To Each His Own Cinema (French: Chacun son cinéma : une déclaration d'amour au grand écran) is a 2007 French comedy-drama anthology film commissioned for the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival. The film is a collection of 34 short films, each 3 minutes in length, by 36 acclaimed directors. Representing five continents and 25 countries, the filmmakers were invited to express "their state of mind of the moment as inspired by the motion picture theatre".
The film's subtitle reads "a declaration of love to the big screen". Many of the shorts share similar subjects, including homage to classic European art cinema, the death of the filmgoing experience, memories of childhood wonder, the transporting power of cinema, and activities performed during a movie screening, including talking, stealing, crying, and having sex.
Contents
Distribution
Premiere
To Each His Own Cinema premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival on 20 May and was televised on the same night in France on Canal+. David Lynch's contribution, Absurda, was not ready in time and was instead shown before Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights on the festival's opening night.
DVD release
Two DVD versions of the film are available, both Region 2: one released by StudioCanal on 25 May 2007, the other released by Pyramide Distribution on 31 October 2007. World Cinema by Joel and Ethan Coen is not included on the StudioCanal DVD nor listed on the Pyramide DVD. David Lynch's Absurda is also not present on the StudioCanal DVD.
Short films
Raymond Depardon – Cinéma d'été (Open-Air Cinema): In Alexandria, Egypt, a small crowd attends a makeshift movie theatre.
Takeshi Kitano – One Fine Day: An older gentleman deals with an incompetent projectionist (Kitano).
Theo Angelopoulos – Trois minutes (Three Minutes): A woman (Jeanne Moreau) encounters the late Marcello Mastroianni (using footage from Angelopoulos' 1986 film The Beekeeper) in a movie theater and professes her love for him.
Andrei Konchalovsky – Dans le noir (In the Dark): An aged cinema owner (Ela Sanko) attempts to watch 8½, while sex-crazed youths make out behind her.
Nanni Moretti – Diario di uno spettatore (Diary of a Moviegoer): Moretti himself recounts treasured movie memories.
Hou Hsiao-hsien – The Electric Princess Picture House: A family in 1940s Taiwan goes to see a film in a suddenly abandoned or decrepit theatre.
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne – Dans l'obscurité (Darkness): A pickpocket in a screening of Au hasard Balthazar accidentally connects with an audience member (Émilie Dequenne).
David Lynch – Absurda: A sinister projectionist shows a group of teens a nightmarish vision of a murder. As he rolls the film, the teens appear to be compelled to commit it.
Joel and Ethan Coen – World Cinema: A cowboy resembling Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) decides between art films at the Aero Theatre.
Alejandro González Iñárritu – Anna: A blind woman (Luisa Williams) is profoundly moved listening to her boyfriend interpret the end of Contempt.