INTERVIEW
Cinemas are closed until further notice. This was announced by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on Tuesday, during the presentation of the deconfinement plan, scheduled for May 11. Invited to Europe 1 on Saturday, Éric Lagesse president of the company Pyramide Distribution and co-president of DIRE, the union of independent distributors, demands that the Ministry of Culture communicate as soon as possible about a date for the reopening of theaters. According to Éric Lagesse, this is an essential condition for the world of cinema to be able to recover economically from the crisis that is hitting it hard.
>> READ ALSO - Coronavirus: the state of health emergency extended until July 24
"Since March 18, we can no longer release films in theaters and we do not know when we will be able to release them again," complains Éric Lagesse. Faced with this observation, according to him, the world of cinema feels abandoned. "We wonder where the Minister of Culture has gone because we no longer hear him at all. We are waiting for a word on cinema, a gesture and an idea. We tell restaurateurs that at the end of May, they will be more or less fixed. We, we are told nothing, "he protested.
The word 'cinema' is not spoken by anyone
This reality is all the more incomprehensible for Éric Lagesse as cinema weighs heavily on the French economy. "It is a sector which brings in money and employs a lot of people. But the word 'cinema' is not spoken by anyone," he said.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> Partial unemployment: the parents' situation clarified
> A new inflammatory disease affecting children linked to the coronavirus?
> What will shopping be like after May 11?
> The French will have to go on vacation near their home
> Why going to the hairdresser will cost more after confinement
Why does this sector need to know when the rooms will reopen? To be able to organize, answers Éric Lagesse. "The first step for us, distributors, is to be able to date our films because we don't release a film in two weeks," he explains. "Upstream work" is indeed carried out over several months. But in the absence of a deadline, "for the moment we cannot do this work", he laments.
>> Find all of Patrick Cohen's programs in replay and podcast here
Despite this crisis situation, Éric Lagesse says he is "optimistic". "I think there is a power of attraction [of the cinema] and that the audience will return [to theaters]. Maybe it will take time because they will be afraid," he said. His sense of hope is fueled by a promising finding. "The public is lacking in films, it is obvious. When we see the scores of films on television and on VOD at the moment, audience ratings are important. People need films and, at some point , they will need new films, "says Éric Lagesse.