Yesterday, June 5, the City Hall of Timișoara, the Groupama Company, the French Institute in Romania and the associations The Cultural Film, the Big Screen, Documentor and the Romanian Association of the Independent Film (TimiShort) signed the declaration of intention regarding the founding of an art cinema in the city center, under the roof of the Europe Cinemas network.
The Independent Art Cinema will
be set up according to the cultural Strategy of the city of Timișoara 2014-2024, as an Art House which will have as its purpose the promoting of the European, Romanian, author film. Around it a modern hub dedicated to the education through film will be founded, a place which will bring together producers, cinematographers, sound designers, photographers, production designers, a place which will gather and bring back to life the community of the film lovers from the city. The cinema will also include an exhibition space, a film-café and a cine-shop.
The art cinema will be located either in the space of the former Timiș cinema, or in the one of the former Studio cinema. The decision regarding the location that will be destined to this cinema will be decided in a future meeting of the Local Council.
The participants at the event were: Nicolae Robu, Mayor of the city of Timișoara, Dan Diaconu, Vice-mayor of the city of Timișoara, François Coste, CEO of the Groupama Asigurări, Christophe Gigaudaut, Director, French Institute in Romania and cooperation and cultural action councilor of the French Embassy (Bucharest), Cyrille Fierobe, delegate director of the French Institute from Timișoara, as well as representatives of the independent area: Nicoleta Ciocov vice-president of Cultural Film, Richard Marius Ilie, vice-president of the Big Screen, Florin Iepan, president of Documentor, Cristina Docea, president of the Romanian Association of the Independent Film (TimiShort).
After signing this declaration of intention, the next steps are the signing of a detailed collaboration protocol, which will mention the attributions of the involved parties, as well as the calendar of the stages, the making of the feasibility project and the architecture one by the Groupama Company, the donating of the project and of the technical documentation to the Timișoara City Hall, the starting of the works and the placing of the foundation stone which will happen during a symbolic ceremony during the France-Romania season (April 22 – July 14, 2019). The inauguration of the cinema should take place in 2021, at the latest.
