Cinema Arvor is preparing for its first screening


Eric Gouzannet, director of Cinema Arvor, impatiently awaits the first spectators. – J. Gicquel / 20 Minutes

  • With the reopening of cinemas on Wednesday, the Arvor will finally be able to welcome its first spectators in the station district in Rennes.
  • Installed for 38 years on rue d’Antrain, the equipment will double in capacity.
  • The arthouse cinema now has five screens and 767 seats.

Plunged in the dark for more than six months, the dark rooms will find the light again from Wednesday. Long awaited by spectators and professionals in the sector, the date of May 19 will also have a special flavor for the teams of Cinema Arvor in Rennes. Because they will celebrate not a reopening but a housewarming party, while respecting of course the sanitary rules.

Announced several years ago, the relocation of the arthouse cinema to the south forecourt of the station has taken longer than expected. Its opening was stalled for the month of September but the pandemic has turned the entire calendar upside down. The cinema therefore played a little extra time in its former premises on the rue d’Antrain even if the health crisis deprived it of a last farewell to its loyal audience. “It is inevitably sad because we would have liked a better end”, regrets Eric Gouzannet, the director of the cinema.

Five rooms and 767 seats in the new cinema

In the station district, still under construction, the Arvor will not be disoriented either. It is not far from there, rue Saint-Hélier, that the arthouse cinema was born in 1971 in the form of a patronage room. A conflict with the diocese ended the lease in the early 1980s after the programming of a series of films on homosexuality which angered many faithful. “We are therefore coming back to our land even if the district has changed a lot since,” says Eric Gouzannet.

The new Arvor Cinema has five theaters and 767 seats, compared to two theaters and 369 seats in the old one. – J. Gicquel / 20 Minutes

In its new setting, with five rooms and 767 seats, the cinephile landmark is about to discover all the comforts of modern equipment. “The old Arvor had its charm on rue d’Antrain but it was really starting to get tired,” says its manager. We will therefore gain in comfort and quality of projection ”.

A 35mm projector has been retained

A little nostalgic wink awaits the spectators with a replica of the pink neon of the rue d’Antrain which has been installed in the new cinema. “We also kept an old 35mm projector that can be used on occasion,” smiles the owner. While waiting for the opening, Eric Gouzannet has been refining the cinema program for several days “which will be able to accommodate more films and better exhibit them”.

A 35mm projector from the old cinema has been preserved.
A 35mm projector from the old cinema has been preserved. – J. Gicquel / 20 Minutes

Seven feature films will thus be showing for the first week of opening with covers such as Goodbye idiots by Albert Dupontel and DNA by Maïwenn and some new features like Falling by Viggo Mortensen or Mandibles by Quentin Dupieux.



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