Letter to Mendoni in favor of rescuing Ideal and Astor

The boards of directors of three film associations sent a letter to the Minister of Culture today regarding the two central Athenian cinemas, IDEAL and ASTOR, which are threatened with closure due to the decision to change the use of the buildings where they are housed, by the (owner) EFKA.

The three unions that sign the letter are the Union of Directors-Producers of Greek Cinema (ESPEK), the Association of Independent Producers of Audiovisual Works (SAPOE), the Union of Greek Documentary (EEN).

As they point out, “today, November 23, 2022, the e-EFKA tender for the conversion of the IDEAL cinema in the center of Athens into a 4-star hotel ends. While a utilization study has already been announced for the ASTOR cinema since last August – again by e-EFKA— without any guarantee for the character of the space as a cinema hall”.

At the same time, the filmmakers consider yesterday’s press release of e-EFKA encouraging, “which in the case of ASTOR describes it as “feasible” that the use of the space will not change, and correspondingly, the investment proposals for INTEAL so far deal “positively” with the maintaining it as a cinema”. However, they ask the Minister of Culture to lead the Ministry of Culture to guarantee such a development and at the same time to proceed with the declaration of winter cinemas as preserved, in order to preserve their use, as has been done with summer cinemas.

Also, in their letter, they refer to the Prime Minister’s words, a few days ago during his speech at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, where, among other things, he stated: “We know that there is more we can do to ensure that the Greek film industry will receive the investment and funding it deserves.” A natural conclusion, therefore, of this dynamic Greek film production, the letter continues “is the hall, a cinema hall like the one where the speech was held in Thessaloniki”

After all, as they emphasize in their letter, “The development of the center of Athens risks deforesting the raw material that makes the city and our country attractive. Historic cinemas are part of the colorful mosaic of this experience for both resident and visitor. The duty of the state is to maintain this character over time and not to sacrifice it for temporary benefits. There can be no development without cinemas.”

RES-EMP

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