About twenty companies have joined the initiative, which will be launched next week
The numbers leave no room for doubt. “80% of European films are premiered in the big cities of Spain”, says Rogelio Delgado, director of the Cineapolis chain. And that is where the Viridiana Project comes into play, which was presented yesterday at the Film Academy. The intention is to set up a network of cinemas that program films of European production and that deal with subjects that are far from the more commercial circuit. The initiative, which will last one year and which has been launched thanks to the European funds allocated within the Collaborate to innovate program of Europa Cinemas and with the support of the Media program, have been added 26 cinemas in 13 communities and 19 cities, with a total of 212 screens.
Silvino Puig, Director of Programming and General Services of the Lys cinemas in Valencia, tells that this project has been the result of the efforts of 21 companies that, for the first time, «have managed to reach an agreement so that European cinema has better visibility in those Spanish territories orphaned of this type of material ”.
The initiative will be launched next Tuesday, November 9, at the Floridablanca cinemas in Barcelona, at 8:00 p.m., with the presentation of ‘Lemon bread with poppy seeds’, with the presence of its director, Benito Zambrano, and part of the film crew. Precisely, the filmmaker assures that the pandemic “has also brought good things. This union is proof of this, of the need for communication. Share a joint experience in a room. That is the wonder of cinema.
In effect, from the blow that the coronavirus inflicted on theaters and distributors, this initiative arose that will try to strengthen the programming of European films with the aim that this cinema achieves more weight in the national market. The idea is that those selected films also have special support through the web, mailing and social networks. In addition, there will be at least one session per month with the presence of part of the casting of the film to be shown, each time in a different city and cinema, but with the possibility of using videoconference to reach other rooms.
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