Podcast: Reinventing retirement, saving a Paris cinema, counting the French

An alternative to a retirement home in a mansion near Toulouse, where residents have invented a new way of living together and contributing to society. The David-and-Goliath story of an independent Parisian cinema that's reopening after years of fighting eviction. And the story behind France's annual census. 

Scandals over abuse of the elderly in French care homes, combined with growing loneliness among pensioners, are forcing reflection on how – and where – people spend their later years. Three decades after founding the Utopia network of independent cinemas, Anne-Marie Faucon and Michel Malacarnet have turned their energy and experience towards imagining an alternative to traditional retirement homes. Their project, La Ménardiere, is an 18th-century mansion in the small town of Bérat, in south-west France. It operates as a shared-living collective, where residents, known as coopérateurs, are also shareholders. By taking control of their own destinies, they have created a model that also provides services and cultural activities for the surrounding community. Residents describe the approach as ageing together in a house that is “on the offensive”. (Listen @4')

La Clef, an historic arthouse cinema in Paris, has reopened its doors after a group of residents, cinephiles and activists spent years protesting its closure. Ollia Horton met some of those who took part in a years-long occupation of the theatre that resulted in the activists raising enough money to buy the building from owners who wanted to sell the prime piece of real estate in the centre of the city. (Listen @21'48'')

As census-takers fan out around France to begin the annual counting of the population, we look at a process that started in the 14th century. During World War II the census was co-opted by Nazi occupiers to identify Jews, and while it has since stripped out questions relating to race and religion, it recently added controversial ones about parental origins. (Listen @17'10'')

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here) or your favourite podcast app (pod.link/1573769878).