“How much do you need?” : Quentin Tarantino’s latest decision proves once again that he is a movie lover

While many cinemas in Paris are closing, like the legendary UGS Normandie on the Champs-Élysées, independent cinema La Clef has recently been spared closure. After a bitter five-year battle, a cinema in the capital’s fifth arrondissement has just been saved thanks to Quentin Tarantino. Although he still doesn’t know what his tenth and final film will be, the American filmmaker continues to guard the theaters.

Charitable Foundation Renaissance cinemaThe cinema building, which was put up for sale by its former owner, the banking group Caisse d’Epargne, with €2 million raised through an online crowdfunding campaign.

Donations from David Lynch, Celine Sciam, and Agnes Zhou

€400,000 was raised thanks to 5,000 individual donations from filmmakers and actors such as David Lynch, Wang Bing, Leos Carax, Celine Siama, Sophie Fileres, Agnes Jaoui and Irene Jacob. The rest of the money was raised thanks to several “significant” donations from the director Quentin Tarantinoand two other patrons who wish to remain anonymous, as indicated on the site Deadline.

American media It states that Quentin Tarantino’s generous donation is the result of an impromptu meeting with two members of the La Clef collective during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. His book was promoted by a big movie fan, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill.Cinema speculation and Rolling Thunder presented by John Flynn.

“You have an email” from… Quentin Tarantino!

The team told Deadline:He was very interested in the project and sent us a cryptic email: “How much do you need to buy a cinema?” The subject of the letter read: “This is Quentin Tarantino.” He asked us for the amount we needed and paid it in full. This allowed us to complete the financing.”

An ardent defender of movie theaters, Quentin Tarantino owns two movie theaters in Los Angeles, and that’s why he allowed the revival of La Clef Cinema.

Re-opening 4 days earlier for work

The cinema will open for four days from June 27 to 30, before closing for a year to renovate the decades-old building. The group plans to install a bar there, as well as install three film post-production rooms, which will be operated for profit to support the operation of the cinema. The Cinema Revitalization Fund will employ two full-time theater rental operations, while cinema programming will continue to be run by volunteers.

For its part, the cinema recently issued a press release with the headline: “We were able to do that. The key is savede” In which the group writes: “The battle lasted almost five years. Five years of reflection, meetings, negotiations, bottles at sea, crazy ideas, disappointments and wonderful surprises. (…) Capturing and then acquiring La Clef required an enormous, coordinated effort and tenacity – and it was only possible because dozens of people worked, trained each other and took turns.

Thanks again a thousand times!

Without it, we could not have carried out such a project, which required learning everything (…) it was exciting, but difficult, and if we never gave up, it was also thanks to the constant support of the community, volunteers. Donors, friends and professionals came to help. Thanks to the activists who inspired us, to the people who recommended us. Thank you all: Thank you again a thousand times!”

The cinema will open its doors on June 27 with the screening of Agnes Varda’s film “Cleo de 5 à 7”. This New Wave classic was slated for release in 2018 when bailiffs entered the theater to shut it down. The testimony will be presented by Agnes’ daughter, Rosalie Varda.

As Tarantino would say:Long live cinema!”