Space cinema meets real science at the Cinémathèque this weekend

The Cinémathèque française's space-cinema retrospective reaches its first weekend with a programme linking screen imagination and scientific discussion. Running from 30 September to 19 October in Paris Bercy, the season was devised with the French space agency CNES. It offers a reason to return familiar titles to a large screen and hear a different perspective on them.

On Saturday, 3 October, the official schedule lists Alien at 18:00 and The Right Stuff, shown under its French title L'Étoffe des héros, at 20:45. Both have introductions. Ad Astra follows on Sunday at 17:45. These are scheduled sessions, not confirmation of remaining seats.

A programme with separate paths for families

CNES says 15 screenings across the season will include contributions from space specialists, scientists and other speakers. Its programme associates discussions with subjects including planetary exploration, exobiology and space ethics. A film need not function as an accurate technical account to provide a starting point for questions about how exploration is imagined.

The family offer is separate from the evening screenings. CNES lists a space-monster illustration workshop for ages seven to nine on Saturday from 15:00 to 17:00, plus a filmmaking workshop for ages 13 to 15 ending at 17:30. WALL-E is scheduled for Sunday at 15:00 for children over six. Registration and availability should be checked for each activity.

The season ranges from early lunar fantasy to modern exploration stories, with titles including Le Voyage dans la Lune, Solaris, Interstellar and Proxima. That breadth lets visitors choose between different cinematic approaches rather than treating the programme as a single continuous narrative. This is a guide to the announced selection, not a review of screenings or discussions.

Before setting out for Bercy

The venue is at 51 rue de Bercy. Its practical page advises arriving 30 minutes before a screening because of entrance checks and says latecomers cannot enter the auditorium. Standard cinema pricing starts with a €7 full-price category, but special sessions have other rates, so the individual booking page is the relevant final check.

All three sources are from the host or its partner: the cycle listing, CNES's detailed programme and the venue's visitor information. Their roles are identified below. Together they establish what is planned and how to attend, while leaving the experience and quality of each event to the people who actually see it.

Written for WHIF from the linked material. This article does not claim on-the-ground reporting. Our editorial standards.