Will the streaming platform kill cinema? This is what independent distributors fear since the announcement of a possible “Netflix festival”. According to the French Film, it would be held from December 7 to 14. Around ten art house cinemas are concerned, namely the MK2 and Utopia networks or the three Lumière cinemas in Lyon. The announcement has the effect of a cold shower. In a press release published on October 25, the Syndicate of independent distributors (SDI) as well as the united European independent distributors (DIRE) say they are
"shocked"
by this agreement concluded with Netflix, endangering the professions of the seventh art.
“Directors, producers, exhibitors, the future of our professions is being played out today.
Tomorrow, it will be too late."
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Netflix counterbalances and specifies that the demonstration would be "
relatively modest
", while offering films already available online.
Among the selected works, some are already broadcast on the platform, namely
Malcolm & Marie
by Sam Levinson,
Pieces of a Woman
by Kornél Mundruczó,
The Hand of God
by Paolo Sorrentino and more recently the American version of
The Guilty
by Antoine Fuqua .
Wednesday is synonymous with the day reserved for outings in French cinemas. But Netflix is doing the same, like
The Power of the Dog
by Jane Campion, an exclusive broadcast from Wednesday, December 1. A mind-boggling practice for the unions, who accuse Netflix of having
"succeeded in transforming cinemas into an antechamber of its services"
.
“At a time when many films, victims of the seven and a half months of theaters' closures, are struggling to find an exhibition to match their potential, we denounce the holding of such a festival which is akin to a marketing campaign. large-scale, giant promotional trailer to entice moviegoers to subscribe to a paid service
“, Deplore the SDI and the DIRE with a single voice in the press release.
According to
Allociné
, all theaters have not yet validated their participation, but some of the MK2 and Utopia groups say they are interested.
