The move completed, the old Arvor will still host cinema

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The old and the new. While the new Arvor opened the doors of its dark rooms in May after the Covid-19 cataclysm, the premises of the old cinema on rue d’Antrain remain empty. According to our information, they will remain so for at least another year, the time to carry out major renovations. Unlike the old Antipode, which will be demolished in a few years, the old art house in Rennes will be well preserved. “No one imagined that he could disappear. It was one of our campaign commitments, ”recalls Benoît Careil, Culture Assistant for the city of Rennes.

To keep the place alive, the municipality wished to rely on a collective of a dozen associations working in the field of cinema, broadcasting or animated cinema. Before giving them the keys, the city undertook to carry out the first renovation work in this aging building, which opened in 1983. “We are studying the state of the building. The Arvor did not undergo a lot of maintenance work during its operation, ”acknowledges Benoît Careil. Owner of the premises, the city will spend at least 400,000 euros for “a first grooming” which will make the roof waterproof, which was less and less the case lately. These first works should be started in early 2022 and be completed less than a year later. “We hope for a first use at the end of 2022 or early 2023”, continues the elected ecologist.

A dozen associations are thinking about it

With two rooms offering around 350 seats, the building will have to reinvent itself to continue to exist. For nearly two years, a dozen associations have been thinking about the future of this temple of cinema. After several months without seeing each other, the steering committee must meet this Wednesday to discuss its project of “house of cinema and audiovisual”. “What is certain is that we will not keep that name”, laughs Cyrielle Dozières. The director of the Court Métrange festival is part of the “hard core” of this project. At his side, the associations Clair Obscur (Traveling festival), Comptoir du Doc, Oodacq, Court en Betton, the French Association of Animation Cinema and many others.

All these structures, fans of distribution or production, are impatiently awaiting this place. “In Rennes, the cinemas do a very good job and often agree to welcome us, but they have an economic reality. It is not always easy for us to find a room for a small preview, small-scale sessions or image education workshops ”, explains the director of Court Métrange. During its festival of the strange, the association welcomes around 4,000 schoolchildren. “The rest of the year it’s more complicated. Rennes is a city of cinephiles but it lacks this central, collective place capable of hosting experimental practices ”.

“We especially do not want to confiscate this space”

The city will keep the upper room, the largest, as a projection room made available to associations. As for the downstairs room, it could be transformed to accommodate residences, perhaps even filming. One thing is certain: the place will remain open to Rennes and Rennais.

“We especially do not want to confiscate this space, it was clear to everyone from the start,” promises Cyrielle Dozières. The former Arvor will not become the HQ of the partner associations. Rather a house of animated images open to all proposals.


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