To mark the 78th Cannes Film Festival, the Art Explora and CANAL+ foundations are inaugurating CinéMo, a third-generation mobile cinema that will soon be traveling the roads of France. Its aim is to reach audiences who are furthest removed from culture.
We are a long way from the glitz and glamour of the stars walking the red carpet and climbing the steps under a flurry of camera flashes.
3 p.m. on May 17 in Cannes La Bocca, near the media library: adults and children climb a few steps to enter the truck. They settle into very comfortable armchairs to watch the short film “Pile poil” by Lauriane Escaffre and Yvonnick Muller, which won the César Award for Best Short Film in 2020. After the screening (the CinéMo driver also acts as projectionist!), the mediator-facilitator opens the discussion.
Questions and comments fly. The children participate enthusiastically while the adults smile at the remarks. This intergenerational moment is a success. CinéMo aims to reach audiences who are furthest removed from culture. It offers free screenings to people living in rural areas and priority neighborhoods in the city.
Starting on June 25, after the Cannes stage, the road trip will begin! The cinema truck will travel through the Cannes hinterland, the Ile-de-France region, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and then the rest of France, depending on the needs of regional elected officials.
Through this ambitious initiative, Art Explora and the CANAL+ Foundation, the main sponsor of CinéMo, are affirming a shared belief: cinema, a popular and powerful art form, has the power to bring people together, provoke thought, and create dialogue, everywhere and for everyone. Screenings are planned for children, adults who never go to the cinema, as well as residents of nursing homes, women in difficulty, and people with disabilities.
Designed and styled by Camille Chardayre (Prémices and Co) and Jean-François Aimé, the CinéMo (the only prototype at present) is a genuine 72-seat mobile cinema, equipped to CNC standards, with image and sound quality worthy of the biggest movie theaters. The cost of the operation: $1.2 million and $500,000 per year in operating costs.
This “fresh butter yellow” truck does not go unnoticed. It is a trendy color which, like La Poste, evokes a local, simple, efficient, no-frills service. You can see it coming from a mile away! The theater, from floor to ceiling, including the seats, is purple. It creates an atmosphere that invites the audience to introspection. “This theater is so beautiful and comfortable that even rowdy children will be well-behaved!” commented curious police officers who came to visit CinéMo.
Click here to read the entire article on Luxus Magazine
Featured Photo: CinéMo, a “fresh butter yellow” truck, is sure to turn heads on the roads of France ©Matthieu Joffres
