For the past twenty years, the Geneva-based photographer and film-maker has been capturing these temples to cinema around the world, bearing witness to the past and present beauties he invites us to (re)discover. Interview.
At a time when many mythical cinemas are increasingly taking their leave, Simon Edelstein brings these architectural gems back to life. This seasoned photographer from Geneva has been scouring the roads in search of this exceptional heritage, which is gradually disappearing from the panorama. In France alone, some 15 major cinemas have recently closed, including the UGC George V (2020), the Gaumont Marignan (2023) and the UGC Normandie (2024), all of which are symbols of multiplexes. In the realm of Hollywood, the same is true of the mythical Cinerama Dome (2020).
There are, however, a few bright spots. Examples include La Clef cinema, due to reopen in Paris in 2025, the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles, bought by Quentin Tarantino (2021), and the Egyptian Theatre, acquired by Netflix (2020), after the Paris Theater in New York (2019). "There's a little distinction that people need to understand," explains Simon Edelstein, adding: "When the platform buys theaters, it's often for contractual purposes, even if it avoids their destruction. For its films to compete for awards, they must first be released in a few cinemas. It's not philanthropy, it's marketing.
From beauty of yesteryear to evanescence
The man who turned 82 on March 26 has published two fine books on these wonders of the seventh art: Le crépuscule des cinémas and Cinémas, un patrimoine français (Éd. Jonglez, 2020 and 2023). Both retrace the history of dilapidated and abandoned monuments, of neighborhood cinemas that have disappeared or resisted (the Kinopanorama, the Palace whose façade was used for Eddy Mitchell's "La dernière séance"), of superbly restored palaces (Le Louxor, La Pagode), not forgetting more contemporary cinemas that are just as spectacular.
Next autumn, a third book will be added to this precious collection, La beauté mortelle des cinémas indiens (Éd. Jonglez). From France to the United States, via Italy, Cuba and India, it has taken Simon Edelstein more than two decades to photograph these nostalgic venues in the heart of towns and countryside. A passion that comes as no surprise. This lover of structures and film has a long career in the industry, from the small to the big screen. He has made documentaries for French-speaking Swiss television, feature films, and signed films as a cinematographer.
"I've always traveled and loved the cinema. But I didn't care much about the exteriors, I was only interested in the films. It was when I went back to the theaters that I realized that some of them no longer existed. So I started looking at them. They were being destroyed with indifference on the part of the public authorities and replaced by abominably ugly constructions. And so we went from the mortal beauty of cinemas to ugliness ad vitam aeternam. At the time, cinemas had to be beautiful to attract spectators. This allowed architects to imagine magnificent, extravagant places."
Putting modernity to the test
For Simon Edelstein, it's a "work of memory". India, the United States and Great Britain leave "traces of the beauty of the rooms", he admits. "In Bombay, Art Deco architecture remains. As in Los Angeles, large theaters have been preserved. The emotion of cinema is linked to others and to volumes. When you walk into a 3,000-seat theater, everything takes on such magnitude in the midst of the crowd. It transcends emotion. France remains a wonderful country for cinephiles, accounting for a third of all admissions in the European Community. There's a tradition and a strong will to restore, renovate and reinvent, with all kinds of events like the Fête du cinéma. But the buildings constructed here have nothing in common with the architecture of yesteryear. It's a formal, neutral beauty.
Since the advent of digital technology, that is to say, from the technological evolutions to the end of the pandemic, the habits of moviegoers have continued to evolve, letting the touch screens of streaming platforms invade their daily lives. A sad observation, to the detriment of fine cinematographic techniques and immersive formats (IMAX, 3D, 4DX, ScreenX, Dolby Cinema, LED). It's a pattern that's been repeated time and time again, reminiscent of the explosion of wide formats in the mid-twentieth century (CinemaScope, 70mm, VistaVision, Cinerama, Drive-in) to compete with the arrival of television in the home.
Under Simon Edelstein's lens, the magic of cinemas continues to work, immortalizing "the beautiful archaeology of their worn facades, their entrances and their vast rooms of drifting ships". A game between time, splendor, stigma, oblivion and resilience. A golden age of architecture, where dreams live on and imaginations interact. All the more so since the Grand Rex was voted the world's most beautiful cinema this year by Time Out , out of fifty selected cinemas.
Simon Edelstein's publications:
The deadly beauty of Indian cinema
Éditions Jonglez, Autumn 2025
Cinemas, a French heritage
Éditions Jonglez, 2023
The twilight of cinemas
Éditions Jonglez, 2020
