The man behind the success of the legendary Beaubien cinema, Mario Fortin, will step down next December after a 50-year career. Anyone who has made the influence of independent films the fight of his life is retiring with peace of mind, convinced that cinemas still have a bright future ahead of them, despite the advent of online platforms.
“20 years ago, when I went to ask for a loan to open the Beaubien cinema, the banker told me that cinemas had no future because of video clubs. About 10 years ago, when renewing the mortgage, the same banker told me that there was no longer any future for cinemas because of Netflix, relates Mario Fortin. I replied that 10 years earlier, he had told me the same thing when talking to me about video clubs, and that today, all Blockbuster and SuperClub Videotron have gone bankrupt. We don’t know what the future holds. What is certain is that cinemas will always exist. »
Many, at the start, did not pay much for this social economy enterprise, which relied on auteur films and Quebec cinema rather than Hollywood canons such as megaplexes.
At the time, the Loews Cineplex Odeon group was going through major financial difficulties and was preparing to shut down all of its small neighborhood cinemas in Montreal. It is in this context that residents of the La Petite-Patrie sector mobilized to save the Dauphin cinema, located just opposite Molson Park. They then approach Mario Fortin, who has nearly 30 years of experience in the film industry, to carry out the project. In the fall of 2001, the Dauphin cinema thus became the Beaubien cinema that we know today.
“Our grand opening was supposed to be September 11, 2001. Everything was ready. The buffet was ordered. Ministers had confirmed their presence. Of course, everything was canceled at the last minute,” recalls Mario Fortin, still surprised by this chance in history which ultimately did not bring him bad luck.
The vagaries of Quebec cinema
Despite the post-September 11 gloom, moviegoers will be there from the first weeks of opening thanks to the resounding success of the Fabulous destiny of Amélie Poulain. In the following years, Barbarian invasions by Denys Arcand and CRAZY by Jean-Marc Vallée will also give wings to the young Beaubien cinema.
In comparison with the Dauphin cinema, which averaged 35,000 admissions per year, the Beaubien cinema sold around 240,000 tickets in 2019. And all this, with 40 to 50% of screenings devoted to Quebec feature films, year after year. The hollow years of cinema from here, between 2012 and 2016, were therefore obviously felt. A loss of interest that cannot be explained, however, by Mario Fortin.
“If I knew that, I’d invest a million in what works and get rich. But no one has a crystal ball. Nobody can know that a film will make thousands of admissions, while others will attract almost zero. And we, we are dependent on the films that are showing, ”continues the man who will also leave his post at the head of the cinemas in the Park and the Museum.
Confidence in the future
In general, movie theater attendance in Quebec is on a downward trend. This was the case even before the pandemic, all theaters combined, regardless of the genre or origin of the films. According to the Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec, the total number of admissions was some 25 million in 2009, compared to 19 million in 2018. A consequence of the popularity of online platforms ?
“I don’t think it’s because of the platforms. There are plenty of other factors that can explain this, such as the aging of the population. On the contrary, I think that with the pandemic, film distributors have realized that cinemas are still essential. There is nothing that can replace listening to a film on a big screen with people laughing and crying around us”, insists this indomitable lover of the 7e art.
A passion that comes to him from his childhood, when Télé-Métropole broadcast films by Eddie Constantine and Fernandel in the afternoon.
Even in retirement, he intends to remain an active film buff. Mario Fortin will step down on December 18, on the eve of his 70e anniversary, at the end of a process that began several years ago. He does not yet know the name of who will succeed him, but the strong man of independent cinema in Quebec believes he is leaving this person with a healthy business.
The Beaubien cinema has regained 75 to 80% of its pre-pandemic clientele at present. And, an encouraging sign: attendance has increased by around 5% every month since the last deconfinement.
“In 20 years, I will be 90 years old. I may be in a wheelchair, but I want to be there for the fortieth anniversary of Cinéma Beaubien. Because I am convinced that the Beaubien cinema will still be there”, drops Mario Fortin, with an unfailing optimism.