The old projection room has returned to service. Closed since the move to the station at the end of 2020, the former L’Arvor cinema has been occupied since Saturday evening by opponents of the pension reform. Started in the chaos of a stormy end to the demonstration on Saturday, the occupation continued in a much more peaceful climate this Sunday in Rennes. Freed from the barriers and palisades of the construction site, the rue d’Antrain saw a good number of curious people pass by, intrigued by the banners unrolled on the facade of the old cinema. “Fight, win”, is written on the facade. A “Rooting the Strike” flag was unfurled. On the sidewalk, crates of vegetables have been placed in front of the building for a solidarity sale which will be used to supply the strike funds. In front, a handful of people welcome the entrants. The first general assembly will soon begin.
To enter, you have to go through the small door leading behind the ticket office and sneak into the hall. A table with coffee and tea is set to the side. The premises had been abandoned, emptied of all furniture and equipment since the move in 2020. At first sight, nothing had been damaged. In place of the film posters, a large white paper indicates the “charter of life at the MDP”. Understand People’s House. “This place is yours, take care of it: avoid damage and participate in the maintenance”, it is written. A little lower: “This place must last: let us avoid useless provocations beyond our defense needs”. The AG is held upstairs. Able to accommodate 158 spectators, the room is full. The choice is made not to let the press attend “in order to leave the floor free”. We have to go out and no one wants to speak for the time being. “Speaking must be collective”, explain the occupants.
“A place of organization of the struggle”
Here, most of the participants are between 20 and 30 years old. We recognize a few members of local unions, feminist activists, students. But it is impossible for us to know more about the nature of the exchanges that will take place here. “It’s a people’s house, a place for organizing the struggle,” explains a woman.
At the beginning of February, it was the hall of the City which had been the subject of a brief occupation after the cancellation of a meeting of Nupes. The occupants had been quickly evacuated, at the request of the municipality. Will the mayor of Rennes Nathalie Appéré ask for the intervention of the police to evacuate the old cinema which belongs to her? The occupants hope not. In a press release, the elected socialist condemned “strongly the violence and degradation” committed on Saturday evening. She made no mention of the occupation, except by mentioning “thugs” who “occupied a building by force”.
A ransacked and looted business
Unlike the City, L’Arvor is no longer used. The new cinema is now installed at the station and no use of this building was envisaged in the short term. “There are still very damaged armchairs in the two rooms and two yellowed screens”, explains the former director of the premises. In the room, a message also invites you to “not tag” the large white screen. A film screening should be held in the evening, just after a workshop supposed to “organize the fight”.
A few dozen meters below, the patched-up facade of a clothing store is a reminder that violent clashes broke out there on Saturday after the demonstration. Several individuals smashed the window of the Crazy Republic store, taking out clothes tossed into the street. Employees tried to limit the looting by putting the items back in the store in bulk. This Sunday, a security guard is watching in the middle of clothes piled up on the ground. The store will probably not be able to reopen this Monday. “We should also talk about police violence,” retorts an occupant of the old cinema who guards the entrance to the premises. According to him, demonstrators were “severely beaten” and several were injured by the police who were trying to free the rue d’Antrain on Saturday evening. For its part, the prefecture evokes the figure of “three police officers slightly injured”. Five people were arrested “and will be referred to the judicial authority”, assures the prefect Emmanuel Berthier.