Cinema on three wheels: mobile art project to screen international films in winter

A cinema in an autorickshaw is Alliance Francaise’s latest endeavour to create a bridge of culture between India and France and bring the people of the two nations closer.

The artistic project, called Rick-Show, was recently unveiled in Kolkata as a part of the ongoing Bonjour India programme, which in its fourth year is celebrating 75 years of Indian Independence and Indo-French relations.

The star of Rick-Show is an innocuous three-wheeler equipped with a projector, speakers and even 50 collapsible chairs, all of which find their space in a single box and virtually pop out to make possible an open-air instant version of a movie hall.

Alliance Francaise du Bengal director, Nicolas Facino, set things in motion at the unveiling of Rick-Show on the picturesque courtyard of Kolkata’s Apeejay Surrendra Group-owned 150-years-old Park Mansions — a heritage colonial building surrounded by fruit-laden trees — on April 29. Facino said that the Rick-Show will be positioned at various sites across Kolkata, including riverbanks, public parks, boulevards and lakes, during winter and will showcase international cinema. Initially, “four thematic programmes from art films collection of the Fonds Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain Occitanie-Montpellier (France) and Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain de Genève (Switzerland) will be offered to the general public and art lovers”.

After its implementation in Thiruvananthapuram, the project went to Kochi and Pune before arriving in Kolkata

Amit Datta/My Kolkata

This innovative project is the brainchild of French artist, Le Gentil Garcon. The artist was asked by Alliance Francaise de Trivandrum to design a work of art for public space and his plans were duly executed by members of the Department of Design, College of Architecture of Trivandrum.

Speaking to My Kolkata, Facino said the project was the result of a collaboration of technology, art and culture, all of which found their way into a box and were endowed with a wish to create a bond between different cultures.

After its implementation in Thiruvananthapuram, the project went to Kochi and Pune before arriving in Kolkata. The strength of the creation is its mobility and for starters, French movies and art creations will be screened at various locations in Kolkata in winter. The focus would be to screen cultural content and take a meaningful step towards a cultural connection between the two nations.

The Rick-Show unveiling in Kolkata coincided with the Kolkata International Film Festival

Amit Datta/My Kolkata

Asked if this innovation was a product of the pandemic, Facino responded: “Yes, absolutely. This was a project which was begun well in the days of the pandemic and the task was to find a way to be able to reach people and yet maintain accepted and prevalent controls. This was engineered to create greater accessibility to culture all the while adhering to the requirements of the moment with regard to open environment and space between individuals.”

Screening of Indian films by the Rick-Show would be the “next natural step”, said Facino.

The Rick-Show unveiling in Kolkata coincided with the Kolkata International Film Festival.