Cinemas: a French Heritage

The packed audiences of darkened cinema rooms are no more. People are gradually drifting back home to lounge in front of a multitude of online platforms, far less expensive than a trip to the picture palace. Habits have changed the cinema is no longer a world of magic. Movie theatres have lost their splendour, often pushed into the suburbs and choked left and right by fastfood chains as if they were ashamed to exist at all. However, some of this fabulous heritage dedicated to the stuff of dreams which cinemas once were still exists, especially in France. This is one of the few countries left where theatres are still being built, sometimes with audacious architecture. Also, France is a place where their demise is fervently denied. Sometimes, on a street corner, a forgotten but flamboyant façade recalls past glories. Its there to remind everyone that cinema is immortal. Simon Edelstein, whether in search of decaying or completely abandoned historic cinemas, or exploring lovingly restored or spectacular contemporary buildings, has scoured the roads of France for over 10 years, in cities and countryside, to seek out this exceptional heritage.