PARIS – Chanel is extending its support for cinema from the screen to the movie theater.

After years of helping filmmakers with everything from costume design to financing, the French luxury brand has sponsored the renovation and reopening of Le Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a historic independent cinema in Paris once prized by New Wave directors like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut.

Located in a prime spot on the French capital’s Left Bank, a stone’s throw from legendary cafés Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, the 208-seat venue opened in 1969 and has since gone through several changes in ownership. Most recently, it was a private screening room attached to a restaurant under the Silencio des Prés banner. 

Chanel has partnered with a group of investors – including production and distribution firm Les Films du Losange – to bring back the arthouse cinema, pioneering a new partnership model even as other independent movie houses are threatened by rising rents and the advent of streaming platforms.

“Unfortunately, not all cinemas are as lucky and the economic environment is very precarious,” Mathilde Lamour, director of Le Saint-Germain-des-Prés, told WWD. “This group of investors wants to guarantee the survival of this venue that has a cherished place in the life of Parisian cinema lovers, and restore it to its former glory.”

Following a one-year renovation and redesign by Fabrizio Casiraghi, who also designed the neighboring Sant Ambroeus restaurant, the cinema reopened to the public on June 3 with a selection of films that recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

It plans to screen both contemporary and classic pictures, as well as offering moviegoers the opportunity to meet film talents, starting with the presentation last Thursday of “Roma Elastica” in the presence of director Bertrand Mandico and actress Marion Cotillard, a Chanel brand ambassador.

“Chanel is proud to support the reopening of the Cinéma Saint‑Germain‑des‑Prés, a place deeply rooted in the history of French arts,” Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS, said in a statement.

“For Chanel, cinema has always been about creation, about the works and the voices that bring it to life and continue to endure. Supporting this legendary venue is a natural continuation of this commitment. This reopening is an act of transmission, preserving a heritage while opening a space for new generations and for artistic freedom to flourish,” he added.

There’s a purposely retro feel to the space, which is decorated with vintage Art Deco furniture and lithographs by the likes of Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso. The retractable screen rises to reveal a speakeasy bar that can host receptions.

“I want this movie theater to be super welcoming,” said Lamour. “For me, a cinema is a place to meet and exchange, whether at the ticket booth or in the screening room, and moviegoers are very keen to discuss films in theaters. Ticket sales are increasing, and over the past few months, film clubs have been popping up all over Paris.”

At an inaugural screening of “Fatherland,” which won Pawel Pawlikowski the Best Director award in Cannes, senior French film industry figures hailed the opening as a positive signal amid a culture war over the rise of far-right political movements and their business allies, which threatens to impact which movies get financed.

Gaëtan Bruel, president of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée, or CNC, noted that in the first five months of the year, France registered 77 million ticket sales, up 20 percent year-on-year, with domestic films holding a market share of 44 percent, on par with U.S. productions.

“Tonight we celebrate not just a glorious past, but a radiant present,” he said, contrasting the situation with the United States, where he worked for several years as cultural attaché to the French embassy and set up a unit in Hollywood to promote the French audiovisual industry.

“If there is a crisis, it’s on the other side of the Atlantic, where perhaps an overly financial, overly corporate view of filmmaking means they’re no longer generating the double-digit revenues they used to, and they have therefore concluded that cinema is doomed,” Bruel said.

“Here, we’re doing fine, thank you, and I think we really need to stop letting the narrative be hijacked,” he added.

Despite a spate of closures, most visibly on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Paris has the greatest number of cinemas of any city in the world, making it a magnet for movie buffs. City officials recognized the importance of movie theaters by granting them a special status in an urban planning regulation adopted in 2024.

As a growing number of luxury brands expand into film production, Lamour paid tribute to Chanel’s pioneering association with cinema, starting with its founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who traveled to Los Angeles in 1931 to work with studio boss Samuel Goldwyn.

Lamour plans to work closely with the house on future programming. “This is a new model, but Chanel is always ahead of its time. They have a very important place in cinema. Their support is invaluable, especially their patronage of the Cinémathèque Française,” she noted.

“As a film enthusiast myself, I was aware of Chanel’s support of cinema and I admire what they’ve done. I’m very happy to be working with them on the Saint-Germain-des-Prés, because we approach film with the same spirit,” Lamour said.