The jump is immense: between 2023 and 2024, the Le Foyer de Parthenay cinema increased its attendance by 36%, with 51,405 admissions in 2024 compared to 37,704 a year earlier. An upward dynamic also observed, in admittedly smaller proportions, in the two other cinemas in the north of Deux-Sèvres at the Fauteuil Rouge in Bressuire and at the Kiosque in Thouars. The smile is therefore wide on the face of Antoine Licoine, former director now president of the cooperative society Ciné Gâtine, as we approach this year 2025 launched with great success at the end of January by the J’peux pas j’ai cinoche festival (24 to January 26).
“A Little Something Extra”, locomotive of the year
“I had set the goal of 40,000, but as the weeks went by, we saw that we were going to exceed ithe congratulates himself, before distilling the keys to this success. We have increased the number of screenings with good films during the year, the programming has been refined, the rooms have been renovated and we feel good there and the Parthenaisians are starting to appreciate our cinema again. » Supported by Édouard Pallier as technical manager, Titouan Pornin for projections and mediation, and Marie-Laure Barbeau for administration and projections, Antoine Licoine emphasizes “the involvement of employees in our cooperative project: we are identified and the public feels it”.
The top 5 in 2024 at the Le Foyer cinema, this “small cinema that presents everything a big one” ? Unsurprisingly, Artus’ film A little something extra prances in the lead with 4,963 entries, ahead Vice-versa 2 (2.541), Le Comte de Monte Cristo (2.136), Vaiana 2 (2.031) et Love phew (1.531). Promising films which allowed French cinemas to reach 181 million spectators (+ 0.5% compared to 2023).
Exit paper programs, make way for the app
In Parthenay, where Le Foyer will continue to open 7 days a week after a successful experiment launched in the fall of 2023 and will once again offer sessions in the mornings during school holidays, having crossed the symbolic bar of 50,000 tickets sold is only a first step. “Today we only have two screens, we are obliged not to extend certain films as much as we would like in order to bring in new features”explains Antoine Licoine.
-His gaze is obviously turned towards the convention center, which after a major renovation project will accommodate, if the schedule is respected, four cinemas by 2027-2028. “There is a real desire on the part of the municipality to carry out the projecthe believes. It’s not just a cinema that we’re putting here, it’s a dynamic for the city: when we have 80,000 or 100,000 admissions per year, that will bring that many people to the city. »
Among the new features for 2025: the end of paper programs, “which have an economic and environmental cost”, recalls the president of Ciné Gâtine, marks the launch of a mobile application on which it will be possible to consult the films on display and buy tickets. The Le Foyer cinema is also considering ratifying its program from one week to the next, and no longer for two weeks, to meet spectators’ expectations a little more.
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