«La Clef Revival» is the name of the collective effort that has been continuously deployed and reinvented over the past four years to save La Clef, a historic cinema in Paris’ Latin Quarter. First opened in 1973, this unique space was notably dedicated to screening works by lesser-represented auteurs from Africa and Latin America.
To preserve this legacy for future generations, our collective of volunteers is trying to buy, restore and reopen the theater. Our vision goes beyond just keeping the lights on and offering inclusive and accessible “pay-what-you-can” film screenings. We run this project through equitable methods of shared governance, and are planning to launch initiatives to support new creative voices through artist residencies, post-production facilities, as well as free and open-access educational workshops.
The collective was born in september 2019, back when tens of artists, squatters, local residents, emerging film professionnals and cinema lovers came together to occupy La Clef and keep it open. For two and a half years, we showed a different film every night, and many directors – such as Céline Sciamma, Léos Carax and Sophie Calle, among many others – were present for post-screening discussions as a way to support our cause. It was truly an exhilarating time, where moviegoers and filmmakers gathered around a film, a conversation or a drink.
After we were eventually evicted, we embarked on a new chapter of the story and put together a bid to buy the cinema ourselves. Since then, thanks to the support of key figures from the film industry such as David Lynch, John Carpenter, and even Martin Scorsese, who wrote an open letter and recorded a video in support, we were able to sign a sales agreement – and we are now close to reach our fundraising goal in order to buy La Clef collectively and reopen it to the public.
«We aren’t done yet» – afterparty at La Clef