If the last days are approaching, then one must live intensely. At the La Clef cinema in Paris (5and arrondissement), since Monday January 24, screenings begin at 6 a.m. and end at 11 p.m. Spectators buy their tickets at “free price” to see cult works, first films, short films, etc We must hold the walls of this threatened associative place, occupied since September 2019 by the Home Cinema collective. The eviction notice has been notified: the occupants – young directors, film professionals, students, local residents… – have until Monday January 31 to evacuate the establishment, opened in 1973 by Claude Frank-Forter .
Actress Agathe Bonitzer was there at dawn on January 24, “as spectator and occupant” : “I kind of fell in love with this place, with this unique programme. This cinema must continue to exist at all costs., she says. On Tuesday 25, before the 8 p.m. screening, directors Alain Guiraudie, Valérie Massadian, David Dufresne and Mikael Buch (who came on behalf of the Society of Film Directors) made a point of expressing their support. “If this place closes, Paris will no longer be Paris. What does [la maire] Anne Hidalgo? »wondered David Dufresne.
The turbulent history of this place dates back to 2015, when its owner, the Caisse d’Epargne d’Ile-de-France works council, decided to put it up for sale at 1.5 million euros. The then operator, Raphaël Vion, tried to buy it but the discussions failed and ended up being interrupted in the summer of 2017. La Clef closed in April 2018. The former employees tried to take over the establishment, without success, then the occupation starts on September 20, 2019.
Dotation funds
Time passes, over the court appearances, and the fight continues. During the confinement of spring 2020, the outdoor projections, on the facade, aroused the curiosity of the foreign press. La Clef reopens on June 22, 2020 and the same year, the occupants launch an endowment fund with a view to its acquisition – it currently has 100,000 euros. Then, on November 30, 2020, the SOS group, a giant of the social economy, signed a compromise for the takeover of La Clef, for an amount of 4.2 million euros.
The occupants sniff out racketeering and are wary, the boss of SOS, Jean-Marc Borello, being a pillar of La République en Marche. “The fact that SOS is ready to buy the cinema at this price makes us fear a trick. The real price for this type of cultural place is 1.5 million euros”explain to World Thibault Jacquin, young director who occupies La Clef. Reached by telephone, the spokesperson for SOS, Nicolas Froissard, rejects this argument: “We are committed to a demanding program so that the cinema regains its arthouse label. If this sale fails, what will become of La Clef? »
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