European Arthouse Cinema Day to Unspool Across 600 Theaters Worldwide

The European Arthouse Cinema Day, an initiative aimed at promoting European films and moviegoing, will be hosting its sixth edition with ambassadors including Oscar-nominated Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi (“The Story of My Wife”) and Italian actor Valeria Golino (“The Morning Show”).

Organized by the International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas (CICAE) in partnership with Europa Cinemas, the event has involved hundreds of cinemas in more than 40 countries as well as film promotion orgs and right holders including distributors and sales agents. Last year, over 700 cinemas in 44 countries registered.

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The lineup will comprise European classics and premieres of new films, as well as masterclasses, special guests, programmes for young audiences and exhibitions. All cinemas have access to common promotional materials created specially for the day.

Besides Enyedi and Golino, the other ambassadors of this upcoming edition include Spanish filmmaker Jonás Trueba (“La reconquista”) and actor-turned-director Mathieu Amalric (“Hold Me Tight”); they will be on hand at the event and promote it.

“More than 100 million visitors every year show the crucial role of European arthouse cinemas in promoting cultural diversity and showcasing young talent,” said Christian Bräuer, CICAE President.

Bräuer said “these times of crises have shown the impressive resilience of arthouse cinemas and highlighted their role as an essential part of the European cultural landscape.”

“With the European Arthouse Cinema Day we want to showcase the cultural enrichment cinemas bring to communities. At the same time, we hope to increase visibility of European film and arthouse cinemas especially in those regions without unions and sufficient support structures,” added Bräuer.

Enyedi, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated “On Body and Soul,” said moviegoing was “a very rare and very precious cultural moment.”

“We would need more of that. It helps us to stay healthy mentally. It helps us to stay ourselves, embedded in a large community. So cinemas are elementary for our mental hygiene,” said the helmer, whose latest film “The Story of My Wife” competed at Cannes.

“We, humans, need these sort of rituals, to gather somewhere to share an experience. Cinema is such a location, cinema halls are the temples of self-discovery,” added Enyedi.

The European Arthouse Cinema Day is organised thanks to the support of the Creative Europe MEDIA Program, Eurimages, Europa Cinemas, among others.

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