Amid its three-month Orson Welles retrospective, the Cinémathèque Française announced today it will temporarily close all four of its movie theaters after patrons reported bed bugs.
Screenings of a more than a dozen film and TV programs – including In the Land of Don Quixote (December 13), The Other Side of the Wind (December 14) and Touch of Evil (December 28) – have been cancelled, according to the event website.
“This temporary closure will allow us to carry out a comprehensive and sustainable treatment. All the chairs will be disassembled and then individually treated with dry steam at 180°, several times, before receiving systematic canine checks validating each step. Carpets will receive the same level of attention and treatment,” Cinémathèque Française revealed in an online statement. “With this decision, the French Cinémathèque reaffirms its absolute priority: the safety, comfort and well-being of its audiences.”
While the cleanup impacts the movie theaters, other portions of the My Name is Orson Welles exhibit in Paris will continue.
In early November, several audience members complained to French reporters about being bitten by bed bugs after a masterclass with Oscar-nominated actress Sigourney Weaver, according to The Guardian. One attendee of the November 7 event told Le Parisien newspaper that a friend crushed several of the insects on his jeans, while several spectators complained of pain and itching.
Bed bug infestations have grown significantly in France in recent years. According to a 2022 survey by the Ipsos institute for the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety, 11% of French households had been infested in the previous five years.
Paris was the center of a highly publicized infestation of bed bugs in late 2023.
Before the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the French government said that disinformation spread by Russia-linked social media accounts had amplified the public’s panic the previous year.
Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) get their name from their habit of nesting in bedding, although they can also hide in clothes and in luggage. Their bites leave blisters or large rashes on the skin, and can cause itching or allergic reactions.
Cinémathèque Française’s celebration of Welles’ career began on October 8, 2025 and it runs through January 11, 2026. The event was timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of his death on October 10, 1985.
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