Dominique Keirle has been passionate about cinema since he was 14. At the rate of 300 films per year, he tours the cinemas of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and publishes film reviews on his Instagram account. This year, he is launching the project of going on a cinema tour of France and he intends to succeed.
In the family of cinema fans, Dominique Keirle is one of the most invested. This retiree from Royan (Charente-Maritime) has been a movie buff since he was 14, and for two years, he has devoted body and soul to his passion.
As proof, his Instagram account @dom17kcine, where he criticizes all the films he has seen. Apart from American blockbusters, the 68-year-old man eats everything, but especially not in the French version!
Even for an informed admirer of the seventh art, Dominique displays a sustained pace in his film consumption. He admits quite naturally that he views “more than 300 films per year”. “Sometimes I even watch three a day”he explains. “It’s really what I like to do whenever I have a moment”.
Dominique Keirle, 68, takes advantage of his free time to go to the cinema more than 300 times a year.
•
© Dominique Keirle
The total amount of this leisure amounts according to him to 1 500 or 2 000 € per year. However, it is not the cost that can dampen the ardor of the film buff. “In the provinces, the sessions cost on average €5 or €6, the most expensive in La Rochelle must be €8 or €8.50. Frankly, it’s not expensive. Well, going there as much as I do, it necessarily represents a sum. But I will eat pasta every day if I have to, because I prefer to continue seeing films.” In reserve, he carefully keeps a collection of more than a thousand films, “in case I can no longer move”he laughs.
Basically, it is a desire to photograph cinemas that pushes the Royannais to launch a new project: that of taking photos of cinemas. “The idea came to me when I saw that several Parisian cinemas had disappeared”he remembers. “I said to myself that it was really too bad because I would have liked to immortalize them. Whether it’s the rooms or the facades, cinemas are part of the cultural heritage, it’s worth photographing them and showing them to people. people.”
The Royan film buff is also passionate about the architecture of cinemas.
•
© Dominique Keirle
Even though he has already photographed several of them with his phone, he wishes he could do them again and capture them with his camera.
What if Dominique traveled across France to discover the different temples of the seventh art? “I’ve had the idea for a year, but I really told myself I was going to do it this week”, he admits before bursting out laughing. It was while talking with the director of the Utopia cinema in Bordeaux that Dominique learned that there was “between 5 000 and 6 000 cinemas in France”. In total, in 2022, there are 2 061 establishments which have been identified in France by the National Center for Cinema and Animated Images (CNC).
It was while talking with the director of the Utopia cinema in Bordeaux that Dominique Keirle decided to begin his tour of France.
•
© Dominique Keirle
The question arises: is Dominique really going to do them all? “Yes, I really want to do them all, even those in villages of 200 inhabitants if there are any, even in village halls or even traveling cinemas”he answers without hesitation. “Even if it takes 5 or 10 years, I will do it, I am retired, I have time now. I want to talk to the directors and interview them if they agree, ideally I would like to see a film if possible and even visit the projection booth.” Everything will then be transcribed in Instagram posts on an account that the Royannais will soon create under the name: @dom17ksallesdecine.
It is through Brittany that this lifelong fan of Stanley Kubrick will begin his epic journey. It was the Morlaix cinema that caught his attention to begin with. “I’ve had this one checked off my list for a long time”smiles the retiree. “It’s called La Salamandre and its room has a starry sky, I can’t wait to see it in real life.”
