Empire Cinema
Historic building in Lisbon has been rented to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God for over 25 years. Would it make sense to return to cinema?
O Empire Cinema, located in the parish of Arroios (Lisbon), it was opened as a cinema in May 1952, having closed doors in 1983.
This leased has Universal Church of the Kingdom of God for more than 25 years, more specifically since 1998.
Lisbon City Council approved “changing the use of cultural equipment to religious equipmentwith other complementary services”, namely “administration, support services with activity rooms for children and young people, training and meetings”.
The Portuguese Cinema Academy (APC) urged on Monday the Government and the Lisbon City Council to protect memory of Cinema Império and maintaining the building as a cultural space in the city.
According to the proposal, which the Lusa agency had access to, it is also intended to expand the building “with an increase in construction area and volume, exterior changes, façade changes, at the level of the top floors, including changes to the roof, and other changes and legalizations inside the property, to adapt it to the proposed use”.
“The news that reaches us about its declassification from cultural equipment for religious use and the beginning of works that ignore its cultural value suggest yet another irreparable loss to the city. The disappearance of Cinema Império is a real and alarming threat, similar to what has already happened with iconic theaters such as Monumental, Condes, Éden, Odeon, Olympia, Europa, Paris, Mundial Mundial and Quarteto, just to name a few”, is quoted in the note released by the Portuguese Cinema Academy.
Anticipating this situation, the APC considers that “it is urgent that the responsible entities, from the Government to the Lisbon City Council, intervene to preserve this space”.
“It is time to demand the safeguarding of Cinema Império and to recognize its irreplaceable role in the cultural identity of Lisbon and the country. It is not just about saving a building, but about protecting the memory, history and cultural future of the city”, highlights the APC.
Also on Monday, the association Fórum Cidadania LX sent a request for clarification to the Lisbon City Council (CML) and the Minister of Culture regarding the legality and consequences of approving the proposal.
“We cannot fail to express our sadness at the continued indifference of public authorities, especially by the Government and the CML, towards the large cinemas in Lisbon, which other cities and other civil societies, in Europe, seek to rescue as much as possible. , even more so when we are faced with a ‘total work’ like Cinema Império, which at the time even constituted a bold challenge in architectural terms due to the configuration of the lot where it was built”, says the association.
Return to cinema?
In practice, the Cinema Império has not been a cinema for over 40 years. It has been used as place of worship by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
The Lisbon Chamber has already assured that this change mainly wants legalize adaptations and expansions – which have already been made inside the building – and does not put the cultural preservation of the space at risk, being safeguarding “the future return to its primitive function”quote or .
But the Cinema Império goes back to being a cinema… It won’t happenaccording to Helena Matos.
“There is a problem: these types of movie theaters were made to other times, in which large cinema halls were full. Today we don’t go to the cinema like that“.
“Nowadays, when we talk about Cinema Império, we are talking about a building. The people who ask for these protections probably never use these spaces when they are open. People don’t go there“, warns the commentator on the radio.
Helena considers that in cases like this there is a “degradation” of spaces, especially when certain religious groups, “with a more popular, more histrionic character”.
Cinema Império will once again operate as a cinema “it doesn’t make any sense. It will not return to its initial role”, assures Helena Matos.
