The Minister of Culture, Pedro Adaú y Silva, has no doubt that cinemas are a “rare asset” and that keeping the few that remain out of shopping malls is a guarantee of diversity on offer that is important not to give up.
“We need cinemas with a door to the street, we need cinemas that guarantee a diversity of programmes,” PÚBLICO and Lusa told PÚBLICO and Lusa on Thursday afternoon, at the end of the International Conference on Book 2.0, organized by PÚBLICO and Lusa. Portuguese Association of Writers and Booksellers (APEL), which takes place on Thursdays and Fridays in Picadero Real, in Lisbon. “For some reason, the law states that cinemas must be dismantled by a decision of the Minister of Culture.”
And so Adão e Silva responded to journalists’ questions about the possibility that the renovated building where the old Cinema Monumental used to operate would not have cinema rooms, according to a request made by its owner, the Spanish real estate agency Merlin, last July. properties.
“This request is to stop running [das salas para projecção de filmes] Arrived very recently. “It’s a delicate situation,” acknowledged Adao e Silva, noting that Monumental has a long tradition of exhibitions, after demolishing the original building in 1984, in the face of a barrage of criticism from cultural agents associated with cinema and film. Heritage, what was born there remains with a “commitment to building”. [novas] Cinemas”.
Pedro Adão e Silva has been collecting information about Monumental since the Merlin Properties order arrived at his office. He confirmed that his office met today with representatives of the company.
On Thursday, the culture minister set a deadline for receiving proposals from anyone interested in exploring cinemas in that downtown space. He also asked members of the Cinema and Audiovisual Section (SICA) of the National Council for Culture to comment on the situation to date.
In the afternoon, Adão e Silva chose not to disclose whether anyone wished to seize the ancient chambers, nor did he indicate which direction the advice he had received from the Seca operatives should go. Of course, he didn’t say anything about the meeting with Merlin Real Estate.
Remember, Luis Urbano, a partner with exhibition firm Cinetscope, told PÚBLICO this week that he was interested in exploring the opportunity to present a room exploration project.
And the minister considered that the fate of those four cinemas that closed four years ago is not “a decision that should be taken lightly, hastily, and quickly,” stressing that what is important at this stage is to ascertain the conditions of the governorate in which they are located. As the information is mixed: “I have asked the IGAG, the Inspectorate General for Cultural Activities, to visit the Monumental very soon to check the In a place the state of those theatres.
Contacted by PÚBLICO on Wednesday, the telecom company representing the Spanish real estate company stated that “the cinemas have not been interfered with and are as they were in 2019.”
The information that was published is also contradictory For the values of the rehabilitation of the spaces in the end, confirmed the minister who He points to very different numbers. He added that “any solution depends on the common will of the owners and potential investors,” and that this decision measures the amount that will be spent to restore the rooms to their original activity.
“It is a factor of poverty in a context where there are interesting figures in terms of recovery for moviegoers if everything that is programmed has a certain uniformity. “Rooms open to the street tend to have a different programme,” he concluded, recalling the successful case for Batalha Cinema, which recently reopened in Porto.[O Batalha] Shows how an alternative program can engage with the audience. With Isabelle Coutinho
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