When the Audience of Art Movie Theatres is not the Audience of Art Film
Abstract
In France, we can find films and movie theatres that are subsidized by film authorities and that are designated with an Art label. This support entails the labelling of some of the films that come out every week – approximately 3 out of 5 of all new films. Said films are recognized for their cinematographic value. It materialises as assistance given to movie theatres which devote at least some of their programming to Art films. However, Art movie houses do not only screen this type of films, thus the question arises: is there an audience of Art houses that can also be considered as a non-public of Art movies?
Based on results we gathered from two surveys (n=984 an n=250) conducted in a number of Art houses, we will demonstrate that certain spectators can, in fact, be an audience in said theatres, all the while being a non-public for the films that allows these theatres to obtain an institutional recognition. We will point out how the non-public category is a socio-discursive construction used to indistinctively label a group of viewers who does not go to certain venues and do not expose itself to certain artistic or cultural objects, while both these activities – the use of a venue and the artistic delectation – are to be dissociated.
Origin : Files produced by the author(s)