- The Katorza has been installed for 100 years on rue Corneille in Nantes. He never changed his name.
- Its opening on June 4, 1920 was the work of a Tunisian fairgrounder, Salomon Katorza.
- The art and test room now registers 250,000 admissions per year on average.
EDIT of June 4, 2020: On the occasion of the anniversary of the cinema, which takes place this Thursday, we are reproposing this article published in September 2019.
It is not the most famous cinema in France, nor even the oldest. But it is one of the nation's must-see art and testing rooms and is already celebrating its 100th anniversary. Many activities and special screenings are scheduled this weekend for the anniversary of Katorza. The opportunity to commemorate its amazing history, full of twists and turns. “He has known several lives but has never changed his name or address. That explains the extraordinary attachment that there is for this cinema ”, estimates Caroline Grimault, director of Katorza. Back on his great moments.
Born from the fairground world. It was a certain Salomon Katorza, a Tunisian emigrant who made himself known as an image-maker at fairs, who bought the current building. “Fairground cinema was declining and he had chosen to invest in Nantes. The first screening was, on June 4, 1920, Barabas or the mistress of the wandering Jew ”, the film-novel by Louis Feuillade, says Caroline Grimault.
Destroyed by bombs and then rebuilt. On September 16, 1943, in full projection of Monsieur la Souris by Georges Lacombe with Raimu, two American bombs fell on the Katorza. “The hall was destroyed but, by miracle, there were no deaths. The story could have ended there, but Annie Nouaille, the emblematic director of the time, managed to shelter the spotlights and then raise the funds to rebuild the room. The Katorza will finally reopen on April 30, 1951.
At the cutting edge of progress . During the Thirty Glorious Years, the French became more and more interested in the 7th Art and competition raged, notably with the Apollo, "the sworn enemy". Visionary, Annie Nouaille had the Cinémascope installed in 1953 "before all the other theaters in the provinces". Equipped with the same foresight, Jean-Serge Pineau, his successor, made Katorza, in the 1970s, one of the first multi-room complexes in the West.
Helping Demy and Varda. In 1960, Jacques Demy made his first film in Nantes: Lola . He searches for a cinema bar, meets director Jean-Serge Pineau and the two men become friends. “Not only will the Katorza be in Lola but, in addition, Jean-Serge Pineau will participate in the logistics of the filming. The director Agnès Varda, Demy's partner, was also close to Pineau. She regularly came to rue Corneille to present her films or view her essays. "These friendships are also what made Katorza unique," says Caroline Grimault.
The Godard controversy. In February 1985, Katorza programmed the film Je vous salue Marie by Jean-Luc Godard. The fundamentalist Catholics are scandalized and demonstrate for several days in front of the square. “They were praying, preventing spectators from entering. The national press followed the affair, there were counter-demonstrations, it was very tense. Godard had called Jean-Serge Pineau telling him not to give up! "
In the hard and then the art and test turn. The 1990s are complicated. Development of multiplexes, price war and diffusion of the OV by Gaumont weaken Katorza. Wishing to "secure the future", Jean-Serge Pineau sold in 1995 to the Soredic-Cinéville group. “The programming was previously very varied. But understanding that it was necessary to stand out, the new management gradually strengthened the art and essay anchoring, "explains Caroline Grimault. Great directors are invited (Claude Sautet, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh…), festivals are created. “The spectators trusted. And it's still great today to see their curiosity for films they hadn't heard of. "
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