The Cinémathèque française (French pronunciation:[sinematɛkfʁɑ̃sɛːz]; French cinematheque), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers daily screenings of films from around the world. It is the second oldest cinematheque in France, after the one in Saint-Étienne, which was founded in 1922.
History
The collection emerged from the efforts of Henri Langlois and Lotte H. Eisner in the mid 1930s to collect and screen films. Langlois had acquired one of the largest collections in the world by the beginning of World War II, only to have it nearly wiped out by the German authorities in occupied France, who ordered the destruction of all films made prior to 1937. He and his friends smuggled huge numbers of documents and films out of occupied France to protect them until the end of the war.
In 2003, film critic Serge Toubiana became general manager of the Cinémathèque in April, a position he held until December 2015. From September 2003 to June 2007, the producer and director Claude Berri is president of the Cinémathèque, succeeding Jean-Charles Tacchella.
On February 28, 2005, the halls of the Palais de Chaillot and the Grands Boulevards were closed and the new site of the Cinémathèque française, at 51 rue de Bercy, opened to the public on September 28.
On January 1, 2007, the Cinémathèque française merged with the BiFi. From June 2007, Claude Berri being ill, it was chaired by Costa-Gavras. In January 2016, critic Frédéric Bonnaud succeeded Serge Toubiana as general manager.
In June 1963, the Cinémathèque moved to the Palais de Chaillot with funds provided by André Malraux, Minister of Culture, and became subject to government overview.
The Palais de Chaillot, 16th arrondissement.
In February 1968, under pressure from the Ministry of Finance, Malraux required changes in the management of the Cinémathèque and dismissed Henri Langlois.
Confrontations followed between young people, largely students, and what they saw as an authoritarian centre-right government, out of touch with the concerns of the younger generation. These demonstrations were precursors of and merged into the widespread student revolt that erupted from March 1968 onwards, escalating into nationwide unrest in May. Before then, the government had backed down over the Cinémathèque, reinstating Langlois as head in April 1968.
Location
After numerous incidents—including multiple relocations from one small screening room to another through the 1950s, and a fire in its last premises—the Cinémathèque française moved in 2005 to 51, rue de Bercy in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, a postmodern building designed by Frank Gehry, an American architect.[4]
The Bibliothèque du film, which was created in 1992 to show the history of cinema, its production, impact and artistic strength, merged with the Cinémathèque française.
Cinémathèque française operates the Musée de la cinémathèque, formerly known as Musée du cinéma Henri-Langlois, in the new building.
President, director, and secretary
Cinémathèque's president Costa-Gavras (right) attentive to Steven Spielberg's (left) Masterclass [Paris - Jan. 9th, 2012].
In celebration of the Centennial of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum and the City Center of Music and Drama in New York co-sponsored "Cinémathèque at the Metropolitan Museum". The exhibition showed seventy films dating from the medium's first seventy-five years on thirty-five consecutive evenings from July 29 to September 3, 1970. The films were selected by Henri Langlois for their significance and contributions to the history of filmmaking, including work from official film industries as well as current and early avant garde directors.
^Tenret, Yves (October 1987). "Freddy Buache et la Cinémathèque suisse". Voir (in French). 43. Lausanne: Société Coopérative d'Édition et de Promotion Culturelle. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
^Uhlmann, Bernard (2011). "Freddy Buache". Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (in French). Retrieved 22 February 2012.
Roud, Richard (1983) A Passion for Films: Henri Langlois and the Cinémathèque Française, London: Secker and Warburg; New York: Viking Press ISBN0-670-36687-0.
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