The year 2023 had already been an excellent year with an 18% jump in the number of spectators welcomed (54,758). 2024 does even better by surpassing the attendance record over a calendar year: no less than 63,400 people took their place in one of the seats of the associative structure over the last twelve months. Enough to surpass the number of historical entries recorded in 2016 (63,318), even though attendance had been boosted by the release of The boss’s daughterfeature film partly shot in Roannais.
Here, of the approximately 300 films screened in one of the two theaters, we find on the podium A fanfare (2.176 entrées), Twenty gods (1,246 entries) and The area of interest (1.128).
110 events organized in 2024
In addition to increased attention paid to programming by this cinema classified as “Art et Essai”, the establishment is developing a real policy of openness to the public, with success.
The launch of a pop-up bar, made possible thanks to work carried out in 2023, is one of the symbols. “We are trying to diversify our audience, to rejuvenate it also by breaking the image that may have been attached to Renoir,” explains the director, Jonathan Gipoulou, at the helm since September 2023. We welcome, for example, students from the IUT in our library if they wish. »
Since the work, we have noticed a new lease of life and a boom in attendance which continued into early 2024. We are seeing new faces.
No less than 110 events were scheduled last year. Film debates, concerts… Or even celebration of New Year’s Eve, on December 31: “This helps to give another image to cinema, by bringing novelty.” A first which should also be repeated given the great response received: the event generated 480 entries in total in a single evening.
“During this year 2024, I wanted to test things,” summarizes the director. Which will retain the most promising initiatives from all these experiences (such as the live broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival on the sole condition that the opening film is an art house). He will also make some readjustments. “We will, for example, continue to work closely with associations, because this creates great moments, but we will limit ourselves to one or two annual events with each.”
Please note: the cinema will remain open this summer for the first time in its history (with reduced hours).
“By strength of arms, thanks to the work of the entire team”
Testimony to the growing attraction of residents for Renoir, the Ciné Rivage association, which oversees the structure, has seen the number of subscribers increase from 750 to more than 2,000. A development that would not have been possible without a great burst of collective energy. “We broke an attendance record through sheer force of arms, thanks to the work of the entire team,” concludes the manager.
