Bobigny inaugurates a public cinema sponsored by Jean-Pascal Zadi

The Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture, which had been without a cinema since 2019, will inaugurate its new six-screen complex on Wednesday, March 11, offering low-cost tickets (from €4 to €7), in the presence of the project's patron, actor and director Jean-Pascal Zadi. A public cinema with six screens and 865 seats opens Wednesday in Bobigny, the prefecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, which has been without one for seven years, with actor and director Jean-Pascal Zadi as its patron. The Est Ensemble territory, encompassing nine towns in Seine-Saint-Denis, boasts of operating "the leading network of public cinemas in France," now with six establishments. Jean-Pascal Zadi had fun promoting the new venue in Bobigny, using a loudspeaker, in a video clip that was shared on social media.

He will be present for the screening of the film The American Dream this Wednesday, March 11, at 4:30 p.m., he who "was born in Bondy, lives in the Est Ensemble area, and has filmed extensively in Bobigny, notably the two seasons of his series 'En Place'," mentions the operations manager, Victor Courgeon.

The promotional campaign also involved local residents, as well as the young Bobigny rapper WaïV and the documentary filmmaker Aïssatou Bathily.

No more cinema in Bobigny since 2019

The opening of the new cultural complex has been eagerly awaited for years in the prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis, the youngest and poorest department in metropolitan France.

The city of over 55,000 inhabitants had been without a cinema since the closure of the Magic in 2019, which at the time only had two screens in a shopping center that had become outdated and was subsequently demolished. However, the population did benefit from traveling film screenings.

The new venue bears the name of a forgotten pioneer of cinema, Alice Guy, chosen by residents following a "citizen consultation." It is located in the new "city center" district, between the prefecture and the town hall, served by metro, tram, and bus. Tickets range from €4 to €7. The result of a total investment of €23 million, this three-level complex appears spacious, elegant, and very well-equipped. Three of its six theaters are modular and can also accommodate live performances, an AFP journalist observed. Its lobby will include a café-bookshop, in a city that currently lacks one. It is banking on the appeal of its low prices (€4 to €7 per ticket) and its "generalist cinema" profile, offering "both blockbusters and art-house films." He will develop "a strong focus on young audiences" as well as "media literacy, one of the network's priorities," emphasizes Victor Courgeon. "These are public cinemas that are just over 50% self-financed, despite very low ticket prices, and which have the distinction of organizing a large number of discussions: we hold 500 meetings annually in the 14 (already existing) theaters of our network," argued Alexie Lorca, Vice-President in charge of Culture and Popular Education at Est Ensemble, praising "a public cultural service."