Connecting the Heritage Cinemas of Europe!

Il Progetto è co-finanziato da Europa Cinemas, sottoprogramma Europe Creativa / Media e Collaborate to Innovate

“Connecting the Heritage Cinemas of Europe!” brings together four arthouse cinemas from across Europe – Cinema Arta from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Cinema Splendid Place from Riga, Latvia, Cinema Nuovo Eden from Brescia, Italy and Mestni kino Ptuj from Ptuj, Slovenia – with the aim of promoting their history, their cultural value and their importance for the community of Europe’s heritage cinemas, from the very beginning to the present day.

Project co-funded by Europa Cinemas, sub-programme Europe Creativa / Media and Collaborate to Innovate

The Project

Despite all the historical hardships, various technical advancements that make movies available everywhere and now the pandemic, cinemas are here to stay!
We are proof of the essential role that cinemas played for our cities and communities in the last 100 years.

After the last years of decreased cinema attendance, we want to bring the audience back, by emphasizing the physical space and quality program of classical films and special events for the young audience and the general public.

We strongly believe that the cinema experience in heritage buildings is unique because of the special atmosphere that characterises these places. For this reason, we intend to valorise the cinematographic vision in such contexts with a high cultural and artistic profile. We also believe that valuing the past through the new tools made possible by technology is the winning method for designing the cinema of the future.

Our project includes 3 main activities:

1. Online platform that brings together our cinemas, by including an online map with our locations. Each cinema will have a short description and a direct link to its own website to allow users to find more information.
Each cinema’s website will be supplemented with documents and video-testimonies showing the city communities’ connection to the film theater. There will also be the implementation of virtual tours to illustrate what the cinemas look like and some pictures and documents which will reveal how they were in the past.

2. Special program of classic European films. Each participating cinema will show 5 European films from the past decades that have a special and unique relevance for that venue.

3. Film screenings and activities tailored for the 7-18-years old audience, aiming to bring to our cinemas these spectators, to introduce them to our history and to the cinematographic heritage in a charming and innovative way.