Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Leisure
How Quentin Tarantino and film buffs are saving indie cinemas
STORYJosh Sims
Nov 3, <a href="https://cinemamix360.com/2026/11/02/scotland-scripted-screenwriting-lab-2026/” title=”Scotland Scripted Screenwriting Lab 2026″>2026
As Kristen Stewart plans to restore a century-old LA theatre and Chanel backs a Paris picture house, local independent screens worldwide are finding a second life
Not long ago, Cinéma La Clef, one of Paris’s most historic independent cinemas, faced closure. Founded in the 1970s, the movie theatre was an epicentre for the city’s art-house filmmaking yet its owners decided to put it up for sale in 2018 and the end credits seemed nigh. But then the film world responded, vocally and with their money. The result? A newly formed collective acquired La Clef in 2024 and earlier this year it was reopened.
“Independent cinemas like this one have always been community-oriented, which is why thousands rallied to keep it open,” says La Clef’s Kira Simon-Kennedy. “The cinema has been full since it reopened, with queues around the block. We have 50 volunteer projectionists. People come here just to hang out. But we’re also lucky in that there’s a lot of state support for cinema here.”
Indeed, Le Saint-Germain-des-Prés, another independent cinema in Paris, is set to reopen after a refurbishment sponsored by Chanel. And it’s not only France that loves its cinemas: around the world other independent movie houses are also benefiting from film fans’ efforts to keep them open.
Director Quentin Tarantino bought the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles in 2007 to save it from closure, and has dedicated the space to showing 35mm prints. Recently, actor Kristen Stewart bought the city’s historic Highland Theatre – which closed two years ago, a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic – and plans to renovate the 100-year-old building.
Meanwhile, The Academy – the organisation behind the Oscars – has announced its Marquee Theater List, a global award designed to recognise the most remarkable cinemas around the world. Its inaugural list of 50 will be unveiled next spring.
