Le Cinéma est dans le Pré

Seven screenings and two new villages

The 2026 edition marks a significant expansion for the festival organized by the Les Pieds dans l'O association. While previous years were held over four consecutive nights in August, this year the event is split into two parts: a first weekend from Friday, July 17 to Sunday, July 19, followed by four nights from Thursday, August 6 to Sunday, August 9. Seven films will be shown instead of four, and two new municipalities have joined the circuit: Le Liège and Céré-la-Ronde, adding to the four historic villages of the Indrois valley: Genillé, Chédigny, Orbigny, and Chemillé-sur-Indrois.

Heritage and natural settings

The concept remains the same: bringing cinema to places that lack a theater, using unique village locations opened specifically for the occasion. The park of the Château de Genillé, a 13th-century fortress renovated in the 15th and 17th centuries, will host two of the seven screenings. The Domaine de La Bretèche, an 18th-century manor located two kilometers from the center of Orbigny, will open its grounds for "Les Enfants du marais." In Chédigny, a village famous for its roses and classified as a "Remarkable Garden," spectators will gather on the "Mail enchanté," a small, tree-filled park in the upper part of the village. The other three evenings will take place by the water or in the heart of the village: at the Marchais pond in Le Liège, the village hall park in Céré-la-Ronde, and the lake in Chemillé-sur-Indrois, right next to the leisure center.

Cinema telling stories of the countryside

The programming stays true to its roots: films that explore rural life, both past and present. The 2026 selection balances rediscovered classics with recent releases. For heritage cinema, we have Jean Becker's "Les Enfants du marais" (1999), starring Jacques Villeret, Jacques Gamblin, and André Dussollier, and Philippe Muyl's "Le Papillon" (2002), starring Michel Serrault. Regarding contemporary rural life, we feature Jean-Pierre Améris' "Les Folies fermières" (2021), about a young farmer in the Cantal region who starts a cabaret on his farm to save his business, and Loïc Paillard's "Les Lendemains de veille" (2021). Three recent films round out the program: "Fêlés" by Christophe Duthuron (2024) with Pierre Richard and Charlotte de Turckheim, "En fanfare!" by Emmanuel Courcol (2024) with Benjamin Lavernhe and Pierre Lottin, and the family comedy "Y'a pas de réseau" (2025), starring Gérard Jugnot.

An association, a giant screen, and local villages

Since 2021, the festival has been run by the Les Pieds dans l'O association, a non-profit organization founded on April 15, 2021, based at the Genillé town hall. Its mission is to promote cinema in rural areas and organize cultural events centered around film. Screenings are handled by a professional provider using a 15 x 10-meter inflatable screen, digital projection, and sound equipment adapted for open-air spaces. The festival is supported by the host municipalities, the Loches Sud Touraine community of communes, the Indre-et-Loire Departmental Council, and the Centre-Val de Loire Region, as well as about thirty local businesses and shops.

In case of rain

Every evening has an indoor backup plan. Screenings in Genillé and Chédigny will move to the Espace Rosine-Deréan in Genillé; the Le Liège screening will move to the Genillé village hall; and the Chemillé-sur-Indrois screening will move to the Orbigny village hall—in both cases, using a 4 x 5-meter screen with Dolby Digital sound.