The Minister of Culture, Pedro Adao e Silva, has no doubt that cinemas are “rare assets” and that keeping the few that remain out of the malls is a guarantee of the diversity on offer and it is important not to give up.
“We need cinemas with doors to the street, we need cinemas that guarantee the diversity of programmes,” Pedro Adao e Silva told PÚBLICO and Lusa on Thursday afternoon, after the International Book Conference 2.0, organized by the Portuguese Association of PÚBLICO and Lusa. Authors and Booksellers (APEL), which takes place on Thursdays and Fridays in Picadero Real, in Lisbon. “For some reason, the law stipulates that cinema must be dismantled by decision of the Minister of Culture.”
Adão e Silva was responding to journalists’ questions about the possibility that the renovated building on the site of the old Cinema Monumental would not contain rooms designated for cinematic activity, based on a request submitted by its owner, the Spanish real estate company, last July. Merlin Real Estate Agency.
“This request is to cease operation [das salas para projecção de filmes] Arrived very recently. “It is a delicate situation,” admitted Adao e Silva, noting that Monumental has a long tradition of exhibitions, and that after the demolition of the original building in 1984, it faced a host of criticism from cultural agents linked to cinema and heritage, what was born there was a “commitment to building”. . [novas] Cinemas.”
Pedro Adão e Silva has been collecting information about Monumental since the request from Merlin Properties arrived at his desk. He confirmed that his office met today with company representatives.
The Minister of Culture set Thursday as a deadline to receive proposals from anyone interested in exploring cinemas in that space in the city centre. He also asked members of the Cinema and Audiovisual Section (Cica) of the National Culture Council to comment on the situation so far.
This afternoon, Adão e Silva chose not to reveal whether anyone was interested in taking over the Monumental rooms, nor did he say what direction the advice he received from Seca members would take. Naturally, nothing was said about the meeting with Merlin Real Estate.
Recall that Luis Urbano, one of the partners of the exhibition company Cinetscope, told PÚBLICO this week that he is interested in exploring the opportunity to present a project to explore the rooms.
The minister defended that the fate of those four cinemas that were closed four years ago is not “a decision that must be taken lightly, hastily and quickly,” stressing that what is important at this stage is to investigate the conditions for their preservation. Since the information is mixed: “I have asked IGAG, the General Inspectorate for Cultural Activities, to go very soon to the Monumental to check On site The condition of those movie theaters.
On Wednesday, PÚBLICO contacted the telecommunications company representing the Spanish property company, which later stated that “cinema theaters have not been interfered with and are as they were in 2019.”
The information published is also contradictory To assess the possibility of rehabilitating the spaces, the Minister highlighted that It indicates very different numbers. He added that “any solution depends on the joint will of the owners and potential investors,” and this decision weighs the amount that will be spent to return the rooms to their original activity.
“It is an impoverishing factor in a context where there are interesting numbers of recovering cinema spectators if everything that is programmed has a certain homogeneity. Theaters open to the street tend to have a different programme,” he concluded, citing the successful case of Cinema Batalha, Which recently reopened in Porto.”[O Batalha] It shows how there can be alternative programming with the audience. With Isabelle Coutinho
