Espace Saint-Michel, Independent cinema in Saint-Michel Quarter, Paris, France
Espace Saint-Michel is an independent art-house cinema at 7, place Saint-Michel, in the Sorbonne quarter of the 5th arrondissement. Its original 500-seat hall was split in 1981 into two rooms of 100 and 110 seats, so 210 in all.
Victor Gandon, owner of the Bouillon Gandon restaurant, opened the cinema on 22 December 1911 by converting part of his establishment. His nephew Gaston Gérard took over in 1918, followed by Jean and then Claude Gérard. The original 500-seat hall was split in 1981 into two rooms of 100 and 110 seats. On the night of 22-23 October 1988, during a midnight screening of Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, an arson attack by Catholic fundamentalists injured thirteen people; the cinema closed for three years and reopened in October 1991.
The cinema is classed as an Art et Essai venue, showing independent and auteur films from France and abroad. Its name comes from the Place Saint-Michel where it stands. The Gérard family, which has owned it since 1918, still runs it today.
The cinema is at 7, place Saint-Michel, served by metro line 4 at Saint-Michel station and RER line B at Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame. The two screening rooms, seating 100 and 110, are reached by stairs; the venue is not wheelchair accessible.
The cinema opened on 22 December 1911 when restaurateur Victor Gandon converted part of his Bouillon Gandon establishment into a 500-seat hall. The business has stayed in the family: after Gandon it passed to his nephew Gaston Gérard, then Jean Gérard, and today Claude Gérard.
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