Lumière Festival Celebrates Moviegoing With 90,000 Tickets Sold At Mid-Point

The Lumière festival, a week-long celebration of heritage movies created by late filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, is having a packed 13th edition in Lyon, the birthplace of the Lumiere brothers.

With a vast lineup including screenings of classic films, restored prints, discoveries and masterclasses, the festival had already sold nearly 90,000 tickets for film screenings and other related events at mid-point.

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Among the 5,000 guests who attended the festival’s opening ceremony were Paolo Sorrentino, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Valeria Golino, Joachim Trier, Rossy de Palma, Melanie Laurent and Edouard Baer. The tribute to Tavernier was attended by 2,000 people at the Auditorium of Lyon, while 4,000 people turned up for the screening of “Shrek” with Alain Chabat.

Set to wrap on Sunday, the Lumiere festival is approaching the participation levels of its record year in 2019. The International Classic Film Market, a dedicated mini-market for heritage movies, also registered a record number of accredited visitors.

“The Lumière festival is proud to play a role in the recent cultural renewal. All types of audiences, from the regulars to occasional viewers are involved in the event, and the public is composed of locals, as well as film buffs from around the world,” said the festival, which is headed by Thierry Fremaux, the general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival. Lumière also brings movies to hospitals, clinics, and as well as prisons in the suburbs of Lyon.

The festival’s Special Guest this year is New Yorker Margaret Bodde, the executive director of The Film Foundation.

Netflix has four films playing at this year’s Lumiere, including Campion’s “The Power of The Dog” (pictured), Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” and Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” all of which world premiered at Venice. Sarandos made the trip especially to Lyon for the opening.

As previously announced, Swiss-born French actor Irene Jacob has succeeded Tavernier as president of the festival and Institut Lumière.

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