Cinemas & movie theaters – All our local tips

An excellent and always enjoyable spot for drinks and dinner is Bercy Village on the Eastern side of Paris. Away from the main tourist routes but always busy, this secluded pedestrian street offers a nice combination of outside terraces, restaurants, shops and even a cinema.

The street and buildings are converted docks, that once functioned as storage for the wine barrels that supplied Paris. The old train tracks (leading to the Seine where the barrels arrived by boat) are still visible in the middle of the street. The reconversion has been very well done.

The Village offers a selection of good shops (Agnès B, Nature et Découvertes, Sephora), a brewery (The Frog), restaurants and a USG cinema, guaranteeing a nice evening out all within a square mile. There are frequent free photo exhibitions in the portals that give access to the street.

The modern and rapid metro line 14 gives direct access within 12 minutes from the centre of Paris.

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Bercy village | Bars, Cinemas, Shopping
Cour St – Emilion | Marais/Bastille
Shops 11:00 – 21:00 daily

Situated on the second and the third level of the Pompidou centre, the Public Information Library (Bibliotèque publique d’information) or BPI is one of the best public libraries in Paris.

It offers an exceptional collection of books that can be consulted only on-site; free admission; the possibility of 30-40 minutes of surfing (registration near the entrance to the library, from Rue Beaubourg) as well as using audio and video records. You can also watch a variety of TV programs or view archive materials.

Not only are the sources rich at BPI but it is an exceptional feeling to take a break overlooking Beaubourg or the place in front of the Centre with the usual grabbag collection of street artists. And in case you’re looking for art of a different sort, of course, the upper floors house one of the world’s most important modern art collections.

Since it’s the only library in Paris open Sundays, Sundays are crowded and the line is usually 15 minutes long. But once inside, you’ll have to admit that nowhere else can you can sit in a library and glance up at the Niki de Sainte Phalle and Jean Tinguely fountain a few meters away.

The whole experience is a real pleasure. In a single venue, you will find stunning museum, exemplary architecture, a huge reading corpus, a bookshop and cinema with auteur’s films.

My fascination with the whole Pompidou Centre never stops.

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BPI | Art & culture, Cinemas | Free
Place Georges Pompidou | Marais/Bastille
Mon & Wed – Fri 12:00 – 21:45, Sat – Sun 11:00 – 21:45

With its two screens showing only “Latin” films (ie films from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Latin America, and more rarely Romania), and its dance-floor upstairs hosting latin dances classes, Le Latina cinema has become over the years an inevitable place for latin cultures’ enthusiasts wishing to watch an Almodovar film downstairs while hearing the noise of High Heels on the floor above…

Recently, Le Latina was slightly renamed in Le Nouveau Latina, and it slightly changed too, even if it keeps its strong Latin identity. Most of the films are still from Latin countries, but programming now is wider, and includes international auteur cinema (with a preference for films about homosexuality: we’re in the deep heart of the Marais), midday thematic cycles, and midnight cult films on Saturdays (very rare in Paris).

The first floor has been renovated and is now a very cosy tea salon (re-opening in October) which also hosts a small store selling DVDs, film posters and books about cinema (open until 19:00). If you add photography / drawing exhibitions and tango classes on Monday evenings (beginner / intermediate / free practise), it makes Le Nouveau Latina the perfect multidisciplinary space for modern “Latin lovers”…

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Le Nouveau Latina | Art & culture, Bars, Cinemas, Coffee & tea, Shopping
20 rue du Temple | Marais/Bastille | +33142466271
11:30 – 00:00 daily

Mk2 Beaubourg is a moderately big cinema (6 different sized rooms) in the centre of town that offers a big selection of films every day.

MK2 chain was created by Marin Karmitz who tried to make a strong chain of independent films. Not cinematheque, it shows recent film productions. At MK2 you can watch the best independent movies, often those selected at the festivals specialising in that genre. That are not rarely classics to be. Opened to mainly European films, there are world productions as well. Documentaries and animated films are not equally represented, but are also often included in the program.

Films begin at around 11:00. and the tickets are cheaper before 15:00.

The slogan of MK2 as a different idea about the cinema, tells the principle of it’s creator wanting to give non commercial films more public space. Though there are plenty of other MK2 cinemas in Paris (like Cinema on the boat at Quai de Seine and Quai de Loire or visually, maybe, more atractive MK2 Bibliothèque) the Beaubourg has the specific small-cinema charm and by its position at the town centre is ideal place to enjoy and support the different approach to cinema.

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MK2 | Cinemas | Normal price € 8.50
50, rue Rambuteau | Marais/Bastille | +33892698484
11:00 – 01:00 daily