After two years of preparations and at the end of the process of applying for a permit from the French Film Centre, the Hungarian Institute is ready to transform its screening room, where Hungarian films are shown to French audiences every couple of weeks, into an art cinema for films from the Visegrad Four countries: Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.
The idea for the cinema was based on Paris's Latina, which shows films from South America.
The decision to make the cinema a showcase for films for all four countries was based on the French public's view of the region, said Ecsedi-Derdák. Very few French people are familiar with the individual countries in Central Europe, but everybody knows about the region and they know that good films are made there, thus a cinema that shows films from all of the countries can count on drawing more people, he explained.
The idea was well received by the cinema's partners, said Ecsedi-Derdák. Poland's culture institute in the French capital is cutting programmes, the Czech culture institute has no screening room and the Slovaks have no culture centre in Paris, he said.
The cinema will be supported by the International Visegrad Fund, established to promote closer cultural cooperation between the Visegrad Four countries. Later, other countries in Central Europe or the Baltic States could join up with the cinema.
Because the cinema has been recognised as an art house cinema by the French Film Centre, it is eligible for an average annual EUR 250,000 in support for renovations or the establishment of a new screening room, Ecsedi-Derdák said.
The Visegrad Four (V4) cinema will be operated by the French production office of the Hungarian-owned Clavis Film. It is expected to hold about four screenings a week.
Ecsedi-Derdák said the Hungarian Institute could open a café, with a separate entrance from the street, at the same time it opens the cinema.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: MTI
