Photo courtesy of www.benjerry.fr
If it’s Monday, it must be Haven in Paris. Our HiP Monday feature is for those who want to get the most our of the city of Paris without spending a single Euro.
Now that summer is in full swing, Parisians will seek out any excuse to loiter outside for as long as possible. Luckily, the Cinéma en Plein Air festival at the Park de la Villette gives them an excuse to do just that! Running from July 15th through August 16th, the festival features a different film every night at approximately 9:00pm (or whenever night falls) on a large outdoor screen located in the Prairie du Triangle (Metro: Porte de Pantin, Line 5).And what’s better than enjoying a cinematic masterpiece beneath the Paris night sky? Doing it for free. While last year’s visitors were charged admission to the screenings, this year’s festival is free and open to the public in the name of “democratizing access to culture,” according to Jacques Martial, President of Parc de la Villette. Oh, France! Always outdoing itself in the name of cultural enhancement.
The festival launches on July 15th with a screening of Terrence Malick’s The New World. The month-long program includes a vast array of films from various countries and eras, including Antonioni’s Profession: Reporter, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Rachid Bouchareb’s Little Senegal, and of course, Pirates of the Caribbean. The festival culminates on August 16th with a screening of Werner Herzog’s bafflingly entertaining epic, Fitzcarraldo.
So grab your friends, a picnic blanket, a bottle of wine, and head up to Parc de la Villette to make the most of summer in Paris. For those who want to splurge, lawn chairs are available for a fee (6,50 € for adults, 4 € for under 16, 20 € for five chairs). Parking for bikes and scooters is free.
In case of rain, consult www.villette.com or call 01 40 03 75 75 to verify whether screenings are happening.
For more information and the festival’s full program, click here.
To access la Villette’s Facebook page, click here.
