WOMEN IN DIGITAL CINEMA
Francesca Piraccini
Cinema Eliseo Multisala,
Cesena (Italy)
For
around 15 years I have been managing the Cinema Eliseo Multisala in
Cesena, a town of 90,000 inhabitants in the heart of Romagna, about
90 kilometres from Bologna. It is a fine building in the old part of
the town and comprises four screens devoted to both commercial and art-house
movies, seating a total audience of 700, with a hospitable Cinecafé
where aperitifs and tea can be sipped whilst browsing through film magazines
and books on the cinema, as well as an inside bar with popcorn and liquorice.
Equipped as a polifunctional centre, it is able to host conferences
and multi-media events. The venue was opened by my maternal grandfather
in 1949, then altered to house two separate screens in 1992 (one of
the very first in Italy) and later completely restructured in 2006 and
equipped with a first digital projection installation – consisting
of a Christie projector, Doremi server and 3D XpanD system – in
August 2009.
I chose to entrust the digitalization of the theatre to Digima because
of the competence and professional attitude I encountered right from
our initial talks and I am satisfied with the results achieved to date:
the screening quality is truly excellent and the 3D really does give
audiences emotions and a higher level of involvement compared to normal
projection techniques. We are also equipping the theatre to screen live
alternative content via satellite, in the hope that these events will
bring a different kind of audience to the cinema, even though we are
aware that communication strategies and investments will be essential
in order to promote a product that is so different from our usual programming.
However, the experience of other theatres and above all of other European
countries, well documented at the valuable courses organized by MEDIA
Salles, that so usefully compare the experiences of professional players
from different European countries, shows that “It can be done,”
and so FULL SPEED AHEAD!!