My love of film began far from Geneva, in a small town in the United States, next door to a tiny video store called Video Plus. This was the age of VHS, when choosing a film for Saturday night felt like a momentous decision. You went early. You hoped your pick was still there. If it was gone, you improvised and hoped your instincts were right. Walking out with any movie at all felt like a small victory. Formats changed over time, from VHS to DVD, then Blu-ray, then mail order, and eventually streaming, where everything became instant and endlessly available.

And yet, going to the cinema never lost its pull.

A night at the movies is always something else entirely. It begins with anticipation. The commercials on TV, the ads around town, the trailers. Choosing your seat, a small mission in itself, weighing the distance from the screen and the angle, hoping you have judged it just right before the lights go down. Settling into the chair, popcorn in hand, the low murmur of conversation fades as the lights dim. The screen is vast enough to erase the outside world.

The sound is not just heard but felt. You experience the film alongside strangers, sharing laughter, tension, silence, and sometimes even tears. Cinema is, and remains, a collective experience. A public moment of culture, whether as a group of friends, a couple on a date, a family outing, or an intentional evening alone.

When I moved to Geneva in 2006, I discovered a city that appreciates cinema in all its forms. Today, alongside modern multi-screen venues such as Pathé Balexert, Arena La Praille, and the new Blue Cinema at the Confederation Centre, a dense constellation of independent cinemas is woven into the city’s fabric.

At the heart of this independent network are Les Scala, Le City, and Le Nord-Sud, three historic arthouse cinemas now managed in a coordinated way by the same team. This shared structure allows them to sustain a strong editorial vision focused on author cinema, from Swiss and European films to international works, most often screened in the original version with subtitles. Alongside them, cinemas such as Ciné17, Cinerama Empire, Spoutnik, Cinémas du Grütli, Cinema Lux, and Bio Cinema Carouge each offer distinct programmes rooted in their neighbourhoods, together shaping a cinema culture that feels both deeply local and alive.

In 2027, one of Geneva’s most iconic cinemas will return. The Plaza Cinema is set to reopen not simply as a cinema but as an entirely new cultural destination. Open day and night, it will bring together screenings, exhibitions, immersive spaces, a bookshop boutique, a brasserie, and even a hotel. It will be a place to linger, to meet, and to experience culture well beyond the screen.

Its new director, Fabien Gaffez, brings a rare combination of curatorial depth, teaching experience, and a strong audience-focused vision to the role. Formerly Artistic Director of the Forum des Images in Paris, he is also a film historian, critic for Positif, and author. His ambition is to make the Plaza a living cultural space that connects cinema with other popular arts and speaks to a broad and diverse public.

The Plaza also holds a special place in Geneva’s cultural history. Designed by Swiss architect Marc-Joseph Saugey, it reflects the work of a figure who shaped several of the city’s landmark cinemas, including the former Le Star (now demolished) and Le Paris, built in 1957 and known today as the Auditorium Arditi. When it opened in 1952, the Plaza was Geneva’s largest cinema and the first in Switzerland to screen films in CinemaScope. An emblem of the post-war era, the Plaza closed in 2004 and narrowly escaped demolition. Acquired in 2019 by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, it is now listed as a protected heritage site and is being restored as a cultural centre dedicated to both architecture and film.

Today, when films are available everywhere and at any moment, cinema offers something increasingly rare. A pause. A space where we slow down, put our mobile devices aside, sit side by side, and allow a story to unfold on its own terms.

To keep that magic alive, Geneva’s cinemas are constantly reinventing the experience. Beyond regular screenings, they host film festivals, filmmaker Q&As, themed evenings, retrospectives, and alternative content that transform each visit into a true event, something to anticipate, to discuss on the walk home, to remember.

The importance of going out to shared public cultural spaces feels especially relevant today. For all ages, young and old, it is a return to the essentials: stepping away from the screen and back into the possibility of chance encounters and meaningful conversation. These places allow connections to form in the moment, through a brief exchange, a lively discussion, or the simple recognition of a shared experience.

In a city that values culture, conversation, and togetherness, this renewed sense of occasion may be exactly what keeps drawing us back out in real life.