The Cinémathèque française announced this Friday the closure of its four theaters in Paris for a month in order to carry out a “complete treatment” against the bedbugs found there, according to a press release.
This closure comes “following new reports” and should make it possible to “guarantee” spectators “a perfectly safe and comfortable environment”, specifies the Cinémathèque, an international cinephile institution.
The carpets and all the armchairs will be dismantled then treated “individually with dry steam at 180°, several times, before being subject to systematic canine checks validating each step”, adds the Cinémathèque.
Located in the 12th arrondissement of the capital, the Cinémathèque includes three rooms open to the public, and a fourth used for educational activities. These tiny creatures often hide in the cracks of headboards, mattress seams and pillow covers, and cause severe itching.
An already reinforced protocol
At the beginning of November, several spectators were attacked by these insects during the broadcast of the film “Alien” and the master class of American actress Sigourney Weaver, as we reported in our columns.
“We saw them running on the seats and the clothes,” said Madani Bendjellal, a spectator: “After the screening, several people started to feel pain and itching.”
“Since 2021, the Cinémathèque française has applied a rigorous prevention and treatment protocol” regarding bedbugs, “implemented by its teams and specialized and certified service providers,” we can read on the association’s website.
Following the announcement of their new measure, the institution recalled in its Friday press release that “all other spaces of the Cinémathèque française remain open and are in no way affected by this problem”.