At a time when many independent movie theatres in Canada are struggling, one Montreal cinema says it is entering “a new chapter” after receiving a major donation from Quebec filmmaker Denis Villeneuve.
Cinéma du Parc announced this week that the Quebec-born director behind “Dune” and other Hollywood blockbusters is the latest big-name director to show his support for a cherished local theatre. He has given an undisclosed amount to help ensure the long-term financial security of the movie house where he has long attended screenings.
The theatre is unveiling a new look on Thursday after spending more than $1.4 million on a facelift. Located in the basement of a shopping centre near McGill University, the cinema’s mezzanine has been overhauled and the theatre’s interior boasts red drapes reminiscent of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks.” Even the bathroom stalls have been upgraded with portraits of movie characters.
Speaking with The Canadian Press, Roxanne Sayegh, the theatre’s executive director, says attendance remains good and the cinema is financially sound, but the money from Villeneuve will help provide much-needed “stability” in the coming years.
“(Villeneuve) knew it was going to be a major investment for the cinema, and he believed in our mission. It’s a cinema that has been also very important in him becoming a filmmaker,” she said in an interview. “He’s been coming to Cinéma du Parc for decades, so I when I reached out to him he accepted to support our cinema.”
This is not the first time Villeneuve has given money to the non-profit team that runs Cinéma du Parc. Last year, Villeneuve donated another sum to Cinéma Beaubien, a Montreal independent movie theatre that is overseen by the same administration.
Sayegh says such support is critical at a time when so many cinemas are struggling.
In March, the Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors published a survey of nearly 70 different independent film exhibitors in Canada between December 2023 and February 2024. It found that the industry was in a state of “crisis,” with 60 per cent of respondents saying they operated at a loss at the end of their most recent financial year.
The Conseil des arts de Montréal, which supports the arts in Montreal, helped co-ordinate Villeneuve’s donation. “What we really hope is that a donation like Denis Villeneuve’s will inspire other people, other donors,” said Julien Valmary, the council’s director of philanthropy and support.
Villeneuve is not the only director to get behind independent cinemas in recent months.
On Tuesday, Toronto’s Revue Cinema announced it signed a new lease agreement to keep its doors open. A petition circulating online said the landlord was demanding a 50 per cent rent hike. Mexican director Guillermo del Toro shared a petition on X to save the theatre back in July.
In June, donations from heavyweight directors like Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch and Martin Scorsese saved the historic La Clef cinema in Paris, France, according to media reports.
Sonya William, director of the Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors, also hopes other filmmakers will follow in Villeneuve’s footsteps.
“Filmmakers and artists understand that cinema is the place that people really feel impacted by film, and so investing in that and supporting the cinemas that do creative programming and really show work by people who maybe aren’t big stars yet … that’s really the most important thing (and) the best way to build an audience,” she said.
However, William says the problems facing movie theatres and drive-in cinemas are bigger than funding.
“The way that film distribution works in Canada … is really, really tough, and it’s kind of setting up independent cinemas to fail.” She identified practices imposed by studios as serious obstacles to smaller theatres’ viability.
One such practice known as “clean runs” forces cinemas that want to show a certain film to play it several times a day for a set number of weeks, even if it is not beneficial for the theatre, Cinéma du Parc Programming director Jean- François Lamarche said. Another practice is “zoning,” which Lamarche says is an unwritten rule under which studios give preference to larger commercial theatres in a designated geographic area, meaning independent cinemas have to wait for bigger theatres to stop showing a movie before they can screen it.