News

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Best Programming: Olympion and Warehouse 1 - 2 cinemas - 4 screens (Thessaloniki, Greece)

Best Young Audience Activities: Panora – 3 screens (Malmö, Sweden)

Entrepreneur of the Year: Ramiro Ledo Cordeiro – Cinema DUPLEX – 2 screens (Ferrol, Spain)

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The award for Best Programming goes to Elise Jalladeau for her excellent work at the Olympion and Warehouse 1 cinemas in Thessaloniki, Greece. The six-floor Olympion building which houses the screens Olympion and Pavlos Zannas is one of the most iconic venues in Thessaloniki. While Warehouse 1 accommodates the screens John Cassavetes and Stavros Tornes and is situated in the city’s Port pier, an area dedicated to culture. Both theatres host the Thessaloniki International Film Festival every November. Always trying to be innovative and original, these cinemas offer a diverse, quality programme using their festival experience, and a wide network of collaborations, sponsorships and partnerships with local, national and international organizations. Current challenges involve attracting a younger audience, building stronger relations with audiences and taking visitors beyond the film experience by connecting cinema with social events and other art forms (visual arts, literature, comics, photography, etc.).

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The Best Young Audience Activities award goes to Per Larsson and the Panora cinema (Malmö, Sweden). This 3 screen cinema opened on February 27, 2015 and has a very important offer for young audiences. Juniora is the programme for children up to 12 years of age that allows them during the school time and during holidays to see previews, meet directors and actors and learn about cinema through creative workshops. Juniora also has its own festival called SMUFF - Fantasi & Rymden focusing on children from 2 to 5 years of age. The programme has also a very good digital communication with its own website and Facebook page. Panora’s strong point is its inclusive spaces! With low steps and handrails children can reach their seats easily and safely, low-strength seat suspension allows lightweights to sit where they should.

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Entrepreneur of the Year is Ramiro Ledo Cordeiro – founding member in 2014 of Cinema NUMAX (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) in the framework of a workers’ cooperative including interdisciplinary professionals alongside Irma Amado and Carlos Hidalgo. He is now running the DUPLEX Cinema in Ferrol. With its strong editorial policy, NUMAX (1 screen, 71 seats) became the first film theatre programming films in their original version in Galicia and the only cinema in central Santiago with a multidisciplinary cultural offer. In October 2019, Ramiro Ledo took over DUPLEX Cinema management (2 screens, 112 and 78 seats), the only theatre in Ferrol’s downtown (66,799 inhabitants), where he decided to programme independent films in their original version. Before 2019, the cinema was already an arthouse cinema, but most of the films were dubbed. With this new and dynamic management, the cinema became a first-run theatre as well, programming films on their first release week and doubling its attendance.

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Pictures to download - Europa Cinemas Awards 2020

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Credits from top: 

Olympion - Aris Rammos

Panora - Simon Bendroth

Ramiro Ledo - Alicia Seoane

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