Cinemas - A French Heritage

The packed audiences of darkened cinema rooms are no more. People are gradually drifting back home to lounge in front of a multitude of online platforms, far less expensive than a trip to the picture palace. Habits have changed... the cinema is no longer a world of magic.

Movie theatres have lost their splendour, often pushed into the suburbs and choked left and right by fast-food chains as if they were ashamed to exist at all.

However, some of this fabulous heritage dedicated to the stuff of dreams which cinemas once were still exists, especially in France. This is one of the few countries left where theatres are still being built, sometimes with audacious architecture. Also, France is a place where their demise is fervently denied.

Sometimes, on a street corner, a forgotten but flamboyant façade recalls past glories. It’s there to remind everyone that cinema is immortal.

Born in 1942 in Geneva, Simon Edelstein has spent most of his life producing journalistic reports and documentaries for Swiss television. He has made a few future films for the big screen too. He is the author of two other books on cinemas: one is on cinemas in Switzerland and the other one is called ’Abandoned Cinemas of the World’, both also released by Jonglez Publishing.