasible. We have started looking for sponsors, contacted people for a market study. We exchanged with Sainte-Foy-les-Lyon which successfully went from 1 room to 2 - which allowed them to triple their attendance. They have around 90,000 viewers per year now.

CLM: How many viewers do you have here?

GS: Between 20,000 and 25,000 viewers per year. We hope to relaunch this project as the new Lyon city council has planned to dedicate a budget to our venue. Our range of offerings, with two screens, could be broader. With one screen, we only show a film over 5 screenings.

EB: Especially since with the local residents, we organise debate evenings at 7pm. Scheduling a film at 9pm afterwards is pointless. A second room would allow us to make more diverse use of our venue. It would open new perspectives and launch us into a different dynamic.

NL: There must also be a certain frustration in not being able to screen as many films as you would like...

GS: Absolutely. We now need to get things going again... But there is one thing to consider. I was 38 when I launched the project. We were all around that age. And now, I'm the youngest! We haven't found people to come and replace us... Sami had brought in young people when he arrived. We thought there would be a new generation, fresh blood. He left to develop another project - a bit quickly, it must be said. And the young people he had brought followed him.

NL: Why haven't you managed to attract other young people?

GS: Because it's extremely difficult. The 15-25 age group is very hard to attract here. Back when I was that age, I genuinely went out to the cinema, meaning to see the film. Nowadays, young people go out to go out. They prefer going to the cinema in central Lyon, because there's the city around. You can go for a drink after the film... That's why we also have the idea, as part of the second room project, of setting up a space where you can have a drink, chat after the film, extend the experience. That's what we're missing for now! Then we are essentially an art-house cinema - we avoid "blockbusters". And that's the cinema we love! Our audience reflects that. It's the "Telerama" audience (laughs).

EB: We also develop partnerships. With the community centres, for example, we organise debate evenings. With the Centre Social de la Sauvegarde, for Halloween, we are going to organise an escape game followed by the screening of Candyman... It's the first time we're trying this!

GS: We also take part in the Festival Lumiere, with a screening. And we have planned a Bertrand Tavernier weekend.

EB: We also have our loyal audience for our "CineCollection", with one or two screenings per month. We do a short introduction before the film. And we mustn't forget the school audience, which accounts for 35% of our admissions. For each cycle (primary, secondary, sixth form), we offer films to educate young people about visual literacy, at a rate of one film per term.

GS: And finally, we offer, on request - for example with vocational students - bespoke screenings. We are happy to have a community cinema that works! Thanks to subsidies in particular, we have 6 employees (projectionist, cultural mediator, accountant, cleaning lady). Plus about fifteen volunteers who handle the box office, the layout and distribution of the programme, etc. There is real harmony between the employees and the volunteers. We are all moving in the same direction, following the same guiding principle. It works very well and has done for quite a few years now. Emmanuelle has been here for 14 years already! We have built a wonderful team that is happy to come to work here. While the salaries are not spectacular - we have to admit it! (laughs) - the project is very interesting.

CLM: And what is the profile of your volunteers?

GS: They are, with two exceptions, ladies! I am surrounded by ladies (laughs), mostly retired. Afternoon box office shifts obviously cannot be managed by people who are working. We have a real collective reflection. We want to share this unparalleled popular emotion. We don't have a revenue target, we are enthusiasts... Thank you to Georges and Emmanuelle for this wonderful testimony! The Bees are happy and proud to support the CineDuchere cinema on a daily basis and wish them continued success in this wonderful adventure... Photos (c) Simon Cavalier, Laurence Daniere.