Marie Gicquel, edited by Christopher Faleyras 5:15 p.m., February 22, 2023, modified at 5:15 p.m., February 22, 2023

Giving new life to old film sets is the mission of the Ressourcerie du Cinéma.

This association, based in Montreuil in Seine-Saint-Denis, recovers and restores each year hundreds of objects used during filming.

The objective is to reduce the ecological impact of audiovisual productions.

No more trash and place for reuse in the film industry.

For the past two years, the Ressourcerie du Cinéma has been recovering and recycling hundreds of objects and sets from various shoots.

Once restored, all these elements are offered for rent or sale in the association's large warehouse located near Paris, in Montreuil in Seine-Saint-Denis.

Europe 1 went to this 1,300 square meter hangar that looks like a DIY store.

Essential support for small productions

Here, the association offers audiovisual professionals a real Ali Baba's cave.

Everything is present to create any type of decor.

Boards, doors, windows, elevators... it is possible to completely reconstruct the rooms of an apartment or a grocery store.

Other much more unusual objects also complete the rich collection, such as polystyrene rocks or 49 kilos of flip-flops recovered during filming.

Recently, elements from the filming of the last Asterix have been exhibited, such as Caesar's Palace. 

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Formerly destined for the waste disposal centre, all these objects, sometimes used only once in a sequence, have their lifespan extended thanks to the work of the association's volunteers.

Especially since the needs for decorations are often recurring.

"A setting like the White House is often redone", explains Karine de Polignac, the co-founder of the Ressourcerie du Cinéma.

In addition to the ecological impact, for many audiovisual productions, this circular economy system represents a real help because building sets for the cinema is expensive.

Since its creation, the Ressourcerie du Cinéma has collected 200 tonnes of waste, which is sometimes difficult to reuse.