Lucienne Schnegg is a little woman brimming with energy. At 80, she remains at the helm of the cinema Capitole. Hired as a secretary in 1949, she has become the heir of the movie house and its very soul. Cashier, cleaning woman and manager all in one, she tells us about her cinema, the grandest, the largest and the oldest of Lausanne. Right after the war, 25 people, including six ushers in uniform, worked here and audiences packed in to see movies like ‘The Longest Day’. Movie clips, posters, and film stills carry us back in time. The tiny lady, taking us through the magnificent hall in a thousand anecdotes, distils a whiff of the magic perfume of great stars she met like Audrey Hepburn, Roger Moore, or even the Queen of Spain. Today, the Capitole can no longer break even.
Jacqueline Veuve
Before collaborating with Jean Rouch at Paris’ Musée de l’Homme in 1955 and with Richard Leacock at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jacqueline Veuve studied library research, cinema and anthropology in Switzerland and France. Her first short, ‘The Meat Basket’ (1966), a co-production with Yves Yersin, launched her career as a filmmaker. From then on, she produced many documentaries, and two works of fiction. Her films have almost all received international prizes.
General sponsor
The Little Lady of the Capitole
Switzerland
2005, 55', color, video
Directed by:
Jacqueline Veuve
Screenplay by:
Jacqueline Veuve, Anne Pellaton
Cinematography:
Peter Guyer
Edited by:
Loredana Cristelli
Music:
André-Daniel Meylan
Producer:
Vyacheslav Telnov
Produced by:
Aquarius Film Production, Schweizer Fernsehen, SRG SSR idée suisse
