In 1960, the film Scent of Mystery trialed “Smell-O-Vision”, a system that released different odours during the projection of a film so that the viewer could smell what was happening in the movie.  A 2000 Time reader survey listed Smell-O-Vision in the "Top 100 Worst Ideas of All Time".

Le Cinéma Olfactif is more or less the same concept but perhaps with a rather more dignified title. The fragrances are slightly more polished too. The brains behind the operation is Kaya Sorhaindo, a scent impresario who's Paris-Berlin fragrance business Folie à Plusieurs specialises in elevating art of all types through scent.  

At two screenings of Michel Gondry’s futuristic, jazz-noir film L'Écume des Jours (Mood Indigo) at Soho House Berlin in April, the audience not only watched a kaleidoscope of flowers burst across the screen, they smelled it too. Sorhaindo collaborated with fashionista perfumer Mark Buxton, the nose and author of several unique compositions for Comme des Garçons parfums, to create a jazz-inspired fusion of woody notes, chamomile and red pepper especially for the film. A diffusion unit created by Scentys in Paris was operated manually to ensure the scent harmonised with the visual and aural stimuli.