20/06/2003

There’s a record that's been standing since 1999: 4.3 million tickets sold in 1999 for Cinema Party in France. That is one of the goals of the 19th edition that will run from 22-24 June, fill 5000 French theatres and, the organisers hope, redress this year’s poor attendance figures.
Set up in 1985 by the French ministry for culture and the National Federation of Cinemas (FNCF), and familiarly known as "the longest day" in Gallic cinema, the popularity of the event caused it to be extended over a three-day period starting in 1993. It is a unique opportunity for filmfans who can see all the films they can take for just Euros1.50.
From a professional point of view, the purpose of this event is to relaunch cinema attendance which has a tendency to drop dramatically with the advent of warmer weather. And French attendance for 2003 really needs an adrenalin hit: compared to the first five months of 2002, ticket sales were down by 7.4 per cent.
3.6million tickets were sold to the Cinema Party in 2002 and the event helped project titles like Cédric Klapisch’s L’auberge espagnole to the top of the Gallic box office.

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Since 21 May, the public has been made aware of the forthcoming event by means of a special ad that's been screening in all French theatres. Shot in the Bollywood style, the ad presents the various professions that make up the film industry and it stars André Dussollier, Julie Depardieu, Irène Jacob, Gaspar Ulliel and Barbara Schulz, Victoria Abril and renowned DPs like Gérard Simon and Tetsuo Nagata. A number of films like Mais qui a tué Pamela Rose?, Le Bison, Le mystère de la chambre jaune and Les Triplettes de Belleville [+see also:
trailer
film profile] are doing good business locally and are likely to improve as a result of this event.

(Translated from French)