The members of the Bar-sur-Aube municipal council met on Friday June 6. The most important point concerned the future of The Vagabond cinema.
The current managers have expressed their wish to cease operating the Vagabond as of September 30 for reasons of geographical distance and personal organization. For its part, the municipality reaffirmed its desire to continue cinema activity in the region.
The municipality recalled that the operation of the cinema can only be profitable with the support of public funds. The most suitable solution seems to be management in the form of public service delegation. As the procedural deadlines are relatively long, a temporary solution will be put in place in order to avoid any interruption of activity which would be detrimental to the residents and to the school complex, in particular to its audiovisual section.
Jean-Pierre Bodnar, manager of the cinema, took advantage of his professional network to present Charles Vintrou, from the company Artec, who has expressed his interest in resuming operation of the cinema from October 1st.
Both came to explain to the members of the council their motivations and their desire for commitment. They underlined their desire to ensure the continuity of the service and highlighted the experience of Charles Vintrou, who has worked in the film sector for more than fifteen years. Elected officials were asked to decide on an agreement to make the cinema available for a period of fifteen months (from October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027) with the payment of an annual fixed compensation of €50,000. In return, the operator undertakes to program cinematographic works every week: 940 minimum annual screenings (i.e. five screening days out of seven). It must also organize screenings for local schools as part of the “cinema school” system, and offer high school evenings intended for students in the audiovisual section and arthouse sessions.
The operator will pay an equipment occupancy fee of €5,000 annually. He is committed to supporting current employees. The deliberation was unanimously adopted by voters, with Emmanuel Provin abstaining. “We no longer have to be worried about the future of our cinema,” concluded the mayor.
