This column hosts portraits of cinemas in Europe and the rest of the world which are quite different from one another but have in common the fact that they have all adopted digital projection.

The Cinema Incontro, Besnate
by Cristina Chinetti

Film Club night during wintertime in a small village cinema: the programme includes the screening of “The straight story” by David Lynch, in the 4K version resulted from the restoration of 2023 and distributed by the Cineteca di Bologna.

In the lobby a festive atmosphere and many yellow heart-shaped balloons. We are at the Cinema Teatro Incontro at Besnate, a small town of just over 5,500 inhabitants in the province of Varese, which on November 12 celebrated its first 93 years. This long period has been marked by many significant events for the citizens, by repeated structural and technological changes, but also by the continuity of the passion and determination of the many volunteers who have worked to make the cinema alive and central to the life of the local community.

Since it was founded on November 12, 1931 as a meeting place for the parish where theatrical shows were staged and the first films were shown, this venue, significantly called “Incontro” (meeting place) almost immediately, has been transformed over time, adapting to the users needs and to the regulations in force regarding safety. A major renovation took place in 1980/82, when the upper gallery was built, consisting of about sixty seats, and new projection and Dolby audio systems were adopted. These works were followed, by several other interventions in the 2000s.

In addition to the complete replacement of the wooden seats with the most modern padded armchairs, for a total of 274 seats, and other investments for energy efficiency and for the total accessibility of the auditorium (solar panels, LED lights, replacement of fixtures and doors), the choice to adapt to new digital technologies was fundamental. In fact, in order to continue to offer the community an increasingly effective service and more diversified cultural programme, in February 2014, thanks to funding from the Lombardy Region, a Christie digital projector was purchased and installed, with the Dolby Digital audio system, which is still in operation.

Cinema Incontro has been part of ACEC (Catholic Association of Cinema Exhibitors) for years and benefits from the ITL Cinema / Sale della Comunità circuit for film programming. But its true soul is the approximately 60 volunteers of all ages, who, divided into groups with various shifts and roles, work tirelessly, under the direction of Riccardo Checchin, ACEC general secretary, to ensure its activity from week to week, from Friday to Sunday.

There is no shortage of recognition: Cinema Incontro received the Art House Award last year, but above all it does not lose the appreciation of a loyal audience of spectators, also coming from the surrounding towns. So much so that the theater sells around 15,000 tickets a year, fully recovered after the Covid break, thanks to the carefully curated weekly programming and also to the phenomenon “C’è ancora domani/There’s still tomorrow”, as well as the tradition of seasonal Film Club screenings, on Tuesday evenings.

In 2024, the Film Club was joined by the Cineté initiative on Monday afternoons, at prices that are truly accessible to all and with the friendly welcome of tea and biscuits, before the film. And here too the numbers are encouraging: for the last cycle, 110 subscribers were registered for the Tuesday event and around eighty for the Cineté initiative, to which must be added the spectators who choose only some films. The new cycle started in mid-February with significant and appealing films such as “The Room Next Door” by Almodovar, “Here” by Zemeckis and the surprising cartoon “Flow” by the young Latvian director Zilbalodis.

There are also many activities and collaborations in the area, always aimed at supporting a high-quality cultural programme that never loses sight of Christian values and special care for the visitors. Faithful to this mission, the Cinema Incontro of Besnate will soon reach its first hundred years of life and will certainly continue to tell its story and those of many others.