Cinema Europa (Kino Europa) will remain an art cinema after the necessary renovation, the Office of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic has said in a press release the cinema's management said that the movie theatre in downtown Zagreb would be shut down as the lease for the premises has ended and the City of Zagreb was taking it back.
“After the necessary renovation, Kino Europa will remain an art cinema. The lease awarded to the current tenants ten years ago has expired and under the law and in accordance with the lease agreement, the current tenants need to leave the facilities by June 1. Apart from ownership, the city needs to be in possession of the facility to be able to carry out the renovation,” the press release said.
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Cinema Europa, which turns 94 years old this month has been extremely successful over the last ten years, holding over 14,000 projections with over one million visitors. In 2016, Cinema Europa won the European Best Cinema Award. The cinema is a protected cultural heritage and national treasure of Croatia.
More than 2,000 people gathered in front of Cinema Europa in Zagreb on Saturday afternoon to show support for the cinema’s management, as the future of the Zagreb movie theatre Cinema Europa (Kino Europa), which is the oldest active cinema in Croatia, seemed uncertain.
On Friday, the cinema’s management announced that they would close the cinema this weekend after they received notice from the City of Zagreb that they would need to exit the premises on 1 June 2019 due to renovations.
The cinema’s management said in a statement that the City was using the guise of the renovations to get rid of the cinema’s current management and bring a new tenant in.
However, on Saturday afternoon, the Zagreb Film Festival director Boris T. Matic admitted that their reaction a day before was a result of their shock and surprise.
He said that 10 years ago when they were awarded the lease, the cinema was in a state of dilapidation. Matic insisted that under the concession agreement, they were supposed to invest two million Kuna, and they had invested five million Kuna to date.
On Saturday afternoon, the city authorities said that the renovation of the premises was necessary and refuted allegations that there were plans to repurpose the building, located in Zagreb’s Cvjetni Square.
Matic said that he would hold a news conference on Tuesday to inform the public about the details of the investments the current management had made so far.
Mayor Bandic accused the current tenants of exerting pressure on the city, adding that he expects a public apology over untrue claims that the cinema would be converted into a nightclub.