Cin&moi is the name of the new film club which is being born in Melun with a launch party on April 5 at 7 p.m. at the Les Variétés cinema. On the program: the screening of the film “The Name of the Rose” by Jean-Jacques Annaud, on the occasion of its restoration in 4K, followed by a debate with speaker Alexis Hyaumet.
“There is a pool of interested people. At Variétés, arthouses represent 50% of films programmed and 40% of admissions. The idea is to initially offer a film once a quarter, followed by a debate with a director or another guest. We will hold meetings with members to choose the theme and the film shown,” assures Pascal Montin, president of Cin&moi and former director of the municipal cinema which totaled 46,000 admissions in 2023. His successor, Cyrille Baron, is delighted.
The team is also planning screenings dedicated to young audiences on Sundays, or even moments of image education with in particular the director Tiburce who sits on the board of directors. Annual membership is limited to 10 euros (then 3.50 euros per place for Cin&moi evenings). The Variétés premises have a room with 333 seats, one with 123 seats and one with 99 seats. The film club will then move to the new cinema which should open in the summer of 2025 on rue de l'Eperon, near Place Saint-Jean. This new site will offer four rooms and 635 seats in total.
The Cin&moi team is requesting a grant of 3,000 euros for one year from the town hall. “If it is accepted, they will not receive it before June,” specifies Odile Razé, municipal representative responsible for cinema.
The old film club is fighting back
The hope of success is real among film buffs because the previous film club, Clap Melun, did not have the possibility. Launched on September 29, 2022 with the broadcast of a film on Joséphine Baker in the presence of one of her sons, Brian, it broke its wings shortly after its request for a subsidy (26,900 euros according to its president Jean-Pierre Carrel for 2023). Submitted in November 2022, it remained a dead letter. On March 16, 2023, the culture commission validated the absence of financial support after being exposed to the impossible agreement with the association and an unflattering portrait of its president. Without a budget, Clap Melun had to suspend all programming. In the municipal council in 2023, Odile Razé, then deputy in charge of associations, mentioned “governance problems”.
Today opposition elected officials are asking questions, particularly those who sat on this culture commission. In the absence of contradictory elements, Philippe Martin (LR) validated the decision like the other members of the commission. Today he considers himself “duped” about the reasons for refusing the grant because Jean-Pierre Carrel is defending himself, with numerous emails to boot. Same opinion from Arnaud Saint-Martin (LFI) regarding a presentation that he considers “expeditious and truncated”. Philippe Martin has planned a written question to the municipal council for this Thursday, April 4, citing “a serious problem of public morality”.
For his part, considering this “shameful blacklisting”, Jean-Pierre Carrel evokes serious harm to the association. It brings together the 57 members of Clap Melun in a general assembly on April 9 to decide on an action to take.