(11 May 1996) English/Nat
The Cannes Film Festival in the South of France is all about making an impact.
But a couple of English entrepreneurs have opted for the saying 'small is best' to grab people's attention.
The coast line at Cannes is packed with marquees and the crowds to fill them for its annual film festival.
Movie enthusiasts come from all over the world to view the latest offerings from directors hoping to make it big with their films.
But one cinema, in particular, is turning away the crowds.
It's not the quality of films showing - it's because it's the smallest movie theatre in the world.
Or at least that's what the owners claim.
This large converted caravan which seats eight people is the brainchild of two English film buffs.
In keeping with the small theme of the entire operation - they only show short movies.
But the price is very in keeping with the rest of Cannes- 50 francs or 10 U-S dollars for a ticket.
Although for 20 times that amount- you can get a lifetime ticket and go to all the showings you want.
They originally came up with the idea because they wanted something different to impress the Edinburgh film going crowd in Scotland.
SOUNDBITE:
"It was a crazy idea we had in a pub a year ago and we built a shed, a garden shed and took it to the Edinburgh festival. And it was so popular that we thought we must develop it further and the furthest we could think of was Cannes.
SUPERCAPTION: Richard Kilgarriff, Co-owner
They are enjoying being the small guys on the block and hope that Cannes won't be their last film festival.
SOUNDBITE:
"For the future, we've managed to beg, borrow and steal enough money to get here but for the future and for it to exist and go to other film festivals, we need sponsorship, we need a box office. Mind you, with eight seats we're not going to make millions.
SUPER CAPTION: Richard Kilgarriff, Co-owner
They hope the novelty value of their tiny venue will capture the imagination of someone who always wanted to own a movie theatre.
The two Englishmen say they would like nothing better than to travel the world visiting film festivals and providing a little alternative to the multiplexes usually associated with the movie world.
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