Director Mathieu Kassovitz countering the trend: cinemas are not essential now

While there is a section of the cinema world that is pressing for reopening, it is also interesting to register opinions against the trend. And lined up (perhaps surprisingly) among the latter is French director Mathieu Kassovitz, one of the most significant names in European cinema, winner in 1995 of the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival with the film La haine, and several César Awards. In France, cinemas will reopen on January 7, contrary to what was planned: in fact, President Emmanuel Macron had projected a December 15 reopening based on some precise epidemiological data. Unfortunately, however, things are not going as predicted, the second wave is still sustained in France, and consequently the postponement was opted for. And according to Kassovitz, at this stage cinemas (meaning theaters where films are shown) are not essential.

“Excuse me, but cinemas are absolutely not essential in this situation,” Kassovitz said while speaking on a broadcast of broadcaster BFM TV. “You have television, you can watch it at home, you have books.” According to Kassovitz, this is a problem of “misplaced ego” on the part of his colleagues in the film industry. “What is interesting about Covid is that it is an accelerator of society. It confronted us with our mortality and our fragility. And because I’m a filmmaker, I’m hallucinated by the paradigm shift, it went from a science fiction scenario to ’all of a sudden this is reality.’ If five years ago someone had put people in 90-cent masks in a movie, it would have been a science fiction movie. Today, however, on the streets it is full of people wearing masks.”

“I think reality has transcended fiction,” Kassovitz added, “and cinema is no longer as essential as it used to be. Unfortunately, theaters are no longer essential, and I think that, unfortunately, the future of cinema is beyond, it’s like fighting so that an animal species doesn’t become extinct. Cinemas in the future will disappear, the pandemic is just an accelerator.”

Director Mathieu Kassovitz countering the trend: cinemas are not essential now

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