Responsible for preserving and disseminating the cinematographic heritage, the institution created in 1936 faces heritage, financial and governance issues which are reduced its effectiveness. Its conservation mission is hampered by problems of storage and management of its collections made up of 50,000 films and one million objects and archives. Fleed on five sites, these funds generate high costs and logistical difficulties. The need for a strategic real estate plan becomes urgent, while some sites are no longer suitable.
In terms of broadcasting, the Cinémathèque is struggling to expand its audience. Film projections undergo a drop in attendance, despite diversified programming. The library and the resource center attract fewer and fewer visitors. The permanent exhibition around the figure of Georges Méliès is struggling to reach 40,000 annual visitors, which revives the subject of a National Cinema Museum. The Bercy site, however renovated in 2005, suffers from an unsuitable arrangement, poor insulation and infiltration.
Financially, the Cinémathèque budget (€ 27 million) is 75 % on public subsidies via the National Cinema Center which intervenes more as a partner than as a supervisory. The report underlines an unexploited potential in terms of ticket office, patronage and valuation of the collections.
Finally, his governance appears obsolete in the eyes of the magistrates. Its associative status, marked by a certain interview, no longer meets the requirements of an institution of this scale which has 26 directors for a total workforce of 200 employees. A transformation into a public establishment or a foundation is recommended to structure its action and ensure its future.
