There are fewer and fewer rural cinemas left in Spain and those who remain are drawing the curtain; like that of Carlos Jiménez, who converted his family’s Paris cinema into a museum to perpetuate his legacy, since they had 22 locations. Today, that old stalls is a cinema museum.
“I intend to show the history of cinema through its scientific part and the technological part, which is always the most forgotten,” he confesses. His work also includes showing what the ancestors of cinema were like, from the titirimundi, to the velovatio, passing through the magic lantern, Edison’s kinetoscope and the Lumière cinematograph. Science from another era, in which going to the cinema was fulfilling a ritual. “The public was working all week with the hope that Sunday would arrive so they could go see a movie,” says Carlos Jiménez.
Another example is the Alfonsetti cinema in Betanzos, which survived the civil war and several fires. “There were so many fans that, when it was closed, the screenings were held on the street,” says Angel Arcay, director of the Las Mariñas de Betanzos museum. “There was a lot of demandeven by the popular classes,” he recalls.
Today there are hardly any rural cinemas left in Spain and the last ones are closing the curtain, but their stories and the films that were projected there will always live on.
Source: Lasexta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
