Lyon's 12th Lumiere festival opens this weekend with 23 feature films presented at Cannes earlier this year in the line-up.
Lyon's 12th Lumiere festival opens this weekend and as usual, it will be a celebration of films from cinema's glorious past.
In the grim present, however, the number of people going to the cinema in France has halved and the state has had to offer around €84 million in aid to make up for lost revenue.
But the festival's director told Euronews he believes cinema will ultimately survive.
"Several times the death of cinema has been announced. And each time cinema survived," Thierry Frémaux said.
And he believes cinema will return.
"Let's take football. We have no audience now in the stadium. Everyone thinks that people will come back. Why would it be different in football, or in sports or cinema? Those who love the cinema will come back for sure."
The magic of the cinema will be on display at the festival until October 18th.
American director-provocateur Oliver Stone will present his autobiography "In Search of Light" and "Born on July 4" will also be showing.
Among the close to 150 films in the line-up, 23 features from the Cannes 2020 Official Selection will be playing.