Europa Cinemas will be giving out awards for the best European cinemas

For the first time ever, at its annual conference, Europa Cinemas will be giving out awards for the best European cinemas. The concept is simple: reward the network’s most dynamic theatres.

Ten years after it was founded, Europa Cinemas has decided to create awards to honour the best cinemas in its network. For Claude-Eric Poiroux, general director of Europa Cinemas, the purpose is to draw attention to the role of exhibitors and the quality of their work in support of European cinema. “We want to give more visibility to cinemas in our network, to those that are the most dynamic and therefore the most emblematic of Europa Cinemas’ policy,” he explains. And he adds: “Actors, producers and directors are used to being awarded because their work is very visible, but exhibitors should also be awarded because the success of European cinema depends on them.”

With over 1200 screens in the Europa Cinemas network, the selection process was far from easy. Two awards have been created, one for programming and one for in-house activities. “These two awards distinguish certain cinemas whose relevance may be more in terms of activities and than audience numbers,” explains Claude-Eric Poiroux.

At their meeting in Copenhagen in early October the Committee of Experts chose to single out the Verdi cinemas in Barcelona run by Enrique Pérez Font, and the Churchill and the Parc in Liege run by Jean-Marie Hermand. The former are commended for their programming and the second for their in-house activities, notably those targeting young audiences.

Enrique Pérez Font operates nine cinemas divided among two neighbouring complexes in the Catalan capital: the Verdi (5 screens) and the Verdi Park (4 screens). A network member since 1995, he says he is flattered by this distinction which rewards the diversity and quality of his programming. “We constantly try to offer films with a strong social content that speak to audiences,” explains Enrique Pérez Font. And this has turned out to be such a profitable policy (600,000 admissions annually), that Enrique Pérez Font has extended the concept to Madrid. He opened five cinemas there in the spring of 2002, and this new Verdi has also joined the Europa Cinemas network.

Jean-Marie Hermand, for his part, feels honoured to be the first network exhibitor to be recognised for the quality of his in-house activities. He wants his cinemas to be active places where culture can be expressed in all of its diversity. He has thus created three exhibition areas dedicated to painting, photography and even comic strips. In addition, he publishes a gazette which keeps the public informed of the programming and events that are regularly held in his cinemas. With a circulation of 57,000, this gazette is a veritable Bible for filmgoers in Liege. The Churchill and the Parc also organise special activities, concerts and debates particularly aimed at young audiences. The purpose of all of these initiatives is also to cultivate and maintain loyal audiences.

These two awards will be presented by European education and culture commissioner Mrs.Viviane Reding on Friday, 22 November at the gala in celebration of Europa Cinemas’ 10th anniversary to be held at the National Library of France in Paris.

(November 2002)